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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 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>​

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>​

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==