Rev. Bethuel Thomas Vincent was born on August 9, 1834, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the brother of John Heyl Vincent (1832-1920), an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

He was a clergyman. He graduated from the Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Illinois. Rev. Vincent was a member of the Rock River Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Illinois. He transferred to the Rocky Mountain Conference in 1863 and was assigned to Central City's St. James Church. In 1864, the Rocky Mountain Conference became the Colorado Conference. Rev. Vincent began editing and publishing a Sunday School magazine The Rocky Mountain Sunday School Casket. He served as pastor at Golden's Methodist Church twice, 1868-1869 and 1904-1908, and he also pastored churches in Central City, Denver, and Colorado Springs. Rev. Vincent is credited with starting Golden's first public library. About 1875, he moved to Philadelphia, returning to Colorado in 1889, where he continued to serve several pastorates until his retirement in 1904. He served as the head of the Colorado Seminary, which would eventually become the University of Denver.

In 1867, he married Minerva Ella Masters (1835–1920). He died on July 30, 1920, in Denver, Colorado.