Dan Beach Bradley
| Dan Beach Bradley | |
|---|---|
Missionary to Siam (Thailand)
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| Born |
July 18, 1804 Marcellus, New York, United States |
| Died | June 23, 1873 (aged 68) Bangkok, Siam (now Thailand) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Medical missionary |
| Years active | 1835 – 1873 |
| Organization | American Missionary Association |
| Known for | small pox vaccination |
| Spouse(s) |
Emelie Royce, m. 1834, †1845; Sarah Blachly, m. 1848 |
| Children |
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| Parent(s) | Dan Bradley and Eunice Beach |
Emelie Royce, m. 1834, †1845;
Dan Beach Bradley (July 18, 1804 – June 23, 1873) was an American Protestant missionary to Siam from 1835 until his death. He is credited with numerous firsts, including: bringing the first Thai-script printing press to Siam, publishing the first Thai newspaper and monolingual Thai dictionary, performing the first surgery in Siam, and changing the way the people of Siam thought about Western medicines and technology.
Dan Beach Bradley was born on 18 July 1804 in Marcellus, New York. He was the son of Judge and Pastor Dan Bradley of Whitehall, New York, and Eunice Beach. Eunice died soon after giving birth to her son. As a child, Dan Beach Bradley was an astounding scholar and he loved to read. When Bradley was 20 years old, he suffered a week of deafness and it caused him to examine his spiritual life. Two years after this incident, Bradley dedicated his life to serve his Lord: Jesus Christ.
Bradley thought that his age was not appropriate to study for gospel ministry so he began studying medicine in the office of an Auburn physician. Bradley took a brief reprieve from his studies due to health concerns but resumed his studies for a year in Penn Yan, New York. After this year of studying, Bradley attended lectures at Harvard University in 1830 before taking another break to earn money to continue his education. Bradley enrolled at New York University and graduated in April 1833 as a Doctor of Medicine.
In November 1832, he had been accepted as a missionary physician by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). Bradley had initially wanted to marry one of his two cousins, Jane Bradley or Hannah Goodyear. Jane, however, was only 16 years old and was not in a position to marry Bradley and Goodyear had no desire to serve as a missionary in Asia. After a brief mail courtship, on 5 June 1834 Bradley married Emilie Royce before the couple set sail for Siam. Emilie, like Bradley, wanted to serve the Lord as a missionary among the "heathen".
On July 2, 1834, Dan Beach Bradley and his wife, Emilie departed from Boston for their mission trip in Bangkok. On January 12, 1835, they arrived in Singapore. Due to monsoons devastating the region, Bradley and his wife stayed in an unoccupied London Missionary Society home for six months, when the storms finally passed. Bradley and his wife arrived in Siam on July 18, 1835 after an encounter with Malay pirates that left goods stolen and four crew members dead. They had the following children: Charles Bradley born March 1835 in transit, died 4 November 1836 in Bangkok; Emelie Jane Bradley, born 26 November 1836 in Marcellus, New York, died 27 July 1848 in Bangkok; Harriet Bradley born 7 May 1842, died in Bangkok 30 December 1842 of smallpox. Their last child was Cornelius Beach Bradley (18 November 1843 – 17 March 1936). Emilie Royce Bradley died in 1845 of unspecified illnesses. Her papers include: an album and two diaries (1827-30; 1831-33; 1840-42) kept in Clinton, New York; those in Bangkok include a microfilm copy and a modern transcription of a diary (1834-36), the original of which may still remain in private hands; a journal letter written aboard ship during her voyage to Siam in 1834-35; and a record book containing summaries of letters sent. The summaries often refer to "my large letter book", probably indicating that only a portion of Emilie's correspondence has survived.
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