The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1910-01-13
MEMORIAL FOR
GEN. BEADLE
GREATEST FRIEND OF SCHOOL
SYSTEM.
WILL HAVE SPECIAL DAY
JANUARY 21 IN THE SCHOOLS
THROUGHOUT THE STATE.

Friday, January 81, will be Beadle
Day in the public schools of the state,
at which time tags will be sold to
raise money for a memorial to Gen.
w. Fl. II. Beadle, the greatest friend
the public school system of South Da-
kota ever had, and it is hoped that the
teachers and pupils Of Brookings coun-
ty will unite to make 1t a great sue
cess.
The following is an extract from the
address of State Superintendent H.
A. Ustrud, delivered at the last annual
session of the South Dakota Educa-
tional Association at Lead, s. D.:
THE most illustrious Of them all, is
the soldier and scholar, the statesman
and patriot. General w H. H. Beadle.
He is with us today, the honorcd pres
ident OF our association, a promise full.
filled. Himself the son Of a pioneer.
born In log hut built by his pioneer
father In Liberty township, Park coun-
ty, Indiana, he is typical represent
ative OF one of tho pioneer families of
that great state. Unlike so many 9TH
ers who came here from the New
England states at the beginning of
statehood to accumulate wealth and
secure positions by speculating in the
products and the simplicity of the
hard working tillers of the soil, Con-
eral Beadle came here at the close of
the great civil war, b-evetcd brigadier
general in recognition of gallant and
maritorious services on the field of
battle, defending the Union cause. He
came here to fulfill what he promised
in his youth amid the scenes and hard
ships OF the early days Of his native
state where he contributed his share
In the upbuilding Of the Hoosier state.
How we'll the promise has been full
filled future generations will be better
able to understand and appreciate than
any of us, his contemporaries, In the
enduring monument that he has him.
self erected by his own devotion and
.unselfish services to our state. Any
monument built of granite or cast in
bronze which we, his admiring fr' nds,
may erect in honor of his services
now or perhaps more properly in the
| future. will only represent a futile
attempt to express in tangible form
our love, admiration, end gratitude,
for his unostentatious and invaluable
labors as one of the chief master
builders of South Dakota.
"The greatest service Gen. Beadle
! rendered the state is to be found in
his successful efforts in saving the
school and endowment lands of the
state at time when his great life
work was trembling in the balance.
He had witnessed the reckless waste
of school land in other states and he
had not been long in the Dakotas be-
fore he became impressed with the
Importance and possibilities Of It's pub
lie lands. He at once sounded q warn
ing and urged the necessity of saving
this fertile area for the benefit of the
public schools Of the state. When the
constitutional convention met at Sioux
Falls in 1885 he found the members
OF that body in doubt of the value of
the great service he offered. The CON-
mittee on .chocl and public land was
divided. But, the opportunity this
man Of creative genius and generous
impulses had sought was at hand, md
he proved equal to it. During the
time preceding this convention he had
travelled among the people pleading
with them and enlisti.;g their support
and when he had presented to the con-
vention the draft of tho article upon
education and providing that no school
lands should be sold for less than ten
dollars per acre, practically as it is to
be found In the constitution of the
state, he pleaded his cause earnestly
and eloquently before the doubling
committee members with the result
that majority agreed to adopt the
provision"
At the conclusion Of Superintend-
ent's address the following resolutions
were presented to the association and
were unanimously adopted:
Whereas William Henry Harrison
Beadle, earliest and most recent pres
ident of this body of teachers. has rem
dered invaluable service to the Dako-
tas as territorial superintendent Of
public instruction, college professor,
institute organizer and conductor, and
as normal school president; and
Whereas, his exceptional foresight
energy and perseverance were largely
responsible for placing minimum val
ue on our school lands. thus prevent,
ing their sale to spectators and pre-