G. R. Brunk, farmer and stockman of Cole County, Mo., and native of the "Buckeye State," was born in 1845, being the seventh of ten children born to E. W. and Harriet L. (Hanford) Brunk, who were also born in Ohio. The father was a physician, but also owned a farm, which he sold in 1867 and emigrated to Missouri, settling in Cole County, where he purchased a farm of 200 acres, and, besides overseeing his land, was engaged in practicing his profession. Here he died on the 20th of January, 1885. His father was born in Maryland, and his grandfather in Germany. G. R. Brunk attended the public schools of Ohio until twenty-one years of age and then went to Minnesota, and after residing in that State two years, came, in 1868, to Missouri, and for two years farmed on rented land. Since 1871 he has resided on his farm of 180 acres, nine miles west of Jefferson City. He was married April 24, 1870, in McDonald County, Mo., to Miss Rhoda Austin, and moved to Cole County in October of that year. They have four children, Eva, Roy, Abbie and James Austin. Neltie, the oldest child, died in infancy. Mrs. Brunk was a daughter of Alpha M. and Abbie H. Austin, and was born in Vermont in 1850. The father died in the army in August, 1863, and the rest of the family came to Missouri in 1869, where Abbie H. Austin died April 2, 1889. Mr. Brunk has made many improvements on his farm, and has built a new barn, set out a good orchard, and has made a large amount of fence. He is engaged in general farming but also gives considerable attention to dairy work, and in May, 1887, began shipping butter to Texas, since which time he has shipped nearly every week, and one year sent nearly 1,000 pounds. His cattle are of Jersey breed. He is a member of the Agricultural Wheel, and he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. On the 2d of May, 1864, he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Thirty-second Ohio Infantry, and wag assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and, after remaining at Bermuda Landing for several months, was on guard duty at City Point, and was mustered out at Columbus. He was a member of the Ohio State Militia for five years.

Transcribed from:
History of Cole, Moniteau, Morgan, Benton, Miller, Maries, and Osage Counties, Missouri, Goodspeed Publishing Company (1889).