In 1904, Vursell was a hardware merchant. He was the sheriff of Marion County from 1910 to 1914. He served as member of the State house of representatives from 1914 to 1916. He was owner and publisher of the Salem Republican from 1916 to 1948.
Vursell was elected as a Republican to the Seventy-eighth and to the seven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1943 - January 3, 1959). In 1947–8, he served on the Herter Committee.[1] Vursell voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.[2] He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1958 to the Eighty-sixth Congress. He retired and resided in Salem, Illinois, where he died September 21, 1974. He was interred in East Lawn Cemetery.
