LOOKING BACK is a Leader online feature that highlights historic photos. Readers are invited to submit their historic Jefferson County photos for online publication.
Herculaneum’s revived Independence Day festival got a new, snazzy name this year that harkens back to the town’s founding in 1808 and recalls the Bicentennial celebration in 2008.
It’s unlikely, though, that the people who attended the 2013 Dunklin-Fletcher Days knew the festival’s namesakes.
Daniel Dunklin (1790-1844) was the fifth governor of Missouri, and served one term from 1832-1836. He is considered “the father of Missouri public schools.”
During his time in Jefferson City, a state education commission was appointed that set the school term at six months and mandated that schools teach reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, English and grammar, with other subjects added if money allowed.
He also recommended in the middle of his term that the site of a state university be chosen; five years later, in 1839, the state Legislature appropriated the money to establish the University of Missouri in Columbia. He also worked to modernize the state’s penal system.
He died in 1884 in Herculaneum; his grave is a state historic site (it’s at the foot of Dunklin Drive) and the Dunklin R-5 School District is named for him.
Thomas Clement Fletcher (1827-1899) is the first native-born governor of Missouri. He was born in 1827 in Herculaneum. Fighting for the Union in the Civil War, Fletcher commanded a regiment at Pilot Knob, which halted the Confederacy’s push toward St. Louis.
Fletcher served as governor during the Civil War and Reconstruction. He, too, was considered a supporter of public education and promoted legislation that established teachers colleges. He also worked to complete the state’s railroad system. The Fletcher House in Hillsboro, which was built in 1851 by Fletcher, is a monument to him.
In addition, the town of Fletcher, west of De Soto, was named for him.
Herculaneum’s Dunklin-Fletcher Park, which overlooks the Mississippi River, is named for the two governors.
And now, the two have a 21st-century festival – complete with fireworks – to keep their names front and center for new generations.
Send submissions to LOOKING BACK to nvrweakly@aol.com or bring or mail them to the Leader office, 503 N. Second St., Festus (P.O. Box 159, 63028). Please include your name, phone number, a brief description of what’s in the photo and tell us how you came by it. Please also include when it was taken, where and by whom (if known). A new LOOKING BACK feature will be posted each week.