"Portrait and Biographical Record of Portland and Vicinity, Oregon." Authors: "a
compilation of this work....by a number of writers".  Chapman Publishing Co;
Chicago, 1903. p. 872.
 
REUBEN GOUCHER, M.D.

     an eminent medical and surgical practitioner of Mulino, and a resident of
Oregon since 1880, was born in Ripley county, Ind., April 14, 1832. His father,
Samuel, was born in New Jersey, as was also his mother, Jane Elizabeth (Van
Zile) Goucher. The father was a wagon manufacturer by trade, and in young
manhood emigrated to Indiana, settling near Versailles, where for sixty-one
years he plied his trade of wagon-making with considerable success. He was one
of the best known characters in his neighborhood, and his work was as reliable
as his character and word. He married his wife in Essex county, N. J., and to
them were born seven sons and one daughter, of whom there remains but two sons,
David and Reuben, the latter of whom is the second youngest in the family.
      Left an orphan when a mere child. Dr. Goucher was fortunate in securing a
good common school education, and being surrounded by refining and uplifting
influences. Having finished his training at the high school, he entered the
Eclectic Medical College of Louisville, Ky., where, after taking two courses, he
went to the Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating therefrom
June 10, 1854. He immediately returned to the scenes of his boyhood days in
Ripley county, Ind., where he engaged in practice for three years, and was very
successful. In the meantime he had developed a pioneering spirit which
strengthened with the passing of time, and in 1857 removed to Iowa, where he
remained for two years. Iowa did not meet his expectations as a field for
practice, and in 1859 he decided to push on further west, locating in Genoa,
Neb., where he combined practice with a general merchandise business. 1865 found
him in Wright county, Iowa. From there he removed to Jackson county and in 1866
he located at Elk, Marion county, Kans., which continued to be his home until
1878, in which year he located at Fredonia, Elk county, Kans.
     Dr. Goucher became identified with Oregon in 1880, his means of
transportation being by mules and wagons, and his family accompanying him to the
new Eldorado. He bought sixty-three acres of land adjoining the town of Mulino,
which has since been his home, and upon which he has combined farming with
medical practice. He  also owns eighty-five acres of land in what is called
Eldorado, Ore., as well as eighty acres near Canby, making in all three farms,
the greater portion of which are under cultivation. With him on his trip across
the plains came the wife of Dr. Goucher, who was Katherine, daughter of Joseph
Setzer, natives respectively of Sandusky county, Ohio, and the state, of
Pennsylvania. Mr. Setzer was a blacksmith by trade, and followed the same for
his entire active life, his life being spent in Ohio, Kansas, and again in Ohio,
where his death occurred at an advanced age. One child has been born to Dr. and
Mrs. Goucher, Jennie, who is a dressmaker in Oregon City. Dr. Goucher has held
several important political positions within the gift of his fellow townsmen,
his Republican constituents having elected him school director for three terms,
coroner of Clackamas county for one term, and road supervisor for one term. He
is fraternally associated with the Blue Lodge of Masons, and with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows.


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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in April 2008 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.