Francis R. Shunk

Shunk, Francis R., a distinguished citizen of Pennsylvania, and a native of Montgomery county, in that State, was born August 7, 1788. He was a son of John Shunk, and his grandfather, Francis Shunk, emigrated from the Palatinate of the Rhine, in Germany, about the year 1715. The ancestors of Francis R. Shunk were of the first respectability, his mother was a woman of great excellence, and her rare talents did much toward giving her son a good early mental culture. At the age of fifteen he became the teacher of a small school, and subsequently of the village school of Trappe, where he was born, spending the time, when not thus occupied, in manual labor on a farm. In 1812 he was selected by Andrew Porter, then Surveyor-General, under the administration of Governor Snyder, to fill a clerkship in his department. While thus employed, he was at the same time pursuing a course of legal study. In 1814 he performed the duties of a soldier in the defence of Baltimore. Soon after he was elected, first an assistant, and then principal clerk, in the House of Representatives of the State Legislature. In the latter capacity he served the State several years. The next public office which he filled, was that of Secretary to the Board of Canal Commissioners. In 1838 he was appointed Secretary of State; and, on retiring from that office, he established himself in the practice of law at Pittsburg. In 1844 he became Governor of the State; but he had barely entered on his second term when his health failed, and he was induced to resign. His disease was unyielding, and he died July 9, 1848, at the age of 60. Gov. Shunk was highly esteemed for his social and moral virtues, and did much toward ameliorating that bitterness of party spirit which is too often indulged among politicians.

Blake, John Lauris. A Biographical Dictionary: comprising a summary account of the lives of the most distinguished persons of all ages, nations, and professions; including more than two thousand articles of American biography. Philadelphia: H. Cowperthwait & Co., 1859, p. 1142.

Submitted by Nancy.