Transcription and photos: April 1, 2007
Directions: from Highway 61, travel either north or south to the Herculaneum area. Turn on Joachim Ave (right when coming from the south and left when coming from the north). From there, make a left on Dunklin Dr. There should be signs to guide your way as well. Follow Dunklin Dr until it ends. The road ends at a driveway, do not enter private property, but take a look to your right, down the hill towards the Mississippi River. The grave site is right there overlooking the mighty Mississippi. You can park at the left.
All photos © 2007 Valerie Holifield. If you need a copy, please email. (See contact link on this site.)
Transcription:
I’ve also been told that the following are buried there, but I saw no specific stone or marker for them:
Dunklin, Emily; 1797 to 1851 (wife of Gov. Daniel Dunklin)
Dunklin, James F., 08-28-1878 to 12-05-1879; Son of Daniel & Emily
Daniel Dunklin was born in South Carolina in 1790 but was in Missouri by 1810. He began his political career, already having been admited to the Missouri bar, in 1915 when he was appointed as sherrif of Washington County. He also married Emily Haley in 1915 and soon built a tavern in Potosi which would become a popular meeting place. Dunklin served as state legislature in 1822 and 1823, lieutenant governor of Missouri in 1828, and finally governor in 1832. Dunklin pushed for public education and in 1835 laws were passed to allow for Missouri public schools and a few years later the University of Missouri became a reality as well. Three months before his term was to expire, Dunklin resigned, having recieved an appointment from President Andrew Jackson to serve as surveyor general for Missouri and Illinois. He retired and moved to 570 acres in Herculaneum. In 1843, he was appointed as commissioner to work out the boundary between Missouri and Arkansas. He stayed in this position until his death on July 25, 1844, of pneumonia. He was buried in a field near his home, his wife following him in 1851. The Dunklins’ son James was not as successful as his father and was soon forced to sell the familiy estate. He maintained only one acre that would become the current gravesite. The remains of his parents were exhumed and re-buried at this loacation. In 1965, the Missouri State Park board agreed to take on the cemetery.
Check out the gravesite sometime, it’s so peaceful, and the view is wonderful!
