Charles Edwin Bessey was born to Adnah and Margaret Bessey in Milton, Ohio on May 1, 1845. Bessey’s family lived in a log house on a farm where he spent his childhood growing up in a deeply religious family.

The majority of his initial education was acquired through direct guidance from his father. By the time Charles was seventeen he had already earned his license to teach, but he insisted on attending the academy in Seville, Ohio instead of teaching so he could prepare himself for college.  However, his fast track of learning drastically slowed down when Adnah became very ill. Charles continued to study by himself and enrolled in the district school. One year later in 1863, his father died and Bessey then made the decision to attend the Seville academy where he studied for five weeks to continue to advance in his studies.  After the five weeks at the academy commenced, Bessey found himself a job in Wadsworth, Ohio. He taught there for four months. When the four months of teaching had ended, Charles felt it necessary to once again attend the academy. In March of 1864, Bessey reenrolled in the academy in Seville, but not much later, he once again experienced a road block in his learning. After studying for two months at the academy, the school broke up (Wolfe, 6-10). 

After 19 years of broken but continuous education, he felt he was ready to move on. In July of 1866, Bessey enrolled in the Michigan Agricultural College. At the age of twenty-four, Charles Bessey completed the requirements and graduated on November 10, 1869 with a bachelor degree in science. Through his study of the sciences, Bessey became very interested in plant life and how they function, but his heart was set on a career in surveying or civil engineering. The idea of pursuing a degree in botany was suggested by several different professors to him, but were all rejected at first. However, after consideration, Bessey decided to follow his love for plants. At the Michigan Agricultural College he was given an assistantship in horticulture and was given the head position of being in charge of the greenhouses at the college, but Bessey had bigger plans for himself as the position at the Agricultural College did not last long (Sanders, 64-65).

In December of 1869 he was offered an instructorship of botany and horticulture at Iowa State University in Ames. He accepted this offer and began work in February of the next year. After his move to Iowa State University, Bessey's career truly began to take off. He became part of or lead many different plant science related groups or societies that were key to advancing the technology and ideas behind botany and horticulture. In 1872, Bessey received a full professorship at Iowa State after receiving his masters degree in science and was later made the professor of zoology and botany. While at Iowa State, Bessey began what would soon become ground breaking research. For publishing results on his research, Bessey received his doctorate degree in philosophy from the University of Iowa and became noticed by various schools (Pool, A Brief Sketch of the Life and Work of Charles Edwin Bessey, 506-508).