The Bouchie Families
[Laura] had seen Mr. Brewster only once, when
he came to hire her to teach the school. He was thin and brown,
like any homesteader; he did not have much to say for himself. -These
Happy Golden Years, Chapter 1, "Laura Leaves Home"
Joseph H. Bouchie
Joseph H. Bouchie was born in Waterloo, Quebec, Canada in May 1838, the son of Louis Bouchie
and Rebecca Boast. Joseph was married twice; he married his first wife, Mary Ann
Law,
in September 1858. Joseph and Mary Ann had six children: Louis (born 1859); twins Mary Rebecca and Elizabeth Ann (born
1861; Elizabeth died about a year later);
Lucy (born 1861); Isaac (born 1865); and Elizabeth Jane (born
1867).
The Bouchies immigrated to the United States in 1867, settling in Grundy County,
Iowa. Several of Joseph's relatives came to the United States when he did, among them his brothers
Robert and William plus their first cousins George Boast and his brother Robert.
Robert Boast became the "Mr. Boast" character of the De
Smet "Little House"® books.
Following the death of his wife Mary Ann, Joseph Bouchie parceled his children out to neighbors in Grundy County and none would live with their father permanently after their mother's death.
In 1870, Joseph Bouchie married his second wife, Elizabeth Ann Currier. They had six children born in Iowa: Clarence (born August 1872); Fannie Ruth (born November 1873); Alma (born 1875); Cora (born 1876); Earl (born 1878); and Mabel (born 1880).
In 1880, the Joseph Bouchie family moved to Pierce County, Nebraska. There, Joseph's daughter Lucy
was married. Elizabeth Bouchie gave birth to daughter Lena in Plainview, Nebraska, in May 1882.
Shortly after Lena's birth, the Bouchie family headed north to Kingsbury County, Dakota Territory.
Joseph
Bouchie, his wife Elizabeth, and their seven children settled on a
homestead claim in June 1882. Joseph
built a shanty, but he later built a substantial
farmhouse on additional property purchased nearby. Children born in Kingsbury
County included Laura (born 1885), Tina (born 1899), and a child born in
1900 who died young.
Isaac Bouchie came to Kingsbury County from Iowa in 1883 to help his father on the homestead, and legal guardianship was returned to his father at that time. Isaac died July 14, 1884. During an argument between half-brothers Clarence and Isaac, Clarence Bouchie threw a bone at Isaac, wounding him on the cheek and infecting him with tetanus. Eleven days later, Isaac died at the home of his brother, Louis. Clarence Bouchie died in 1902, the result of an accidental gunshot wound while on a hunting trip.
Joseph and Elizabeth Bouchie and their children continued to live in Kingsbury County, moving to the town of De Smet in the 1890s. Joseph Bouchie died in January 1918, at age 79. Elizabeth Bouchie died in March 1919, at age 65. The Bouchies and many of their children are buried in the De Smet cemetery. To read Bouchie family obituaries, click HERE.
Louis H. Bouchie
In April 1882, Louis Bouchie filed on a preemption claim in Manchester Township,
Kingsbury County. In the fall of 1882,
Olive (Lib) Morrison and her young son John (born September 1880) came to Kingsbury County from Iowa.
In November 1882, Olive made first filing as "a farmer's daughter" on a homestead in Kingsbury County. That same day, Louis
Bouchie filed on the quarter section adjoining Olive's to the west.
On Christmas Day 1882,
Louis Bouchie and Olive Morrison were married, and they wintered on Louis's preemption claim
in Manchester Township. In January
1883, Louis paid for his land, which he sold in early February. March 1883, Olive and Louis Bouchie
moved to their homesteads, living in a two-room shanty located on the line separating the two claims.
It was here that Laura Ingalls boarded with the family while teaching the Bouchie School (fictional
Brewster School) the following
winter.
Olive and Louis had four children. Louis Bouchie died in 1894; he was buried in the
De Smet cemetery, sharing a headstone with his brother Isaac.
Following Louis Bouchie's death,
Olive returned to Iowa for several years. There she married Frank Tubbs and they moved to Olive's
homestead in Kingsbury County. Around 1900, the Tubbs family moved to Lyon County, Minnesota;
the couple was later divorced. Olive married a fourth time; she died
in 1919. She was buried in the De Smet Cemetery beside Louis Bouchie.
The Bouchie - Boast Connection
Joseph Bouchie and Robert Boast were first cousins. They had the same grandfather (Joseph Boast, born 1794). Joseph Bouchie's mother, Rebecca Boast, was the sister of Robert Boast's father, Richard Boast.
Joseph Bouchie's eldest son was Louis Bouchie; Laura Ingalls boarded with him while teaching the Bouchie School. Robert Boast was Louis Bouchie's first cousin, once removed.
Brewster family, fictional Bouchie family
