Favrot, Henry Louis

Submitted by Mike Miller

Favrot, Henry Louis, lawyer, author and statesman, is a native son of Louisiana. He was born in West Baton Rouge parish, July 21, 1864, and is a son of Henry M. and Celestine (Dubroca) Favrot, who were born also in West Baton Rouge. Mr. Favrot's paternal grandfather, Louis Favrot, was born in New Orleans in 1788 and died in West Baton Rouge in 1876. He was a son of Claude Joseph Favrot, who come from France to this country about 1727 as a lieutenant in the king's service. He went through a succession of promotions, and in 1765, when Louisiana passed from French to Spanish control, he went over to the Spanish military service and bore a prominent part in military affairs, served under Gov. Barnardo de Galvez and was in command of artillery at the siege of Fort Baton Rouge in 1779, which resulted in the defeat of the British, who surrendered the fort. Later when France transferred Louisiana to the United States, having acquired the territory from Spain, Claude Joseph Favrot was in command of the fort, at the Balize, or mouth of the river, and drew the transfer papers, the original copies of which are now in possession of Mr. Henry L. Favrot. He then became a citizen of the United States, became a member of the Louisiana legislature and while serving in that capacity was chosen, because of his military experience, as a member of the advisory committee on the defense of New Orleans in 1814-15. He had a sister who married Gen. De Clouet. He was the father of 3 sons and 3 daughters. None of the daughters ever married. One of the sons, Phileogene Favrot, became judge of West Baton Rouge parish and was killed in a duel in 1819. He was succeeded on the bench by his brother, Louis Favrot, who afterward resigned to enter the practice of medicine, which he bad previously studied. The other son of Claude Joseph Favrot was Bouvier Favrot, who served with distinction as a captain in the Mexican war. Henry M. Favrot, the father of Henry L. Favrot, was born in West Baton Rouge parish, in 1826, and died there in 1887. He served as a member of the Louisiana legislature in the 50's and was an ardent Union man. Although he opposed secession he cast his lot with the Confederacy and became captain of a company known as the Delta rifles, of the 4th Louisiana infantry, and served throughout the entire war. He participated in the battle of Shiloh, was stricken with typhoid fever at Corinth and later returned to New Orleans to convalesce. Afterward he was sent to northern Virginia with rank of colonel to gather all the records of the army of northern Virginia. This he did and remained in active service till the close of hostilities, when he returned home on mule-back, bringing with him the army records he was sent to compile. He was a graduate of the law department of the Louisiana university and after the war engaged in the practice of law. He was a member of the Louisiana Constitutional convention in 1879 and served as superintendent of education in his local community, in which latter capacity he was succeeded by his son, Henry L. Favrot. He was the father of 5 sons and 2 daughters. Henry Louis Favrot, the eldest son of Henry M. Favrot, was reared in West Baton Rouge and in 1884 graduated from the Louisiana state university. When the Spanish-American war came on he was a captain in the Louisiant militia, and into that war he went out as adjutant of the 2d Louisiana infantry, and later became adjutant of the 2d brigade under the command of Gen. Gordon, still later adjutant of the 1st brigade under Gen. Wheaton and Col. Wood. He went with his command to Cuba; came back and was mustered out of the service in 1899. Mr. Favrot was admitted to the bar in 1889, and after the close of his military service in the Spanish-American war he resumed the practice of law at New Orleans. He was elected state senator in 1904, reelected in 1908 and again in 1912, as a Democrat.

Senator Favrot has won for himself an enviable record as a member of the state senate and is held in highest esteem as a public official. In his profession Mr. Favrot is specializing in the subjects of bonds and drainage. He is regarded as authority on drainage laws on which he has written and published several treatises. He has also contributed several historical productions of much literary value, which include his "Acadian Sketches," published in Acadian dialect. In 1902 Mr. Favrot married Miss Marie L. Richmond, of Savannah, Ga.

Source: Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), pp. 158-160. Edited by Alcee Fortier, Lit.D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association.