Albert Stanley was born November 23, 1888, in Beaufort, North Carolina. Stanley was employed as a cook for Jack S. Parkin, the captain of a fishing boat, when he registered for the draft (World War I) in June 1917. He was subsequently inducted into the service at Beaufort on July 28, 1918. He served primarily in the 349th Labor Battalion, was never sent overseas, and was honorably discharged on December 19, 1918.