Francis Rawn Shunk, the tenth Governor of Pennsylvania from 1845 to 1848, was born on August 7, 1788 near Trappe, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, the son of John Shunk and Elisabeth Rawn. Shunk served in the Pennsylvania militia during the War of 1812. After the war he married Jane Findlay, daughter of former Pennsylvania Governor William Findlay, on December 11, 1820. Both before and after the war, Shunk served as a clerk and secretary in both the executive and legislative branches of Pennsylvania government, where he played an active role in moderating partisan tensions. When Democratic gubernatorial candidate Henry Muhlenberg unexpectedly died in August 1844, Shunk was tapped to run by the Democratic Party and narrowly defeated Whig candidate Joseph Markle. He was re-elected in 1847 but, suffering from tuberculosis, was forced to resign his position on July 9, 1848; he died eleven days later on July 20, 1848.