Frank Charles Bunnell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania | |
| In office March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1889 | |
| Preceded by | George A. Post |
| Succeeded by | Myron B. Wright |
| Constituency | 15th district |
| In office December 24, 1872 – March 3, 1873 | |
| Preceded by | Ulysses Mercur |
| Succeeded by | James D. Strawbridge |
| Constituency | 13th district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1842-03-19)March 19, 1842 |
| Died | September 11, 1911(1911-09-11) (aged 69) |
| Political party | Republican |
Frank Charles Bunnell (March 19, 1842 – September 11, 1911) was aRepublican member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania.[1][2]
Born in Washington Township inWyoming County, Pennsylvania[3] on March 14, 1842[4] (alternate birth date: March 19), Frank C. Bunnell was a son of Pennsylvania natives James Bunnell (1814–1899) and Mary (Harding) Bunnell (1817–1898). Reared and educated initially with his sister, Savannah (1840–1864), in the common school of Dauphin County, he later attended theWyoming Seminary inKingston, Pennsylvania.[5][6]
Frank Bunnell became one of the early responders to President Lincoln's call for volunteers to help preserve America's union. After enrolling on September 20, 1861, at the age of 19 at Mehoopany, Pennsylvania, he then officially mustered in on October 11, 1861, at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg as a private with Company B,52nd Pennsylvania Infantry. Promoted to the rank ofquartermaster sergeant of his regiment on March 1, 1862[7] during thePeninsula Campaign underGeneral McClellan, he fought with his regiment in multiple engagements, including theBattle of Williamsburg (May 5, 1862) andBattle of Seven Pines (May 31-June 2, 1862). He was subsequently discharged from the military on April 2, 1863, on a surgeon's certificate of disability.[8][9]
Following his honorable discharge from the military, Bunnell returned home to Luzerne County where, from 1864 to 1869, he worked as a merchant. He then relocated toTunkhannock, Pennsylvania, where he worked in the agricultural and banking industries, and began a 20-plus-year tenure as president of the Wyoming County Agricultural Society.[10]
On October 1, 1898, he wed Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania resident Martha A. Smith in Tunkhannock.[11]
An unsuccessful candidate for federal office in 1872, he was elected to theForty-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation ofUlysses Mercur.[12][13]
In 1884, he was elected burgess and borough treasurer of Tunkhannock.[14]
A Republican, he was then elected again to theForty-ninth andFiftieth Congresses,[15] but did not seek renomination in 1888.[16][17] Still residing in Tunkhannock two years later, he was documented as suffering from rheumatism and deafness, according to the special census of Union veterans and widows of the Civil War which was conducted that year.[18]
Residing alone in Tunhannock at the turn of the century,[19] he relocated to Philadelphia sometime during or before 1911.[20]
Suffering fromBright's Disease andaortic regurgitation,[21] Bunnell died at his home at 2320 North 19th Street inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, on September 11, 1911. Following funeral services at the M.E. Church in Tunkhannock on September 15, he was laid to rest at that community's Gravel Hill Cemetery later that same day.[22][23][24]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 13th congressional district 1872–1873 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 15th congressional district 1885–1889 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
