W.B. Bradbury
Musician · 1816–1868 · York, Maine
Best known for
Composer
William Batchelder Bradbury was a nineteenth-century American hymn composer, music educator, and piano manufacturer whose tunes for “Jesus Loves Me,” “He Leadeth Me,” “Just As I Am,” “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” and “The Solid Rock” remain among the most-recorded hymns in the country, bluegrass, and Southern-gospel repertoire. He published fifty-nine music collections during his lifetime.
Assisted by AI.
Spot something off? Help us fix it.
- Born October 6, 1816, in York, Maine, where his father led a church choir.
- Moved to Boston as a young man and studied with the pioneering American music educator Lowell Mason.
- Was a working organist by 1834 and began teaching music in Brooklyn, New York in 1840.
- Traveled to Germany in 1847 for further study in harmony, composition, and vocal and instrumental music.
- Founded the Bradbury Piano Company in New York City in 1854 with his brother Edward G. Bradbury.
- Composed the tune for “Jesus Loves Me” in 1862, setting it to a children’s poem by Anna Warner; he also added the now-familiar chorus.
- Authored or compiled fifty-nine hymn and music-instruction books beginning in 1841.
- Died January 7, 1868, in Bloomfield (now Montclair), New Jersey, at age 51.
