Daniel Dunklin

Daniel Dunklin. Fifth Governor of Missouri. , Pathway to a Political Future , Born near Greenville, South Carolina, January 26, 1790, Daniel Dunklin moved first to Kentucky and then to Missouri, settling with his widowed mother at Mine-a-Breton, near Potosi, in 1810. Dunklin studied law and was admitted to the Missouri bar but was not very active as an attorney., Dunklin began his political career in 1815 with appointment as sheriff for Washington County by Territorial Governor William Clark. In the same year Dunklin took as his bride, Emily Haley (19-1851), his boyhood sweetheart. He built a small tavern in Potosi, and it soon became the general meeting place for discussion of society and politics. , A prolific reader, Dunklin supported education and was instrumental in founding the Potosi Academy. He donated more than 500 volumes to the academy as well as helping to pay for the buildings. , Contributions to Education , Gov. Dunklin's greatest interest was in schools. He is often called the father of Missouri's public school system. He sought to establish public schools on a firm and stable basis. In 1833, the legislature passed an act authorizing the governor to appoint a committee to formulate a complete system of common and public schools. In 1835, the General Assembly passed a law establishing the public school system in Missouri. The law outlined the minimum school year, established the basic curriculum, and allowed for local taxation to support schools. , In the field of higher education, Dunklin recommended in 1834 that a site for a state university be chosen and partially funded through the sale of land. Five years later, the University of Missouri became a reality. , Shaping Missouri to the End , Gov. Dunklin resigned his office three months before the end of his term because he received the appointment of surveyor general for Missouri and Illinois from President Andrew Jackson. The discharge of his surveyor's duties conflicted with his business interests, and he retired to Potosi. , In 1840, he sold his holdings at Potosi and moved to the Herculaneum area. There he purchased approximately 570 acres north of Herculaneum where he built a large house near the present town of Riverside. He called his new home Maje. In 1843, Dunklin was appointed by Gov. Thomas Reynolds as commissioner to adjust and designate the boundary between Missouri and Arkansas. He held this appointment until his death. , Stalemate Sets Off Career , In July 1822, a group of delegates from various parts of Washington County met at Dunklin's Tavern to nominate a representative to the state legislature. After a day long stalemate failed to produce a candidate, the gathering suggested Dunklin. Accordingly, Dunklin was nominated and later elected serving in the legislature during 1822-1824. , Following his term in office, he spent the next four years in Potosi. Dunklin had invested in the mines, and his investments proved to be profitable. , He returned to politics in 1828 when he was elected lieutenant governor. Four years later in 1832, Dunklin ran for governor. His support of rural issues helped carry the rural districts, overcoming opponent John Bull's edge in St. Louis. , Cemetery History , In July 1844, Dunklin contracted pneumonia. He gradually grew worse and died on July 25, 1844. He was buried two days later in a field near Maje. In 1851, Daniel's wife Emily was buried with him at Maje. His son, James L. Dunklin, inherited the estate upon the death of his mother. Not as successful in business as his father, James was forced to sell the estate in 1885 due to liens placed on the property for debts. In this sale of the estate, one acre was reserved from the only part James owned free and clear. This acre became the present Dunklin Cemetery. Following the sale, Daniel and Emily were exhumed and reinterred in this cemetery. , The Missouri State Park Board agreed on August 25, 1965 to accept the cemetery for the purpose of erecting and maintaining "a memorial park in remembrance of Daniel Dunklin…" This action was a forerunner of the statute enacted in 1967 "to suitably mark every grave of a former governor of this state and to maintain every grave of a former governor within this state which is not within a perpetual care cemetery."