The Father of Missouri's School System
This is a straight forward simple traditional cache. The views
of the river are spectacular and are well worth the time to visit
this historic site and cache.
This cache was placed with permission from the land manager for
this region. Permit is maintained at Mastodon State Historic Site
in Imperial Missouri.
The cache is a small camouflaged container hidden behind a
tree.
And now for a brief history lesson...
Born near Greenville, S.C., in 1790, Daniel Dunklin moved to
Missouri, settling with his widowed mother at Mine-a-Breton, near
Potosi, in 1810.
Dunklin began his political career in 1815 with appointment as
sheriff for Washington County by territorial Gov. William Clark. In
the same year, Dunklin took as his bride, Emily Haley (1797-1851).
He built a small tavern in Potosi, and it soon became the general
meeting place for the discussion of society and politics.
In July 1822, a group of delegates from Washington County met at
Dunklin's Tavern to nominate a representative to the state
legislature. Dunklin was nominated and later elected, serving in
the legislature from 1822 to 1823. Following his term, he spent the
next four years in Potosi, living off profitable investments in the
mines.
He returned to politics in 1828, being elected as lieutenant
governor. Four years later in 1832, Dunklin was elected Missouri's
fifth governor. While Dunklin was governor, the Platte Purchase
added additional land to northwestern Missouri.
Gov. Dunklin is often called the father of Missouri's school
system. He sought to establish public schools on a firm and stable
basis. 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.
Gov. Dunklin was also an advocate of humane treatment of
prisoners. With the construction of the Missouri Penitentiary in
the early 1830s, the governor spoke out against the pervasiveness
of corporal punishment in Missouri's penal system.
Gov. Dunklin resigned his office three months before the end of
his term. 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, and he
retired to Potosi.
In 1840, he sold his holdings at Potosi and moved to the
Herculaneum area, where he built a large house that he called 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 on July 25,
1844, from pneumonia. He was buried two days later in a field near
Maje. In 1851, his wife was buried with him at Maje. Their 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, the sale of the estate had one
acre reserved on the only part James owned, free and clear. This
was to become the present Dunklin Cemetery. Following the sale,
Daniel and Emily were exhumed and reinterred in this cemetery.
The Missouri State Park Board agreed on Aug. 25, 1965, to accept
the cemetery for the purpose of erecting and maintaining "a
memorial park in remembrance of Daniel Dunklin…" This site was the
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." The Missouri Department of Natural
Resources oversees Dunklin's Grave along with Jewell Cemetery,
where Missouri's 22nd governor, Charles Hardin, is buried and
Sappington Cemetery, where governors Meredith Miles Marmaduke and
Claiborne Fox Jackson are buried.
Information cited from web site.
http://www.mostateparks.com/dunklinsgrave/geninfo.htm