Bedford UMC History

In 1843 pioneer missionaries came up from Missouri and preached occasionally in the homes of the early settlers when Taylor county was known as the Platte Purchase and later as Jackson township.
The first attempt to hold religious worship in a public congregation in Taylor County was during the winter of 1849 and 1850 when there were fewer than forty people residing within the limits of what is now Taylor county. The Methodist church and the Baptist church were both organized in 1854.
Up to 1860 the Methodist church at Bedford had met in the homes of members and in the public school building which stood in the south part of town. At that time four Churches- Baptist, Christian, Methodist and the Presbyterian- joined in building a place of worship on the corner of Pearl & Penn Streets. Later the Methodist and the Presbyterians sold out to the other two churches and they went to the "Old Stone Court House" which had just been built across the street south of the present court house. Here the Methodist and Presbyterians held a joint Sunday School, but had individual church services.
Plans began in 1868 for the erection of a place of worship for the Methodist. By the conference year in 1869, a church had been completed. The building we are currently in had its cornerstone laid in May of 1889 and the church was dedicated in December of 1889.

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