David B. Brunner was a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

.

David B. Brunner was born in Amity, Pennsylvania

Amity Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania

Amity Township is a township in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,867 at the 2000 census. The 2005 census estimate put the population at 11,067...

. He attended the common schools and learned the carpenter

Carpenter

A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....

’s trade. He taught school from 1853 to 1856, during which time he studied the classics. He graduated from Dickinson College

Dickinson College

Dickinson College is a private, residential liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773, Dickinson was chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the newly...

 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...

, in 1860. He served as principal of the Reading Classical Academy in Reading, Pennsylvania

Reading, Pennsylvania

Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...

, from 1860 to 1869. He established the Reading Business College in 1880.

Brunner was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-first

51st United States Congress

The Fifty-first United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar Congress, was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C...

 and Fifty-second

52nd United States Congress

The Fifty-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C...

 Congresses. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1892

United States House election, 1892

The U.S. House election, 1892 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1892 which coincided with the election of Grover Cleveland as President for the second time, defeating incumbent Benjamin Harrison....

. He taught at the Reading Business College and died in Reading in 1903. Interment in Amityville Cemetery.

Brunner was also the author of several Pennsylvania German poems, e.g. "Wann ich yuscht en Bauer waer" (If only I were a farmer)

Sources

• The Political Graveyard