THOSE WHO WENT BEFORE

An axe murder, a captain lost at sea, a Puritan who arrived in 1631, an accused witch — oh the stories revealed in genealogy research

- LIEF CARLSEN

I vividly remember the moment I saw the words “stonemason” written in the occupation column of the 1880 census form.

I was in the basement of the Wenatchee library, poring over what seemed like an endless spool of microfilm, looking for some mention of John Stofer, my great-great-grandfather, when suddenly there it was, in black and white, a record of a man I had never known and knew nothing about except his name. And he had been a stonemason!

I struggle to explain why those words had such an effect on me.

Of course I had known that I had a great-great-grandfather. We all, of necessity, have eight of them.

But for most of my life, I gave the matter little, if any thought. As a boy, I had known three of my grandparents and heard a few stories about great-grandparents but that was as far as my interest in genealogy had gone.

When I decided, in 1996, to put together a little family history for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, I started poking around and digging up what I could from various sources.

Mostly what I uncovered were names and dates but very little about the character and accomplishments of the ancestors themselves.

So when I saw that census form that had been filled out in impeccable handwriting by someone named Asbury H. Neel on the 9th day of June, 1880, in Monroe Township, Guernsey County, Ohio, it was almost as if I were standing in the presence of John Stofer, talking to my great-great-grandfather — like I knew him, even if just a little.

Add to that the fact that I had chosen the same line of work as John Stofer even though I had never heard of the man. Had I stumbled onto a kind of destiny?