William Batchelder Bradbury

William Batchelder Bradbury (October 6, 1816 – January 7, 1868) was an American musician, hymnwriter, and businessman who is best known for his melodies to "Jesus Loves Me", "Just as I Am", and "Sweet Hour of Prayer".

Biography Life and career William Batchelder Bradbury was born on October 6, 1816, in York, Maine. His father was the director of a church choir. William began studying music when he was 17 years old, when he and his family moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where he came under the tutelage of Lowell Mason and George Webb at their Academy of Music.

By age 18, Bradbury had become an organist. With the help of Lowell Mason, he was offered teaching positions at two different singing schools in Machias, Maine, and St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, before settling down in New York City, where he worked as a music teacher, initially at the First Baptist Church in Brooklyn, then at the Baptist Tabernacle. He took a year off in 1847 to travel to Germany, where he furthered his skills in harmony, composition, and vocal and instrumental music.

That same week a number of children from the town where he lived (Bloomfield, New Jersey, back then, but called Montclair now) came to visit him, bringing oak leaves which were made into a wreath; it was later laid on his coffin and buried with him. He died on January 7, 1868, at the age of 51, laid to rest next to his mother; her favorite song, “Asleep in Jesus”, which was sung at her own funeral, was also sung at his. (Written by Margaret Mackay [1802-1887] and published in 1832 in The Amethyst, Bradbury put her poem to music in 1843.)

Bradbury composed the music for a number of other gospel songs that have remained popular to this day:

“He Leadeth Me”

"Holy Bible, Book Divine”

“Just as I Am”

“Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us”

“Sweet Hour of Prayer”

“The Solid Rock”

Besides the tunes he produced for his best-known songs, Bradbury also published a series of musical collections for choirs and school, authoring or compiling fifty-nine books starting in 1841.