Frank Keene Bunkley was a merchant and planter and became warden of the Alabama State Penitentiary on March 5. 1901. He was born in Montgomery County, Alabama, March 1, 1863, son of Gordon Sanford and Lucinda Morris (Keene) Bunkley. His father, Gordon Sanford Bunkley, a native of Clinton, Jones County, Ga., lived on his plantation in Macon (now Bullock) and Montgomery counties, where he was a prosperous planter of the old school, the owner of large numbers of slaves, and, during the Civil war, a producer of vast quantities of supplies for the support of the Confederate army.
He was a son of William Dawson and Camilla D. (Sanford) Bunkley, who lived in Clinton, Jones County, Ga. Jesse Sanford, father of Camilla Sanford, and great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and was with Washington at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis and his army at Yorktown. Jesse D. Bunkley, father of William D. Bunkley, was also a soldier in the Revolution.
The mother of Frank Keene Bunkley, Lucinda Morris (Keene) Bunkley, was the daughter of Dr. Benjamin Franklin and Lucinda (Morris) Keene. Dr. Benjamin Franklin Keene was a Georgia physician, and went to California in the forties, becoming there a leading man in his profession and a member of the State Senate.
Frank Keene Bunkley become prominent in the public eye. He was a planter and merchant, and a Democrat. On March 5, 1901, he was appointed by President Carmichael, with the approval of Governor Samford, warden of the State penitentiary at Wetumpka, and this appointment was confirmed by Governor Jelks.
Mr. Bunkley received his early education in the city schools of Montgomery and then attended the State normal school at Florence, Ala., and the State University at Tuscaloosa, 1882-83. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and was a Master Mason.
He was married Oct. 22, 1891, to Hortense Candler, daughter of former Governor Allen D. Candler, and his wife, Eugenia (Williams) Candler, of Gainesville, Ga. The military and civil record of Governor Candler was distinguished. Governor Candler was a direct descendant of Colonel Candler, who fought in the American Revolution.
Mr. and Mrs. Bunkley were the parents of seven children,
Gordon Sanford Bunkley,
Allen Candler Bunkley,
Frank Keene Bunkley,
William Dowson Bunkley,
Sarah Hortense Bunkley,
Lucy Keene Bunkley
Charles Westcott Bunkley.
Frank Keene Bunkley passed away Dec. 8, 1907. He is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery, Alabama.
SOURCES
Notable Men of Alabama: Personal and Genealogical, Volume 1 edited by Joel Campbell DuBose
FRANK KEENE BUNKLEY
