Guide to the Baird Family Papers

William Martyn Baird, Jr., (1897-1987), and his brother, Richard Hamilton Baird, (1898-1995) were born in Chosen (Korea) to Presbyterian missionary parents, William Martyn Baird (1862-1931) and Annie Laurie Adams Baird (1864-1916). Both attended Mount Hermon School for Boys, Northfield, Massachusetts, and graduated from the College of Wooster.

William Martyn Baird, Jr. earned an M.A. from Princeton University and, after attending McCormick Theological Seminary for two years, graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1922 and was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick. From 1923 to 1940, he served as a missionary in Korea under the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (PCUSA) doing evangelistic work, including country itineration, conducting Bible Institutes, and supervising colporters. He spent considerable time working on the revision of the Korean New Testament. In 1929, Baird married Anna Landis Reist (1895-1981), a PCUSA missionary to Korea from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. From 1942 to 1945, they served in Mexico. They resigned in 1946.

Richard Hamilton Baird graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1923 and was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick. From 1923 to 1941, he served as a missionary in Korea under the Board of Foreign Missions (BFM), PCUSA, doing evangelistic and agricultural work. From 1942 to 1945, he served in Colombia. Until retirement in 1964, he held positions as area representative for the BFM and COEMAR (Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations) in the United States, as field representative (later called field executive) in the Caribbean Area and in Korea, and was a staff member of the Synod of California.