Bradley, Dan F. (Dan Freeman), 1857-1939

Dan Freeman Bradley was born in Bangkok, Thailand in 1857 to Congregational medical missionaries Dan Beach Bradley and his second wife, Sarah Blachly Bradley. In 1877, the younger Bradley came to the United States and enrolled at Oberlin College, his mother's alma mater, graduating with the A.B. in 1882 and the B.D. from Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1885. From 1885 to 1902, he held pastorates at Steubenville, Ohio; Yankton, South Dakota (where he was also Acting President of Yankton College); and Grand Rapids, Michigan. After serving for three years as President of Grinnell College, he took up the pastorate of Pilgrim Church in Cleveland in 1905, a post he held until his retirement in 1937. He was an outspoken critic of the evangelism of Billy Sunday, a lifelong Republican, and a temperance advocate. An active member of the Oberlin Alumni Association, he was only the second recipient of the Association's Distinguished Service Medal. He served as a member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees from 1891 to 1902 and from 1906 to 1939, the year of his death.