LeFavour, David, 1873-1910

David LeFavour was born on September 7, 1873, in Bay City, Michigan, and died at the age of thirty-seven, on August 10, 1910. He was the son of Edward and Martha Walker Hutchinson LeFavour. Edward LeFavour died on March 27, 1874, of a ruptured appendix, and David LeFavour and his younger sister Helen were orphaned when their mother died on September 29, 1878, while visiting in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Margaret Hutchinson Shearer, sister of David's mother and wife of James Shearer of Bay City, brought David and Helen LeFavour into her family. James Shearer served as regent of the University of Michigan from 1880 to 1888. He had built several family business interests: saw mills, banking, architecture, and real estate, into Shearer and Sons (later Shearer Brothers) of Bay City, Michigan. Shearer's activity in church and civic affairs combined with his construction efforts in and around Shearer Block on Center Street to make the family a leading force in local development.

In 1895 David LeFavour graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. degree in civil engineering. Some six years later he married Helen MacLaren Kline on December 5, 1901. They lived in Detroit, Michigan for a time, and had twin sons, David E. and William B., who were born on October 4, 1902.

David LeFavour's professional career is not well-documented, although according to The Technic , a publication of the University of Michigan Engineering Society, LeFavour was employed by the Detroit and Mackinaw Railway as a draughtsman (1896-1898) and by the Bay City Round Hoop Company (1898-?) as treasurer. Family sources also indicate that LeFavour invested in a vacuum cleaning company at one time.

Health problems plagued David LeFavour for some time, and he and his family often summered in Wallacebourg, Ontario, Canada. It was here that LeFavour suffered a fatal attack and died of what was later diagnosed as a ruptured appendix, similar to his father's illness.

LeFavour's interest and love of photography never went beyond that of an amateur, and can likely be traced to his academic work as an engineer, in which photography was used for surveying purposes. The actual surveying photographs and scenes of an engineering camp are further evidence of this possibility.

From the guide to the David LeFavour photographs, circa 1894-circa 1905, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)