Bradford Kinney Peirce

Background

Bradford Kinney Peirce was born on February 3, 1819 in Royalton, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. He was the son of Rev. Thomas C. Peirce and Sally, daughter of Bradford Kinne. The mother was a native of Preston, Connecticut.

Education

Bradford Kinney Peirce prepared for college at Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Massachussets, and graduated from Wesleyan University in 1841.

Career

In 1842 Bradford Kinney Peirce was admitted on trial to the New England Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ordained deacon in 1844, and elder in 1846. In the meantime, he had held brief pastorates in eastern Massachusetts. In 1847, however, he assumed editorship of the Sunday School Teacher and of the Sunday School Messenger, both publications of the Massachusetts Sunday School Union. He also wrote several question books for use in promoting knowledge of the Bible. In 1850 he became agent for the American Sunday School Union. Although he passed on to other fields of activity, he never lost his interest in the religious education of the young and found time to write a few books for children which found a place in the Sunday school libraries of the period. Turning to politics for a time, he was a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1855 and 1856, and in the latter year he edited with Charles Hale Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Held in the Year 1788.

Pierce's interest in children led him to propose the establishment of the state industrial school at Lancaster, Massachussets, and he was appointed by the governor a member of the first board of trustees. Soon afterward he was made superintendent and chaplain, serving in these capacities from 1856 to 1862. After a brief pastorate at Watertown, Massachussets, he was appointed in 1863 chaplain of the House of Refuge, Randall's Island, New York, which position he held until 1872. During this period he wrote a valuable history of the institution, containing source material in the form of original documents, under the title A Half Century with Juvenile Delinquents (1869).

In 1872 Bradford Kinney Peirce succeeded Gilbert Haven as editor of Zion's Herald, a semi-official Methodist weekly, published in Boston, and one of the most influential papers of its kind in New England. For sixteen years he ably occupied the editorial chair, avoiding controversy whenever possible, but defending with vigor any good cause needing his support. He also became a preacher of wide repute, in great demand at dedications, conferences, preachers' meetings, and Sunday school assemblies. His home life was a happy one.

Bradford Kinney Peirce lived in Newton Center, Massachussets, and was actively interested in its schools and public library. Among his books not already cited, the following are worthy of mention: The Eminent Dead, or the Triumphs of Faith in the Dying Hour (1846), often reprinted; Notes on the Acts of the Apostles (1848), edited by D. P. Kidder; Life in the Woods, or the Adventures of Audubon (copr. 1863), Trials of an Inventor; Life and Discoveries of Charles Goodyear (1866), The Word of God Opened (1868). He died on April 19, 1889.

Achievements

• Bradford Kinney Peirce was a distinguished clergyman. He was also known for his dervice as the editor of the Sunday-School Messenger and Sunday-School Teacher.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Word Of God Opened: Its Inspiration, Canon, And Interpretation Considered And Illustrated

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Personality

Bradford Kinney Peirce had a pleasing and attractive presence and was courtly and genial in manner.

Connections

On August 5, 1841, Bradford Kinney Pierce married Harriet W. Thompson of Middletown, Connecticut. They had four children.

Father:

Thomas C. Peirce

Mother:

Sally Kinne Peirce

Spouse:

Harriet W. Thompson Peirce

References

• Index to the Contents of the Vermont Historical Gazetteer (Classic Reprint)