Charles Bedford, section 15, Pleasant Valley Township, is one of the early settlers of Carroll County. He is a native of the city of York, Yorkshire, England, born November 24, 1817, a son of William and Hannah (Todd) Bedford. He was reared a farmer, and also at an early age learned the trade of a bricklayer. He lived in England until 1870, when, with his wife and five children he came to the United States. He left his family in Illinois while he went on a prospecting tour through Missouri, Kansas and Iowa. Deciding to locate in Carroll County, he bought 160 acres of wild land, to which, with the help of his sons, he has added until they now own a fine tract of 720 acres, all under a high state of cultivation, with good building improvements. Mr. Bedford was married August 4, 1843, to Elizabeth Knowles, a native of Yorkshire, England, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Colson) Knowles. Four of their children are living—William, Alfred, Mary Jane and Thomas. A son, Charles, died in Carroll County, aged thirty years. Mr. Bedford has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since fourteen years of age, and when a young man was licensed to preach, and has been an active and zealous worker in his church. He has always taken an interest in and has been a liberal supporter of both the cause of religion and that of education.

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