Daniel Dunklin (14 January 1790-25 August 1844) was the Democratic Governor of Missouri from 19 November 1832 to 30 September 1836, succeeding John Miller and preceding Lilburn Boggs.
Biography[]
Daniel Dunklin was born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1790, and he was raised in Caldwell County, Kentucky and Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. His family moved to Potosi in 1811, and he served in the militia during the War of 1812 before becoming a tavern owner. He served as Washington County Sheriff from 1815 to 1821, in the State House, as Lieutenant Governor from 1828 to 1832, and as Governor from 1832 to 1836, defeating the National Republican candidate with 50.8% of the vote to the latter's 45.2%. Dunklin pioneered public education, built the Missouri State Penitentiary, and advocated for less corporal punishment. He also insisted that the Mormons and their leader Joseph Smith take up their issues with gentile vigilantes in the courts, refusing to intervene. He resigned in 1836 to serve as Surveyor General for Missouri and Illinois from 1836 to 1840, and he later became a farmer in Herculaneum, where he died in 1844.