William Henry Harrison Beadle (January 1, 1838 – November 15, 1915) was an American soldier, lawyer, educator and administrator.

Shortly after graduating in 1861, he enlisted in the Union Army and by the end of the war had risen to the rank of brevet brigadier general.

[2] His journeys through the territory and his previous frontier experience convinced him that school lands were a trust for future generations and should be sold at their appraised value and never for less than $10 an acre ($2,500 per km2) .

When Congress accepted the state constitution in 1889, it was so impressed that similar provisions were required for North Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming.

Beadle served as president of the Madison State Normal School from 1889 to 1906, and as a professor of history until his retirement in 1912.