Sleeping In Everett - Obama Did You Know?

The grave of Barack Obama's GGG Grandmother, Rachel Wolfley, was discovered in a cemetery in Everett, Washington last week.

The grave had incorrectly identified Rachel Wolfley, as Rachel Walfley. Jim Shipman, a local historian discovered the grave as he was doing research on Civil War veterans buried at Evergreen Cemetery. Another researcher had given him the name and he came up with the marker.

"I had a name, I looked it up and I found her buried here," Shipman said. The simple grave marker is spelled incorrectly as "Walfley."

"How that happened nobody knows," Shipman said of the spelling error. "But in 1911, this is just another person."

Now, nearly a century later, she isn't just another person, her great-great-great grandson is a candidate for President of the United States, Barack Obama.

Wolfley lived in Everett for four years with her daughter and son-in-law and, in the nearly 100 years since her burial, the concrete marker has been here, tucked away and unnoticed.

"This marker had sunk down and it was covered with grass we had to dig down to find it," Shipman said.

When he found it, Shipman said his first reaction was one of surprise: "I thought, 'Wow!' The odds are like a needle in a large haystack."

Everett Public Library Historian David Dilgard said it was exciting to find a new local historical connection.

"We always describe this cemetery as being sort of a biographical encyclopedia of the community, and so anytime someone noteworthy comes to our attention, we're always excited about it," Dilgard said.

Shipman is raising money to replace the grave marker with a more permanent one that spells Wolfley's name correctly.

Source:

Komo News. 2008.