MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
Albert Brandley Family History
Albert Brandley was born March 24, 1887, at his
home in Richfield, Utah. He was the seventh child
and fifth son of John Theodore Brandley and Marie
Elizabeth Nageli. His mother died when he was only
five years old and he was raised by a stepmother,
Eliza Zaugg.
Albert started school in Richfield, and in 1899,
when he was 12 years old, his father was called by the
Church to come to Canada and help settle the coun-
try. Without hesitation they gathered their belong-
ings, leaving their furniture store and co-op store,
and came to Canada. A company of about 30 people
accompanied them. They travelled from Richfield to
Nephi by horse and wagon, driving the cattle. At
Nephi, they boarded the train and continued on their
way. They arrived in Stirling on May 5, 1899. They
stayed in the section house that first night and the
next day moved their belongings up to the homesite.
There they pitched tents. Soon the men went to work
and plowed some ground; a garden and a little wheat
was planted. They dug a well on the coulee bank for
water, and began to work on the canal. Albert's
father, John Theodore, his brother, Joseph, and he
hauled water for the families while others worked on
the canal. Theodore went to Lethbridge for groceries
and started a small store in one corner of a large tent,
and a post office with living quarters at the other end.
The country looked very flat to Utah people, with no
fences and grass up to their knees. Six small houses
were built and sold to the settlers. Theodore pur-
chased and lived in the first house built in Stirling.
President Card came quite often from Cardston to see
how the people were getting along. Albert's father,
Theodore, was made Bishop of Stirling and the first
meeting was held between two hay racks with a
canvas for a roof. A church was soon built in which
school was also held until the school could be built.
The people made the brick from clay for the new
school which stood for over 50 years. That first fall,
the grain was cut, and for the next year or so it was
threshed with flails, cleaned by the wind, which was
plentiful.
Albert continued his education in Stirling, going
as far as he could, and then went to Salt Lake to
Henagers Business College.
Albert was the first deacon to be ordained in the
Stirling Ward. During his early life in Stirling before
his marriage, he was Sunday School Superintendent,
Counselor in the M.l.A. and ward teacher.
In the summer of 1914, Luella Wilcox came to
Stirling from Farmington, Utah, to visit her sister,
Alice Steed. It was while she was here for six weeks
that Albert met and courted her. Before she returned
to Farmington they became engaged. However, Al-
bert was called on a mission to the Eastern States, so
the wedding was postponed until his return. They
were married January 31, 1917, in the Salt Lake
Temple. Then they journeyed by train to Canada to
make their home.
Their first home was an apartment in the back of
Grandpa (John Theodore) Brandley's store in Stir-
ling. Albert worked on the farm with machinery
driven by horses. The work was hard and the days
were long. At one time Theodore Brandley and his
boys owned 350 horses that they had raised.
Albert and Luella became the parents of four
children, all raised and educated in Stirling from
infancy until college time. When Reinard was two
years old they moved from the back of the store into a
home built by Albert. This was located one half block
north of the church. Luella and Albert remodeled the
home several times until they moved to Lethbridge
after the children were all raised. Albert thought they
were getting too old to keep up all of the yard work
and thought an apartment in Lethbridge would be the
answer.
Luella and Albert held many positions in the
church during their life in Stirling. Albert served on
the High Council in the Taylor Stake for 32 years
under three Stake Presidents, H. S. Allen, T. George
Wood, and James H. Walker. They were both called
to be temple workers in the Alberta Temple, a calling
they enjoyed doing together.
Albert died in 1969, after a heart illness, at which
time he was living in Lethbridge, Alberta. Luella
remained in Lethbridge until 1978 wwhen she moved
to Salt Lake City to be nearer her children.
Albert and Luella were a couple devoted to their
family, to their Church, and to the town of Stirling.
The family has many great memories of their child-
hood in Stirling.
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Mary Tollestrup