Biographie Boucher Louis-Joseph

L.J. Boucher came to Central Wisconsin in his teens and obtained work with a lumber company in Mosinee, assisting with the spring drives and piloting timber down the Wisconsin River. At the age of 22, he returned to Canada, where he married Miss Azilda Simard, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Simard, on August 1, 1870. His bride, born June 15, 1852, was likewise a native of St. Ambroise and the couple continued to live in that vicinity approximately ten years.

In 1880, Louis brought his wife and five children to Marshfield, after a brief residence in Auburndale, where he worked for the R. Connor Company's sawmill. He entered the employ of G. M. Upham and Bro. here in Marshfield and became head sawyer for the firm, which changed its name in 1883 to the Upham Manufacturing Company. He was serving his third term as alderman, when the fire of June 27, 1887, destroyed the Upham mills and factories and the business section of the city, together with many residences.

The Bouchers farmed on the edge of Marshfield at that time. They worked long hours with primitive plows and horses picking stones, clearing land to raise crops. Dynamite was used to blast large stones and stumps into smaller pieces, so they could be hauled away.

The house was on the corner of West Arnold and North Walnut, which escaped the flames of the fire. Their cows grazed where the hospital now stands. Azilda, Louis's wife, never learned to speak English. She and her son, Wilfred, sold milk, chickens, and vegetables to the Marshfield residents as Louis and Azilda also had large gardens.

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Immediately after the fire, Louis bagan construction of a meat market and flour and feed store building on North Chestnut Avenue. According to the Marshfield News, August 19, 1887, his store was almost ready for opening.

In 1895, the Bouchers moved to a farm in the Town of McMillan located on the continuation of St-Joseph's Avenue, which remained the family farm until after the death of Mrs. (Azilda) Boucher at St. Joseph's Hospital, January 20, 1910.

Retiring from farming, Louis made his home in the city and on May 12, 1929, died in the same hospital.

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Submitted by Elaine Boucher

Source: The Marshfield Story, 1872-1997, Piecing Together Our Past.

Louis Joseph Boucher, one of the earliest settlers of the city, said to have been here before any railroad pierced this community, passed away at St. Joseph's hospital at 8:25 Sunday evening, following an operation performed April 19 last. The cause of death was given as a complication of ailments.
The funeral arrangements have not yet been completed. Burial will be in Hillside cemetery beside the remains of his wife, who died Jan. 20, 1910. Native Of Canada Mr. Boucher was a native of Canada, where he was born Nov. 7, 1847, at St. Ambrois Kildare, Province of Quebec. He came to this country when a boy and for some time piloted logs and lumber rafts down the Wisconsin river, headquartering at Mosinee.
At age 22 he returned to his native land, married, and settled with his wife on a farm near the community of his birth. Some 50 years ago, he, accompanied by his wife and five children, returned to Wisconsin and located at Auburndale, where he worked for a short in the Connor saw mill and then moved to this city.
In his early years here he served as a head-sawyer in the Upham mill. Later he ran a milk line and conducted a meat, flour, and feed business, and operated a farm about a mile north of the city about 30 years. Upon his retirement from farming in 1910, he moved back to this city, some months later.
Eleven of his 12 children are left to mourn his loss. They are Napoleon, Ashland; Mrs. Arthur Ladner and Mrs. Clark Burgett, Anacortes, Wash.; Mrs. Joseph Schaefer, Fenwood; Wilford, town of Eau Pleine, Marathon county; Mrs. Jacob Kaige, Portland, Oregon; Albert, Marshfield; Edward, Wheelock, N.D.; Frank, Ebbe; Mrs. Frank Duvall, Riplinger; Lawrence, state of Washington: He also leaves one brother who lives in New Mexico.