A Little Family History

My maiden name is Brimley. My dad's people came from Scotland and England, with names like Kirk (Scottish for church) and Southworth (English for south worth, I would guess).

I have seen Brimley spelled Brameley and Bramelea. It means by the brim of the lea--edge of the meadow. Which likely indicates where these people originally lived. My dad's Grandfather was from Lancashire.

In the mid 1800s the Brimley family left England, from Liverpool, and sailed to America. My father's father was on the ship. He was just a boy then. His name, William Jedediah Brimley. They came to live in Utah, Zion to them, because they had joined the Mormon church.

The ship was old, slow, and leaky. It took six weeks to cross the Atlantic, with the older boys and the men bailing water around the clock. But, obviously, they made it. When they got to Salt Lake City they began life there in a small adobe house.

Eventually the Brimley brothers became butchers and had a store on State Street in Salt Lake City, Brimley Brothers' Meats. Started by the first Utah generation, it was passed down to their sons. I remember my dad telling that when he was young he would carry home the meats that didn't sell each day, like the organ meats, the tongue, and beef neck bones. Soup from the bones was often their dinner. And my dad prized beef heart and liver.

Actually, I also like the organ meats. Thanks, Daddy. But you can have the neck bones. And you can have the tongue. I tried. Really, I tried, but I just couldn't like eating a tongue, and I don't need to even see one on a plate again. Ever.

But I served beef liver (and chicken livers) to my kids. I don't know if I should say occasionally or often. You'd have to ask them how they feel/felt about that. I'm pretty sure none of them eat liver in their own homes.

Very hard to find these days in the grocery stores anyway.

Tangent. Sorry.

I have seen the store on State Street--a fine location, as my dad would say. It was many years ago when I last saw it. (Does anyone know for sure how long it lasted?)It was a few blocks west of Uncle Vern (his name was Laverne, poor kid) Brimley's house, as I recall, like around 26th South and State.

The store is gone now. So are all those Brimley brothers and sisters. My dad, born fourth, was the the second to last of them to die, as far as I know.

Their names:
Margaret Ann, named for her mother Margaret Ann Kirk, my grandmother whom I never knew. The daughter was Aunt Margie to us, 1886-1983. Born first, lived longest, 97 years.
Lulu 1888-1888.
William Ray 1889-1891
Wilford Charles 1891-1981, my dad, 89 when he died. Preceded in death by his wife Lola, our "little Mama," as he often called her. Daddy sold life insurance for New York Life Insurance Company, up and down the length of California, mostly on the military bases.
James Clyde 1894-1978, Uncle Clyde, a butcher. He took his large family to Mesa, Arizona. His children were the only cousins I knew. I loved their visits. He was a Navy veteran and had stories to tell.
Elsie 1896-1967
Laverne 1898- 1976, I met him a few times.
Wallace Gerald 1901-1935

It seems this post decided it had a life of its own, almost got away from me. It began so that I could say I like my name, Brimley. It's a good name.