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Boucher (pronounced BUTCHER) was born in Springhill to Robert Riley Boucher (born 1880) and the former Lula K. Rogers (1880–1909). The couple married on November 14, 1905. Boucher’s mother died before she was thirty and when he was less than two years of age, and his father subsequently married the former Carrie Cook. Three children, Drayton Boucher’s half-siblings, Gus, Rupert, and Alleane, later married to Floyd Haynes, were born from his father’s second marriage. Robert Boucher’s father and hence Drayton’s grandfather, Augustus C. Boucher (1850–1890), was a native of Harpersville in Shelby County, [[Alabama]]. Augustus’s wife, Drayton Boucher’s paternal grandmother, was Jennie B. Cox (1852–1885).​  

Boucher (pronounced BUTCHER) was born in Springhill to Robert Riley Boucher (born 1880) and the former Lula K. Rogers (1880–1909). The couple married on November 14, 1905. Boucher’s mother died before she was thirty and when he was less than two years of age, and his father subsequently married the former Carrie Cook. Three children, Drayton Boucher’s half-siblings, Gus, Rupert, and Alleane, later married to Floyd Haynes, were born from his father’s second marriage. Robert Boucher’s father and hence Drayton’s grandfather, Augustus C. Boucher (1850–1890), was a native of Harpersville in Shelby County, [[Alabama]]. Augustus’s wife, Drayton Boucher’s paternal grandmother, was Jennie B. Cox (1852–1885).​  

Boucher first attended Springhill High Schoo] but graduated in 1927 from a three-member class in a one-room school in Asherton in Dimmit County,  midway between [[Laredo]] and Eagle Pass in south  [[Texas]], where Robert Boucher had temporarily relocated the family to become an onion [[farmer]]. (Since 1999, Asherton has had no high school; students are bused to the nearby county seat of Carrizo Springs.).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/rsi/CarrizoSprings.htm | title= A Case Study of Carrizo Springs Consolidated Independent School District and its role as a partner in the NSF-supported Texas Rural Systemic Initiative|author=Kenneth H. McKinley|publisher=The Evaluation Center, Western Michigan University|accessdate=May 11, 2009; no longer on-line.}}</ref>) Boucher procured a scholarship to Sul Ross State University]] in Alpine, Texas, from which he received in 1932 a Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[biology]]. He was thereafter a lifelong promoter of his "alma mater] and on occasion visited former professors in Alpine.<ref name=autob>Drayton Boucher autobiographical manuscript, 8 pages, held by his late second wife, Evelyn Aydell Boucher of [[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]]</ref>​

Boucher first attended Springhill High Schoo] but graduated in 1927 from a three-member class in a one-room school in Asherton in Dimmit County,  midway between [[Laredo]] and Eagle Pass in south  [[Texas]], where Robert Boucher had temporarily relocated the family to become an onion [[farmer]]. (Since 1999, Asherton has had no high school; students are bused to the nearby county seat of Carrizo Springs.).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/rsi/CarrizoSprings.htm | title= A Case Study of Carrizo Springs Consolidated Independent School District and its role as a partner in the NSF-supported Texas Rural Systemic Initiative|author=Kenneth H. McKinley|publisher=The Evaluation Center, Western Michigan University|accessdate=May 11, 2009; no longer on-line.}}</ref>) Boucher procured a scholarship to Sul Ross State University]] in Alpine, Texas, from which he received in 1932 a Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[biology]]. He was thereafter a lifelong promoter of his "alma mater] and on occasion visited former professors in Alpine.<ref name=autob>Drayton Boucher autobiographical manuscript, 8 pages, held by his late second wife, Evelyn Aydell Boucher of [[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]]</ref>

==Political career==​

==Political career==​

After college, Boucher was a [[United States Army]] Air Corps cadet for a year at March Field in [[Riverside]], [[California]].  From 1934 to 1936, he was a school principal and teacher at a one-room school in Taylor in south [[Arkansas]], an experience which prompted him as a future legislature to advocate higher teacher pay. He also sold patent medicine. While placing an advertisement in the [[newspaper]] in Minden, forerunner of the ''Minden Press-Herald],'' Boucher was urged by the editor to run for the Webster Parish seat in the state legislature in the 1935–1936 election cycle. Days later, the legendary [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], was dead from an assassin’s bullets, and Boucher, at the age of twenty-eight, several months thereafter won the seat. He had visited nearly every home in Webster Parish to achieve his relatively narrow victory<ref name=autob/> over the incumbent Eddie Nuton Payne (1873-1951), also of Springhill, 2,778 to 2,474.<ref>"Boucher, Garrison, Thomas Nominated: Young Politician Is Victorious in Race for Representative," ''Minden Herald,'' March 6, 1936, p. 1.</ref>​

After college, Boucher was a [[United States Army]] Air Corps cadet for a year at March Field in [[Riverside]], [[California]].  From 1934 to 1936, he was a school principal and teacher at a one-room school in Taylor in south [[Arkansas]], an experience which prompted him as a future legislature to advocate higher teacher pay. He also sold patent medicine. While placing an advertisement in the [[newspaper]] in Minden, forerunner of the ''Minden Press-Herald],'' Boucher was urged by the editor to run for the Webster Parish seat in the state legislature in the 1935–1936 election cycle. Days later, the legendary [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], was dead from an assassin’s bullets, and Boucher, at the age of twenty-eight, several months thereafter won the House seat. He had visited nearly every home in Webster Parish to achieve his relatively narrow victory<ref name=autob/> over the incumbent Eddie Nuton Payne (1873-1951), also of Springhill, 2,778 to 2,474.<ref>"Boucher, Garrison, Thomas Nominated: Young Politician Is Victorious in Race for Representative," ''Minden Herald,'' March 6, 1936, p. 1.</ref>​

 

In September 1940, freshman state Senator Boucher urged newly elected anti-Long Governor [[Sam Houston Jones]] to call a special legislative session to repeal many of the “reform” measures passed earlier in the year. The remark was carried in newspaper] nationally.<ref>”Hot Election Forecast for Louisiana Demo Primary," ''St. Petersburg Times,'' St. Petersburg, [[Florida]], September 9, 1940, p. 3.</ref> In 1946, Boucher proposed in a letter to Governor [[Jimmie Davis]] the enactment of a 10 percent amusements tax, including theater tickets, in Louisiana for teacher pay increases, a proposal carried in the motion picture trade [[magazine]] ''BoxOffice.''<ref name=boxoffice>"Amusement Tax Bill Bobs up in Louisiana," ''BoxOffice,'' June 24, 1946, p. 84.</ref>​

In September 1940, freshman state Senator Boucher urged newly elected anti-Long Governor [[Sam Houston Jones]] to call a special legislative session to repeal many of the “reform” measures passed earlier in the year. The remark was carried in newspaper] nationally.<ref>”Hot Election Forecast for Louisiana Demo Primary," ''St. Petersburg Times,'' St. Petersburg, [[Florida]], September 9, 1940, p. 3.</ref> In 1946, Boucher proposed in a letter to Governor [[Jimmie Davis]] the enactment of a 10 percent amusements tax, including theater tickets, in Louisiana for teacher pay increases, a proposal carried in the motion picture trade [[magazine]] ''BoxOffice.''<ref name=boxoffice>"Amusement Tax Bill Bobs up in Louisiana," ''BoxOffice,'' June 24, 1946, p. 84.</ref>​

 

In 1944, Boucher won his second term by defeating his lone opponent, Arthur Ray Teague (1907-1975) of [[Bossier City]].<ref>''Minden Herald,'' January 14, 1944, p. 5.</ref> In 1948, Boucher won his third term by 51 votes, having defeated [[Clarence D. Wiley]] of Minden, later the Webster Parish clerk of court, 3,950 to 3,899.<ref>''Minden Herald,'' January 23, 1948.</ref>​

In 1944, Boucher won his second term by defeating his lone opponent, Arthur Ray Teague (1907-1975) of [[Bossier City]].<ref>''Minden Herald,'' January 14, 1944, p. 5.</ref> In 1948, Boucher won his third term by 51 votes, having defeated [[Clarence D. Wiley]] of Minden, later the Webster Parish clerk of court, 3,950 to 3,899.<ref>''Minden Herald,'' January 23, 1948.</ref>

 

In 1950, Boucher joined State Representative Clyde W. Thompson (1890-1951) to move through the legislature a $175,000 appropriation to establish a vocational school in Webster Parish, one of the pledges of the 1948 Earl Long gubernatorial  campaign.<ref>"Thompson, Boucher Working for Trade School in Webster," ''Minden Herald,'' May 26, 1950, p. 1.</ref> Now known as Northwest Louisiana Technical College, the institution was first established adjacent to the Griffith Stadium baseball park on Constable Street in Minden but was relocated in 2013 to a new site off Interstate 20.​

In 1950, Boucher joined State Representative Clyde W. Thompson (1890-1951) to move through the legislature a $175,000 appropriation to establish a vocational school in Webster Parish, one of the pledges of the 1948 Earl Long gubernatorial  campaign.<ref>"Thompson, Boucher Working for Trade School in Webster," ''Minden Herald,'' May 26, 1950, p. 1.</ref> Now known as Northwest Louisiana Technical College, the institution was first established adjacent to the Griffith Stadium baseball park on Constable Street in Minden but was relocated in 2013 to a new site off Interstate 20.​

 

Boucher did not seek a fourth term in 1952 but was succeeded in the state senate by John Jones Doles, Sr.  (1895-1970), a banker from Plain Dealing in Bossier Parish, who served from 1952 to 1956 during the administration of Governor [[Robert F. Kennon]], also of Minden. Doles was usually allied with the Long faction. From 1956 to 1960, Boucher was a member of the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. He was an alternate delegate to the 1956 [[Democratic National Convention]] in [[Chicago]], which nominated [[Adlai Stevenson]] of [[Illinois]] and [[Estes Kefauver]] of [[Tennessee]], the first Democratic ticket since 1876 to lose Louisiana's then ten [[electoral vote]]s to a Republican, [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/bosa-bouckaert.html|title=The Political Graveyard|publisher=Politicalgraveyard.com|accessdate=June 23, 2009}}</ref> Boucher served on the Louisiana State Mineral Board (1956–1958), the Louisiana Commission on Aging (1958),  Louisiana Insurance Rating Board (1959–1960), and the Louisiana Contractors’ Licensing Board (1960–1963).<ref name=bobit/>​

Boucher did not seek a fourth term in 1952 but was succeeded in the state senate by John Jones Doles, Sr.  (1895-1970), a banker from Plain Dealing in Bossier Parish, who served from 1952 to 1956 during the administration of Governor [[Robert F. Kennon]], also of Minden. Doles was usually allied with the Long faction. From 1956 to 1960, Boucher was a member of the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. He was an alternate delegate to the 1956 [[Democratic National Convention]] in [[Chicago]], which nominated [[Adlai Stevenson]] of [[Illinois]] and [[Estes Kefauver]] of [[Tennessee]], the first Democratic ticket since 1876 to lose Louisiana's then ten [[electoral vote]]s to a Republican, [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/bosa-bouckaert.html|title=The Political Graveyard|publisher=Politicalgraveyard.com|accessdate=June 23, 2009}}</ref> Boucher served on the Louisiana State Mineral Board (1956–1958), the Louisiana Commission on Aging (1958),  Louisiana Insurance Rating Board (1959–1960), and the Louisiana Contractors’ Licensing Board (1960–1963).<ref name=bobit/>​

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Boucher was personally and politically close to Governor Earl Long, who sometimes visited in the Boucher home in Springhill. In 1958, Long appointed Boucher to fill the newly established position of director of the state Board of Registration. The title was changed thereafter to “custodian of voting machines”.<ref name=bobit/> The duties of elections administration were removed by the legislature at Long’s insistence to a separate department from the office of then anti-Long Secretary of State Wade Omer Martin, Jr.  (1911-1990). After  a year, Long replaced Boucher in the position with [[Douglas Fowler]], a local politician in Coushatta in Red River Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/157/Default.aspx|title=Three Custodians in Four Years|publisher=Louisiana.gov|accessdate=June 24, 2009}}</ref> Years later, another Louisiana secretary of state, [[Al Ater]] of Ferriday in Concordia Parish,  reversed the process begun by Boucher and returned the elections duties back to the secretary of state's office after the separate elections department was abolished.​

Boucher was personally and politically close to Governor Earl Long, who sometimes visited in the Boucher home in Springhill. In 1958, Long appointed Boucher to fill the newly established position of director of the state Board of Registration. The title was changed thereafter to “custodian of voting machines”.<ref name=bobit/> The duties of elections administration were removed by the legislature at Long’s insistence to a separate department from the office of then anti-Long Secretary of State Wade Omer Martin, Jr.  (1911-1990). After  a year, Long replaced Boucher in the position with [[Douglas Fowler]], a local politician in Coushatta in Red River Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/157/Default.aspx|title=Three Custodians in Four Years|publisher=Louisiana.gov|accessdate=June 24, 2009}}</ref> Years later, another Louisiana secretary of state, [[Al Ater]] of Ferriday in Concordia Parish,  reversed the process begun by Boucher and returned the elections duties back to the secretary of state's office after the separate elections department was abolished.​

 

Long named Douglas Fowler as the custodian because Boucher did not intend to seek the position in the 1959–1960 election cycle, and Long, who ran for lieutenant governor that year, wanted one of his appointees in the running as the appointed incumbent. Fowler won the post in a Democratic runoff primary and held it until his pending retirement and subsequent death in 1980. In 1976, the name of the position was changed again to the "elections commissioner," now an appointed position.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/157/Default.aspx|title=Elections Mission and History|publisher=sos.louisiana.gov|accessdate=August 6, 2009}}</ref>​

Long named Douglas Fowler as the custodian because Boucher did not intend to seek the position in the 1959–1960 election cycle, and Long, who ran for lieutenant governor that year, wanted one of his appointees in the running as the appointed incumbent. Fowler won the post in a Democratic runoff primary and held it until his pending retirement and subsequent death in 1980. In 1976, the name of the position was changed again to the "elections commissioner," now an appointed position.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/157/Default.aspx|title=Elections Mission and History|publisher=sos.louisiana.gov|accessdate=August 6, 2009}}</ref>​

 

In the 1959 Democratic primary when Boucher declined to run for voting machine custodian, he was instead an unsuccessful candidate from Webster Parish for a seat on  the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. He was defeated by a 4-3 margin by the dairyman, Roy Don Hinton, Sr. (1912-2011), of Minden.<ref>"Hinton Wins Seat on State Central Committee," ''Minden Press,'' December 7, 1959, p. 1.</ref>​

In the 1959 Democratic primary when Boucher declined to run for voting machine custodian, he was instead an unsuccessful candidate from Webster Parish for a seat on  the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. He was defeated by a 4-3 margin by the dairyman, Roy Don Hinton, Sr. (1912-2011), of Minden.<ref>"Hinton Wins Seat on State Central Committee," ''Minden Press,'' December 7, 1959, p. 1.</ref>​

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On exiting politics, Boucher remained in Baton Rouge and attended the  [[Louisiana State University]] Law Center though he never procured legal credentials. Instead, he concentrated on Drayton Boucher Real Estate and his Evelyn Corporation, named for his second wife. He was also a partner in Acadian Oil and Gas in [[Lafayette]]. Boucher was an active member of the Masonic lodge. As a Shriner, he was active in fundraising for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport. He was an active member of the Jefferson [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church in Baton Rouge.<ref name=bobit>Boucher obituary, ''The Shreveport Times,'' June 5, 1983.</ref>​

On exiting politics, Boucher remained in Baton Rouge and attended the  [[Louisiana State University]] Law Center though he never procured legal credentials. Instead, he concentrated on Drayton Boucher Real Estate and his Evelyn Corporation, named for his second wife. He was also a partner in Acadian Oil and Gas in [[Lafayette]]. Boucher was an active member of the Masonic lodge. As a Shriner, he was active in fundraising for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport. He was an active member of the Jefferson [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church in Baton Rouge.<ref name=bobit>Boucher obituary, ''The Shreveport Times,'' June 5, 1983.</ref>​

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==Two marriages==​

==Two marriages==

 

In 1935, Drayton Boucher married the former Erma Nickerson (February 8, 1914 &mdash; February 21, 2004), the daughter of Ernest Emery Nickerson (1871-1975) and the former Ada Moore (1894-1982). Boucher divorced his wife, and on September 23, 1961, he wed Evelyn Bernice Aydell Coleman (1931-2013), a native of Walker in East Baton Rouge Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81757481|title=Evelyn Adell Boucher|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 2, 2019}}</ref> The pair procured their marriage license in Minden from Webster Parish Clerk of Court Clarence D. Wiley, who oddly had been Boucher's unsuccessful intra-party opponent in 1948 for the state senate.<ref>''Minden Herald,'' January 23, 1948, p. 1.</ref>​

In 1935, Drayton Boucher married the former Erma Nickerson (February 8, 1914 &mdash; February 21, 2004), the daughter of Ernest Emery Nickerson (1871-1975) and the former Ada Moore (1894-1982). Boucher divorced his wife, and on September 23, 1961, he wed Evelyn Bernice Aydell Coleman (1931-2013), a native of Walker in East Baton Rouge Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81757481|title=Evelyn Adell Boucher|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 2, 2019}}</ref> The pair procured their marriage license in Minden from Webster Parish Clerk of Court Clarence D. Wiley, who oddly had been Boucher's unsuccessful intra-party opponent in 1948 for the state senate.<ref>''Minden Herald,'' January 23, 1948, p. 1.</ref>​

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==Death at 75==​

==Death at 75==

Boucher died after a lengthy illness from colon [[cancer]] at the age of seventy-five.<ref name=bobit/> In addition to his second wife and son, Boucher was survived by a sister and brother, both in the [[insurance]] business, Alleane Haynes O’Neal, since deceased, of Springhill and Gus M. Boucher (1917–2001) of Shreveport, later Mansfield in DeSoto Parish. There was also a granddaughter, Jenelle Boucher (born 1977) of Shongaloo, Louisiana. A second brother, Rupert Boucher of Bossier City and later Baton Rouge, preceded him in death. Services were first held at the Jefferson Baptist Church; a second service under the direction of Bailey Mortuary was held in Springhill, with interment at Springhill Cemetery.<ref name=bobit/>​

Boucher died after a lengthy illness from colon [[cancer]] at the age of seventy-five.<ref name=bobit/> In addition to his second wife and son, Boucher was survived by a sister and brother, both in the [[insurance]] business, Alleane Haynes O’Neal, since deceased, of Springhill and Gus M. Boucher (1917–2001) of Shreveport, later Mansfield in DeSoto Parish. There was also a granddaughter, Jenelle Boucher (born 1977) of Shongaloo, Louisiana. A second brother, Rupert Boucher of Bossier City and later Baton Rouge, preceded him in death. Services were first held at the Jefferson Baptist Church; a second service under the direction of Bailey Mortuary was held in Springhill, with interment at Springhill Cemetery.<ref name=bobit/>​

 

Boucher was a cousin of [[Jesse L. Boucher]] an insurance agent who served as [[mayor]] of Springhill from 1958 to 1962. Jesse Boucher was the father of three daughters, including [[actress]]es Sherry Bouche] (born 1945), now a Bossier Parish real estate agent once married to the late George Peppard, and Savannah Smith Boucher, a producer. Gary Boucher is hence a third cousin of the two actresses. Through an aunt, Stella Boucher Jones (1872–1946), Drayton Boucher was a first cousin of [[Herman "Wimpy" Jones]] of Minden and Bossier City, who from 1956 to 1960 held the same Bossier-Webster Senate seat that Boucher had earlier represented.

Boucher was a cousin of [[Jesse L. Boucher]] an insurance agent who served as [[mayor]] of Springhill from 1958 to 1962. Jesse Boucher was the father of three daughters, including [[actress]]es Sherry Boucher (born 1945), now a Bossier Parish real estate agent once married to the late George Peppard, and Savannah Smith Boucher, a producer. Gary Boucher is hence a third cousin of the two actresses. Through an aunt, Stella Boucher Jones (1872–1946), Drayton Boucher was a first cousin of [[Herman "Wimpy" Jones]] of Minden and Bossier City, who from 1956 to 1960 held the same Bossier-Webster Senate seat that Boucher had earlier represented.

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==References==​

==References==​