vBEADLE continued from page 41 occupies the corner of Sixth and Pine. Both are private residences. Beadle Elementary — aptly named for “the man who saved the schools” — celebrated 90 years of instruction in 2016. Ward’s Congregational Church still holds services at Fifth and Walnut, but Yankton College closed in 1984. The campus now serves as a minimum-security federal prison. Yankton would be a much different place today without the gifts of William Henry Harrison Beadle and Joseph Ward. They deserve recognition both in the city they helped to shape and inside the walls of our nation’s capitol. the point would have prevented conviction,” he said. Beadle and Ward were also guests at Stewart Sheldon’s house on Sixth Street for Thanksgiving dinner in 1879. The subject of statehood for the southern half of Dakota Territory was raised, and the dinner has come to be considered the true beginning of the push to create North and South Dakota. The men became involved in political clubs and both attended a convention in Huron in 1883 where the seeds for a state constitution were planted. It took Congress six years to finally approve the document. Ward, working as the chairman of the Committee on Arrangement and Phraseology of the Constitution, wrote much of it, including the motto by which South Dakotans continue to live — Under God, the People Rule. Ward lived barely long enough to see South Dakota achieve statehood on Nov. 2, 1889. He died of blood poisoning just a few weeks later on December 11, and was buried in the Yankton Cemetery on Douglas Avenue. Beadle later became a professor and president at Eastern State •Hy-Vee Wine & Spirits Normal School (now Dakota •Food Court •Starbucks State University) in Madison. He •HealthMarket •Fuel Center died in 1915. •Red Box Video Rental Though Beadle and Ward •Full Service Pharmacy have both been gone for over •Post Office •Floral Shop a century, tangible reminders •Fishing Licenses of their lives still remain in Yankton. Ward’s home, recognizable by its steep twin gables and bay windows, stands 2100 Broadway, Yankton at 512 Mulberry. Beadle’s home, 605-665-3412 modest by comparison and HyVee Yankton surrounded by a white fence, vBy John Andrews South Dakota Magazine OPEN 24 HOURS We’re More Than A Grocery Store! 42– Yankton, South Dakota • KAYAKS • CANOES • PADDLE BOARDS • PADDLE BOATS • CAMPERS • BIKES Delivery/Shuttle Service CABINS • LODGE Vacation & Extended Stay Full Season RV PARK 605-665-3206 DjsResort.com