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|preceded=[[Coleman Lindsey]]|succeeded=[[John Jones Doles​J. Doles, Sr.]]

|occupation=[[Real estate]]; [[Businessbusiness]]​man

'''Drayton Rogers Boucher''' (March 19, 1908 &ndash; June 3, 1983) was a state legislator from Webster Parish who was affiliated with the [[pro-Long]] political faction of the [[Louisiana]] [[Democratic Party]]. Boucher served in the state House for a single four-year term from 1936 to 1940,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://house.louisiana.gov/H_PDFdocs/HouseMembership_History_CURRENT.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2024 (Webster Parish) |publisher=Louisiana House of Representatives|accessdate=January 29, 2020}}</ref> and then three terms in the state Senate from a combination district including Webster and Bossier parishes from 1940 to 1952.  In the state Senate, he succeeded [[Coleman Lindsey (1892–1968) ]] of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], who in 1939 became lieutenant governor upon the succession to the governorship of [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.senate.legis.state.la.us/Documents/Membership/Documents/SenateMembership1880ForwardRevisedMar2011.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana State Senate, 1880 - Present (Bossier and Webster parishes)|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=October 2, 2019}}</ref>​

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>

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>​

===Legislative races===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 to finance 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 1950, Boucher joined State Representative Clyde [[C. W. Thompson (1890-1951) ]] of the [[village]] of Doyline, 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 and 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]] 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|accessdateOther political roles==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 was personally did not seek a fourth term in 1952 and politically close to Governor Earl Long, who sometimes visited was succeeded in the Boucher home in Springhillstate senate by John Jones Doles, Sr. In 1958(1895-1970), Long appointed Boucher a banker from Plain Dealing in Bossier Parish, who served from 1952 to fill 1956 during the newly established position administration of director Governor [[Robert F. Kennon]] of the state Board of RegistrationMinden. The title Doles was changed thereafter usually allied with the Long faction. From 1956 to “custodian 1960, Boucher was a member of voting machines”.<ref name=bobit/> The duties of elections administration were removed by the legislature at Long’s insistence Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. He was an alternate delegate to a separate department from the office 1956 [[Democratic National Convention]] in [[Chicago]], which nominated [[Adlai Stevenson]] of then anti-Long Secretary [[Illinois]] and [[Estes Kefauver]] of State Wade Omer Martin[[Tennessee]], Jr. (1911-1990). After a year, Long replaced Boucher in the position with first Democratic ticket since 1876 to lose Louisiana's then ten [[Douglas Fowlerelectoral vote]], s to a local politician in Coushatta in Red River ParishRepublican, [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://wwwpoliticalgraveyard.sos.louisiana.govcom/tabidbio/157/Defaultbosa-bouckaert.aspxhtml|title=Three Custodians in Four YearsThe Political Graveyard|publisher=LouisianaPoliticalgraveyard.govcom|accessdate=June 2423, 2009}}</ref> Years laterBoucher served on the Louisiana State Mineral Board (1956–1958), another the Louisiana secretary of stateCommission on Aging (1958), [[Al Ater]] of Ferriday in Concordia ParishLouisiana Insurance Rating Board (1959–1960), 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 abolishedLouisiana Contractors’ Licensing Board (1960–1963).<ref name=bobit/>

Long named Douglas Fowler as the custodian because Boucher did not intend was personally and politically close to seek the position in the 1959–1960 election cycle, and Governor Earl Long, who ran for lieutenant governor that year, wanted one of his appointees sometimes visited in the running as the appointed incumbent. Fowler won the post Boucher home in a Democratic runoff primary and held it until his pending retirement and subsequent death in 1980Springhill. In 19761958, Long appointed Boucher to fill the name newly established position of director of the position state Board of Registration. The title was changed again thereafter to the "“custodian of voting machines.”<ref name=bobit/> The duties of elections commissioneradministration 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," now an appointed Jr. (1911-1990). After a year, Long replaced Boucher in the positionwith [[Douglas Fowler]], a local politician from Coushatta in Red River Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/157/Default.aspx|title=Elections Mission and HistoryThree Custodians in Four Years|publisher=sos.louisianaLouisiana.gov|accessdate=August 6June 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.

In Long named Douglas Fowler as the 1959 Democratic primary when custodian of voting machines because Boucher declined did not intend to run for voting machine custodianseek the position in the 1959–1960 election cycle. Long, he was instead an unsuccessful candidate from Webster Parish who ran for a seat lieutenant governor that year on the an intra-party ticket with former interim Governor [[James A, Noe]] of [[Monroe, Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee|Monroe]], wanted one of his appointees to be on the ballot for the first election for custodian of voting machines. He Fowler won the post in a Democratic runoff primary and held it until his pending retirement and subsequent death in 1980; Fowler was defeated succeeded by a 4-3 margin by the dairyman, Roy Don Hintonhis son, Sr[[Jerry Fowler]]. (1912-2011)In 1976, the name of Mindenthe position was changed again to the "elections commissioner," now an appointed position.<ref>"Hinton Wins Seat on Louisiana Secretary of State Central Committee," ''Minden PressElection Mission and History,'' December 7accessed August 6, 1959, p. 12009; no longer on-line.</ref>​

On exiting politics==Business and civic activities==After his political career, 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>​​

In 1935, Drayton Boucher married the former Erma Nickerson (February 8, 1914 &mdashndash; 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 a marriage license in Minden from Webster Parish Clerk of Court [[Clarence D. Wiley]], who oddly coincidentally had been Boucher's unsuccessful intra-party opponent in 1948 for the state senate.<ref>''Minden Herald,'' January 23, 1948, p. 1.</ref>​​