William M. Cook, mayor of Clifton, and a prominent business man of the town, was born in Wayne County March 23, 1849, son of John L. and Mary Ann (Johnson) Cook, both of whom were natives of Wayne County. William M. was reared on a farm and secured a limited education in his boyhood days, and continued farming exclusively until twenty years of age. He then traded in stock until his marriage, at the age of twenty-two, with Almyra I. Montague. He then resumed farming and followed that and stock trading until 1882, when he engaged in steam saw-milling in the county, at which he has continued ever since. In December 1884, he moved to Clifton, and the following March engaged in the general merchandise business with G. W. Thompson, continuing the same up to the present time. May 11, 1886, Mrs. Cook died, leaving six living children: Nancy L., Jacob L., Mary, Thomas, Jessie and Nellie. Mr. Cook is a Democrat in politics, and in August, 1885, was elected to the office of mayor of Clifton. He is a Mason and K. of H. and a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in which faith his wife died.