Bunsen, George

Born: 1794-02-18 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Died: 1872-10-05 Belleville, Illinois

Flourished: Saint Clair County, Illinois

Bunsen attended schools in Frankfurt, and entered the University of Berlin in 1812. The Napoleonic Wars disrupted his education. Bunsen joined the army, fighting in the Peninsula Campaign and in the campaign that saw Napoleon defeated at Waterloo in 1815. After the war, Bunsen continued his studies with Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in Switzerland and graduated from the University of Berlin in 1819. In 1819, he opened a boy's school in Frankfurt. In 1833, Bunsen became embroiled in revolutionary politics in Germany, forcing him to leave Frankfurt. He immigrated to St. Clair County in 1834, settling on a 360-acre farm near Belleville. In 1839, he became a naturalized citizen. In 1850, he was farming and owned real estate valued at $18,000. In addition to farming, Bunsen taught in the county public schools. In 1855, he moved to Belleville to open a private normal school. He also took part in local politics and civic affairs. Politically, Bunsen aligned initially with the Democratic Party. In April 1847, he won election as a Democrat to represent St. Clair County at the Illinois Constitutional Convention. He later embraced the Republican Party. From 1855 to 1859, Bunsen served as county superintendent of schools. In 1857, he participated in establishing the Illinois State Normal School in Bloomington. In 1859, Bunsen won election to the Belleville School Board, continuing as a member until his death. He married Sophie Le Coq, with whom he had nine children.

Gravestone, Walnut Hill Cemetery, Belleville, IL; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 460; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Ridge Prairie, St. Clair County, IL, 481; Arthur Charles Cole, ed., The Constitutional Debates of 1847 , vol. 14 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library, Constitutional Series (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1919), 2:951-52; Alvin Louis Nebelsick, A History of Belleville (Belleville, IL: Township High School and Junior College, [1951?]), 78-79.