Mary crossed the Atlantic with her father, step-mother and siblings on the ship Colombia in 1856.  For several years the family lived in Richmond, Ray County, Missouri.  This is where Mary's step-mother died.  According to the obituary of Sarah Wanlass Atwood, Mary's half-sister, father and children did not cross the plains in a Mormon pioneer company.  In some sources the family surname is spelled "Wanless".  The Lehi Ward records list Mary as the daughter of Jackson Russell Wanless and Jane Bell Wanless but Mary was the daughter of Sarah Bell, Jackson's first wife who died in England.  Jane Bell was Sarah's sister, and Jackson's second wife.   Mary married William Lawrence Hutchings.