William Batchelder Bradbury

1816-1868. American music teacher and hymntune writer. He studied music in Boston under Summer Hill and Lowell Mason* and became a music instructor and organist in New York City. He also edited over fifty Sunday school and choir music books, and he engaged in piano manufacturing. From 1847 he studied for two years in Leipzig. He was criticized because he treated music as a business and was not essentially a performer. He is best remembered for his hymntunes, two of the most famous being used for “Just as I am” and “He leadeth me.” Both represent Bradbury at his best, with simple yet reverent expression.