General William Henry Harrison Beadle - Historical Albion Michigan

If you are taking a vacation this year to Washington, D.C., you might like to visit the National Statuary Hall, found in the Rotunda of the US Capitol building. On display there are 95 statues contributed by the 50 states which sent statues of their notable citizens.

Of special interest to Albionites is a statue of General William Henry Harrison Beadle (1838-1915), who is interred in our own Riverside Cemetery. Beadle attended the University of Michigan from 1857 to 1861 and studied civil engineering. His wife, Ellen S. Chapman was originally from Albion, and that is why he was buried here with his wife.

Beadle attained the rank of brevet Brigadier-General during the Civil War before he was discharged in 1866. He returned to the University of Michigan and received a law degree in 1867. In 1869 he was appointed surveyor of the Dakota Territory. Beadle served as Superintendent of Public Instruction, and was also president of the Madison Normal School there in South Dakota.

Beadle was known for his defense of "school lands," whereby wise management of the sale of public land would finance the public school system. "He Saved the School Lands," is the inscription found on the statue. Beadle’s ideas and work were adopted by several western states.

A new book entitled, "National Statuary Hall, Guidebook for a Walking Tour" by Philip H. Viles, Jr. has just been published, and General Beadle is featured on page 17 of this 116-page work. Copies are $9.95 each plus $1.50 p & h to: Philip Viles, Jr. P.O. Box 700414, Tulsa, OK 74170-0414. The author was in town recently to view the gravesite, and left us with a copy of the book.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photograph of the statue of General W.H.H. Beadle in the National Statuary Hall. It was unveiled in 1938, and was created by H. Daniel Webster. If you visit the U.S. Capitol, be sure and visit Statuary Hall. It is located past the Rotunda and vestibule in the West side, and General Beadle’s statute is located immediately to the right of the entrance [Note: a photo of General Beadle appears in my book, History of Albion, Michigan, page 98].

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 \| Advertise on AlbionMich.com