On bluffs above the Mississippi River in Herculaneum, a small state historic site preserves the cemetery where former Missouri governor Daniel Dunklin is buried. Born in South Carolina in 1790, Dunklin served in the War of 1812, rose through Missouri politics, became lieutenant governor in 1828, and was elected governor in 1832. He is widely credited with helping found Missouri’s public school system. After his death from pneumonia in 1844, he was first buried on his family estate, then later reinterred with his wife in the present walled cemetery. Restored to state care in 1965, the site endures as a memorial to his public legacy.