Editing Bedford, New Hampshire (section)

==History==
In 1733, the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]] established Bedford as "Narragansett, No. 5" for the benefit of soldiers who fought against the [[Narragansett people]] in [[Rhode Island]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Bedford |url=http://gedcomindex.com/Reference/New_Hampshire_1875/063.html |access-date=December 19, 2013 |publisher=Statistics and Gazetteer of New-Hampshire, 1875}}</ref> The area was also known as "Souhegan East". The settlement was incorporated as "Bedford" in 1750,<ref>{{Cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028812852/page/104/mode/2up| title=History of Bedford, New Hampshire, from 1737, being statistics compiled on the occasion of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town, May 15, 1900| author=Town of Bedford (N.H.)| location=Concord, NH| publisher=Rumford Printing Company| date=1903| page=105}}</ref> and was named for [[John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Profile for Bedford, New Hampshire, NH |url=http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=18813 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016130839/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=18813 |archive-date=October 16, 2014 |access-date=December 19, 2013 |publisher=ePodunk}}</ref> Lord Russell, a close friend of Governor [[Benning Wentworth]], was the [[Secretary of State for the Southern Department]] from 1748 to 1751, and his first wife, [[Diana Russell, Duchess of Bedford|Diana Spencer]], was cousin of the influential [[Duke of Marlborough]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Laybourn |first=Keith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IolLcc5htJoC&q=John+Russell+Secretary+of+State+for+the+Southern+Department&pg=PA29 |title=British Political Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary |publisher=Keith |year=2001 |isbn=9781576070437 |page=29 |author-link=Keith Laybourn}}</ref>

The first English settlers in Bedford were Robert and James Walker III. [//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/SettlementMarker.JPG A monument] dated 1737 stands on what is now known as Station Road (adjacent to Hawthorne Drive), marking the first settlement. Bedford's first moderator was Mayor John Goffe, son of the Colonel [[John Goffe]] after whom [[Goffstown, New Hampshire|Goffstown]] was named.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Coolidge |first1=Austin Jacobs |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ |title=A History and Description of New England, General and Local |last2=Mansfield, John Brainard |publisher=A.J. Coolidge |year=1859 |location=Boston |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ/page/n542 502]–504}}</ref>

In 1874, Bedford was served by the [[Concord Railroad]], and service by the Manchester and Ashburnham Railroad was being planned.<ref name="auto" />

Like much of southeastern New Hampshire, Bedford grew rapidly in the second half of the 20th century. The 2000 population of 18,274 was over eight times the population in 1950 of 2,176. Every decade in that period had a substantial rate of growth, ranging from 33 percent between 1980 and 1990 to a 67 percent increase between 1950 and 1960. As of the 2020 census, Bedford was the 11th largest municipality in the state, with a population of 23,322.<ref name="Census 2020" />