Charles Fitz Roy Bellows was born in Charlestown, New Hampshire on October 27, 1832. His family moved to Climax, Kalamazoo County, Michigan in 1837, where Bellows attended the local school until the age of 17, when he entered the Olivet Institute, which attended for two years while boarding with mathematics professor Oramel Hosford. He paid for his attendance at Olivet by completing chores such as chopping wood and serving on the Hosford family farm. Bellows attended the dedication of Michigan State Normal College in 1851, and became a student there in 1853, graduating in 1855. He taught throughout the Midwest, particularly in Michigan, and also completed an engineering degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In 1867, he was appointed professor of mathematics at MSNC, a position he held for 24 years. From 1870 to 1871 he served as the acting College president, and in 1892, he was appointed the President of the Central Michigan Normal School in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. He retired due to poor health, and died on April 16, 1907 at his home in Ypsilanti.