RICHARD TUNISON,
retired merchant, was born in Reading, Steuben Co., N. Y., January 16,
1823. His parents, Cornelius and Catharine (Hays) Tunison, were natives of
New Jersey, but were married in New York State. In the spring of 1853 the
family came to Mercer County, and located north of the site of Thiel
College. The parents died on that farm, the father August 20, 1854, aged
sixty-eight, and the mother March 10, 1865, aged ninety-one years. Both
adhered to the Baptist faith, Mrs. Tunison being one of the original
members of the Greenville congregation. Cornelius Tunison was in the
United States Army eight years, and served in the War of 1812. In early
life a Democrat, he subsequently became a Whig and then a Republican, to
which political faith he adhered until his death. Richard Tunison grew to
manhood in his native county, receiving the usual common school education.
He was married in Bound Brook, N. J., to Miss Mary E. Sullard, a native of
that town. They resided in New Jersey about three years, and Mr. Tunison
then engaged in the grain trade on Seneca Lake, N. Y. In the spring of
1853 he removed with his parents to the vicinity of Greenville, where he
followed farming until his removal to that borough some twenty years ago,
where he purchased and ran the St. Charles Hotel for one year. In 1873 Mr.
Tunison erected a store-room on Main Street, and in partnership with his
son, William F., opened a grocery house. In the fall of 1 882 he retired
from the firm, and his son conducted the business till the spring of 1888,
when he sold out. To Richard and Mary E. Tunison have been born three
sons: William F., H. A. and Charles, deceased. Both he and wife are
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the family are all stanch
supporters of the Republican party.
History of Mercer County, PA, 1888, pages 830-831
