Albert J. Stover was born April 3, 1836 in Oneida County, N. Y.   His parents were Daniel, born circa 1813 in N. Y., and Hannah, born  ca. 1815 in N. Y.  Daniel and family moved Westward shortly after  Albert J. (A.J.) was born. A.J.'s brother, Clark, was born in Cook  County, Ill. in November of 1837.  Daniel's parents and family emigrated about the same time and had arrived in Racine County, Wisconsin by 1840.

    There is some evidence that the Stover family lived for a short time (1837-1839) in the Chicago area. Some of the family remained there or returned later.  One of Daniel's sisters, Deborah Mulnix, married and  reared a family in Chicago. She had the first set of twins to be born in Chicago in 1841. Daniel's son, Clark, also served in the Civil War and became a mail carrier in Chicago.  Hannah was living with Clark at the time of her death and is buried near Evanston (Illinois).

    Ernie Wagner, youngest son of Jake Wagner and Dora Stover, related a story he had heard about some Stover who once owned some Illinois swamp land with a river running through it.  He traded the land for a span of oxen;  the swamp was later drained and became part of the city of Chicago.

    By 1850, Daniel, Hannah, Albert and Clark were living in Pleasant  Prairie, Kenosha Co., Wisconsin.  Daniel listed his occupation as farmer.   The 1860 census of Kenosha Co. includes Hannah, occupation farmer, Albert, and Martha, age 7, living in the town of Paris.  Clark was not enumerated with them; possibly he had already left home.  Daniel was enumerated with his parents, Joseph and Nancy, in the nearby town of Somers.  Daniel's parents were elderly; perhaps he was visiting them or just helping out.   I suspect, however, that he was separated from his own family.  I know nothing of Daniel's activities or whereabouts after 1860.

   May Stover indicated the possibility of some religious conflict in A.J.'s family.  Dorothy Stover Rodehorst had gained a similar impression from stories she heard from Elizabeth Stover Sitz and from "Aunt" Fannie Pierson. It seems that A.J.'s father or brother were Methodist ministers and were so extremely strict and dogmatic that A.J. was more-or-less ''anti-church."

   Probably A.J.'s father, Daniel, and A.J.'s Uncle Cyrus were ministers.  Three cousins descended from Daniel's sisters have shared related stories.  Dorothy Cook said her Great-grandmother Deborah had two brothers, both of them Methodist ministers. Two other cousins (sisters) descended from Daniel's sister Angeline, said that Angeline's son, their Grandfather Julius S. Cross, told them that Angeline had two brothers that were preachers and that his Uncle Daniel had taught him to wrestle. There is a complete lack of recollection on the part of any of A.J.'s descendants about anyone in A.J.'s immediate family except for Clark and Martha.  Evidently, he made little mention of his parents, or of his childhood.

   Albert J Stover and Elizabeth Ann Lucas were married September 7, 1862 in Kenosha, Wisconsin by the Rev Reuben Deming.  Elizabeth was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Lucas, Welch immigrants from Paris, Wisconsin.  [see A.J. & Elizabeth genealogy brief]  Shortly after their marriage, A.J. and Elizabeth moved to Racine where A.J. was employed as a night watchman in a wagon works (Moline?).  One day shortly after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (1863), A.J. met a coloured man on the street who greeted him with a cheery "Good day, Brother!!"   - A.J. promptly knocked the man down. This story was told by May Stover; similar versions were recalled by Bess Wagner and Ernie Wagner.

   On Sept. 5, 1864, A.J. enrolled in Company K of the Wisconsin Heavy Artillery Volunteers.  He enrolled in Milwaukee for a period of one year.  A.J.'s occupation at  the time was given as carpenter; he was described as being 5 ft , 11 inches tall, with blue eyes, brown hair, and dark complexion. Apparently his bounty for the year was $100.  He was paid $33.33 in October, 1864 and in June, 1865.  $33.33 was still due him in June, 1865.  He was also paid for expenses, "Am't for cloth'g or money adv'd," in the amount of $61.26.  He was discharged June 26, 1865 near Ft Lyon, Virginia.  The discharge papers give his age as 28 years; I'm certain that he was 29 by that time.

    Ernie Wagner recalled seeing an old picture of A.J. in which he appeared to be extremely gaunt.  Ernie had the impression that the picture had been taken shortly after the War and that A.J. had been in a prison camp.

   In 1870, A.J. and his family were living in the 5th ward of Racine.  He listed his occupation then as house-mover.  By that time, he and his wife had started a family and had two girls; Edith, born June 20, 1866, and Dora, born Sept. 30, 1868.  A.J. had a knack for introducing confusion into the records; Dora was enumerated as "Martha" on the 1870 census.  This may have been her nickname at the time, but the lasting nickname given her was "Doll."

   Two more children were born while the family was living in Racine; Elizabeth, born August 8, 1872 and Bertrand, born June 22, 1876.

   Dorothy Stover Rodehorst recalls hearing that A.J. sent back to Wisconsin for a carload of "good" lumber to build their house after they had been in Nebraska for a couple of years.  I wonder if the 18x22 frame house was their temporary dwelling or if something smaller served them until A.J. could build his home of Wisconsin lumber.

   The 1880 census of Cedar Township shows Albert J. and Elizabeth with children Edith, Dora, Elizabeth and Bertrand. All the information given was as expected with no confusion factors... was A.J. elsewhere when the enumerator appeared?