Mary Burrows Cook was born in Ogden, Utah December 12, 1858, a daughter of George and Hannah Burrows Cook.

On March 17, 1859, George, Hannah and their two children moved to South Willard.

She experienced all the privations and pleasures incident to early days in Utah. The Indians were quite troublesome and seemed to enjoy frightening the people. When Willard was first settled the water did not come down only as far as the mouth of the canyon, and the people had to haul all the water they used from there. Grandfather always wanted a fresh drink of water when he came home from the field. And when mother was only about five and her brother, Norton, seven years old, grandmother would send the two of them with a little brass bucket (which held about one gallon) to the mouth of the canyon, with each holding an end of the stick. The Indians were camped east of the settlement at the mouth of the canyon. They always had so many dogs and the papooses liked to frighten the children with their dogs by setting them after the children. Mother has said she used to get so frightened she was almost paralyzed.

When Mary was only six years old her grandmother taught her to spin. She was so small she could not reach to turn the wheel, so grandfather carved the legs of the spinning wheel off so she could reach to turn it. A day’s spinning was considered to be four skeins with 10 knots in a skein and 40 threads to the knot.

For on January 3, 1876 she married Richard 'Nephi' Brunker, but finished teaching the school term after she married. They continued to live in Willard through the summer, and in August of the same year they purchased the lot with one log room on it.

Mary was the mother of 11 children, 3 boys and 8 girls.
She enjoyed making quilts, rugs and most anything useful that she can do. She died August 9, 1939 in Willard, Utah.