Biography

09/18/1816 - 10/14/1870

KUNKEL, John Christian, a Representative from Dauphin County; born, September 18, 1816 in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pa.; graduated, Jefferson College (now Washington and Jefferson College), 1839; graduated, law, Dickinson College (now Penn State Dickinson Law), 1842; attorney (1842-1868); elected as a Whig to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to serve the 1845 and 1846 terms; reelected to the House for the 1851 term; elected, Pennsylvania State Senate (1852-1854); elected, Speaker of the Senate, April 19, 1853; elected, United States Congress (1855-1859); not a candidate for reelection to Congress; died, October 14, 1870 in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; interred, Harrisburg Cemetery, Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.