Willard Livingstone Beard

Willard Livingstone Beard (; Pinyin: Bì Yìzhī; Foochow Romanized: Bĭ Ék-dĭ; February 5, 1865 – April 15, 1947) was an American missionary serving under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Fuzhou, China.

Life Willard Livingstone Beard was born in Huntington, Connecticut on February 5, 1865. He enrolled at Oberlin College in 1887, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1891. In 1894 he graduated from Hartford Seminary.

W.L. Beard with his students at conference, Fuzhou, ca. 1911-1913 In 1894, Beard started missionary work in China, serving with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Family

Beard had two sisters, Flora and Mary; in 1914, they founded the North China American School (NCAS) for missionary children in Beijing.

Beard married Ellen Kinney in 1894, and they had six children; Ellen died in 1953.