Noted Hannibal barber started career as a harness maker
Ona Weedman Beadle operated a barber shop at 2221 Market Street, Hannibal, Mo., for more than 20 years. His grandson, Dan Bledsoe, of Las Vegas, formerly of Hannibal, has fond memories of getting a haircut from his grandfather, then a nickel for an ice cream cone across the street at the Community Dairy. Mr. Beadle died in 1964. He is pictured at the front of the shop, wearing suspenders. Photo contributed by Dan Bledsoe.
Dan Bledsoe of Las Vegas, Nev., formerly of Hannibal, Mo., shares a photo and memories of his grandfather, Ona Weedman Beadle, who operated Beadle’s Barber Shop at 2221 Market Street when Dan was a boy. The shop was across the street from the Community Dairy. Ona Beadle was in business at that location for more than 20 years.
“I remember many a Saturday going to get a haircut, and grandpa gave me a nickel to get an ice cream cone across the street,” Dan said.
Dan’s mother, Anna Mae Bledsoe, was Ona’s daughter.
Ona’s life began in 1890, in Ashley, N.D., the son of Charles Walter Lewis Beadle and Mary E. Weedman Beadle. Early in his life – when he was a young man of 20 – he followed his father’s profession, working as a harness maker. Three years later he married Grace Brainerd at Champaign, Ill. At the time he registered for the draft in 1918, he was living in Kankakee, Ill, working for Aug Morresette.
As his family grew, he moved to Snow Hill, Lincoln County, Ill., where he worked as a farmer. In 1930, the Beadle children living at home included: Jasper, 14; Ona, 12; Charles, 10; Mary, 8; Wilbur, 7; Alice, 6; Opal, 5; and James, 3. Dan’s mother, Anna, was born into the family circa 1935.
In 1940, Ona and his family had moved to Champaign, Ill., where he was working as a barber.
He moved his family to Hannibal soon thereafter, where he formed a partnership with a fellow barber, George Loudermilk, operating Loudermilk and Beadle Barber Shoppe at 321 N. Main St. Ona later opened his own shop at 2221 Market Street, where he worked for 20 years.
Ona Beadle was a small and slender man, standing just 5’6; and n 1942 weighing 140 pounds.
He died Feb. 16, 1964, and is buried at Grand View Burial Park south of Hannibal.
