Mary Albrea Shumway Knowlton (1888-1967) was a wife, mother, nurse, artist, and genealogist.

Mary Albrea Shumway Knowlton was born on 8 December 1888 in Kanab, Utah, to Anna Pixley Johnson and Hyrum Smith Shumway. She grew up in Big Horn Basin in Wyoming. She graduated from the nursing program at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. When World War I broke out she joined the Red Cross Nurses’ program in New York City to prepare to go overseas. Before she made it to France though, she fell in love with a red-headed missionary from Farmington, Utah. After his mission they were married 26 March 1919 in the Salt Lake Temple. They had seven children together. Known as a compassionate woman, she tried to help her neighbors during the depression by providing medical assistance to those who could not afford it. She also helped in the development of recreational facilities for children in her community. She acquired the necessary funds for a playground, swimming pool and a library even during the depression when funds for such things were scarce. For her own family she became a bee keeper, butcher and meat preserver, canner, seamstress, cook, storyteller, and dance sponsor.

She was a member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, wrote an unpublished novel about family experiences, and traveled to Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and throughout the United States. She died in Salt Lake City at the age of 79 on 11 December 1967.