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Dan Beach Bradley (1804-1873) was a Christian missionary to Siam from 1835 until his death.

The son of a judge, Dan Beach Bradley was born at Marcellus in the state of New York on July 18 1804. Dedicated to serve the Lord during a revival season, he studied medicine in the hope of being able to work as a medical missionary.

In November 1832 he was accepted as a missionary physician by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions (ABCFM). In April he graduated MD from the New York College of Physicians. Wanting to be accompanied by a wife, he married Emilie Royce, a spirited young woman, who, like him, wanted to serve the Lord among the "heathen".

On July 2 1834 the Bradleys and a company of ABCFM and Baptist missionaries set off with prayer and hymn singing on their voyage to Asia. After six arduous months, the Bradleys arrived at Singapore but it was a further six months before they could make their way to Siam. They finally reached Bangkok on July 18 1835.

Emilie had never been well from the beginning of their service in Siam. In August 1845 she died of tuberculosis. On her deathbed she had a vision of the glory of God and died with her love of Jesus unbroken. The manner of her death as well as her life was a moving witness to the faith.

During his first few years Bradley suffered from chronic diarrhoea but later, by the mercy of God, he enjoyed thirty years of almost unbroken good health. He established a daily routine of cold baths, plain food and total abstinence from intoxicating beverages. A healthy variety of cares enabled him to find rest by turning from one task to another. Always there was Bible reading, hymn singing, prayer and family worship.

Bradley’s service was interrupted by his espousal of the controversial doctrine of Christian Perfectionism, that freedom from sin is attainable while still living on this earth. The ABCFM regarded this as heresy and recalled him to America. On December 4 1847, he had to resign, leaving his Siam mission without support.

In January 1848 he became associated with the American Missionary Association. While in America trying to raise funds for his mission, he met Sarah Blachly who became his second wife on Oct 1 1848. At the end of October 1849 they set sail for Siam and after a voyage even more difficult than the first, he was able to resume his vocation in Bangkok by the end of May 1850.

The AMA only gave limited support; so much of his time in Bangkok had to be spent making money to support his mission. Donations received in respect of medical services rendered (which were gratuitous) were also put to that purpose.

Despite many years of preaching and distributing tracts, Dan Beach Bradley barely succeeded in converting one single person to the Christian faith. His main achievements were in the fields of printing and publishing, in his influence with Kings Mongkut and Chulalongkorn and in American consular affairs and, above all, as a pioneer in the introduction of Western medicine to Siam where the introduction of vaccination against smallpox was among his most memorable successes.

Reference

William L Bradley, "Siam Then" , William Carey Library, Pasadena, California, 1981

External link

There is a memorial to Daniel Beach Bradley in the Protestant Cemetery in Bangkok[1]

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