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The Bedford Gazette
(1805-1905)

By LT Richard F. Fralick USNR (Ret)

Bedford is one of the oldest towns in western Pennsylvania. It played a large part in the French and Indian War, had many patriots in the Revolutionary War, was President Washington's headquarters during the Whiskey Rebellion, and in the 1800s helped funnel colonists through the Appalachians to settle much of the western United States. In the summer of 1958, Bedford observed it's bicentennial — 200 years as an "official" Pennsylvania settlement.

More intriguing for me is the Bedford Gazette itself — it is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Pennsylvania, and the ninth oldest in the United States. It was started as a weekly by an iterant printer in 1805, and only recently (Nov. 1, 1950) became a daily newspaper. In 2005, it observed its two hundredth anniversary. Today, the Gazette still provides daily news and information to Bedford County and surrounding area.

The Bedford Gazette (1805-1905) is a history of the paper's first one hundred years. The book is in PDF Format and requires a Free PDF Reader to view on a computer. The content itself consists of news and editorials gleaned from the Gazette's bound volumes. In the early years, the news and editorial comments were combined. From 1870 to 1905, editors began to separate opinion from news.

The text tries to closely follow the impressions and opinions of the Gazette editors. Enough background information is included in the text to explain immediate circumstances for an editorial, and broader scope is provided in appendices. Illustrations and photographs were mainly obtained from the internet (the Gazette did not use many illustrations in the 1800s.)

Each appendix is selected to give a concise description of times and issues with which readers may not be familiar. In many cases, the appendix is from a source written near an event to present the background of the times.

Click Here to View the Author's Introduction and Early Bedford History

Charles McDowell (The Federalist) — 1805-1832

Irish indenture, print shop apprentice, and journeyman printer Charles McDowell set out from Lancaster, PA, with a wagonload of press, hand-set type and paper. His intention was to "seek his fortune" in the West. But he stopped in Bedford, PA, where he was urged to pause briefly to print circulars for Federalist Party candidates who were running for election against Jeffersonian Democrats. In a few days, Bedford County residents were reading all about Federalist candidates in the Bedford Gazette. McDowell stayed in Bedford after the election. His print shop and newspaper flourished with the help of wealthy political friends.
For the next 27 years, McDowell brought national and international news to Bedford County readers.By 1828, when Bedford residents identified more with President Jackson's "common man" appeal than with wealthy eastern Federalists, the Gazette switched its political support to the Democratic Party and maintained that allegiance through the rest of the century.

Click Here to View the McDowell Years

General George W. Bowman (The Jacksonian) — 1832-1857

In 1832, New owner and editor George W. Bowman expanded and improved the Gazette and continued to support Democratic causes. Bowman became part of the James Buchanan branch of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. He became fast friends with the future President and through political patronatage,was appointed Adjutant General of the Pennsylvania Militia. For the rest of his life, he was addressed as "General" Bowman. In that role, he sent the first telegraph message to cross the Allegheny Mountains — Pittsburgh to Washington, DC — to advise President Polk that the Pennsylania militia was ready to float down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to participate in the Mexican War.
Bowman's editorship chronicled the struggle between strong central government advocates and states rights conservatives leading up to the Civil War. He supported Buchanan's political machine before and after the Pennsylvania political leader rose to become President. His pages are full of forgotten incidents that gradually plummeted the country into Civil War.
In 1857, Bowman sold the Gazette to take a political appointment with the Buchanan Administration in Washington. The job was more important than anyone thought. He helped torpedo what little political power the failing Buchanan Administration still had, and brought about a major change in the way the federal government did business with political parties.

Click Here to View the Bowman Years

Benjamin F. Meyers (The Copperhead) — 1857-1872

Lawyer Benjamin F. Meyers (and occasional partners) conducted the print shop and paper for the next 15 years, through Secession, Civil War and into Reconstruction. Meyers was a copperhead — the rare northern Democrat who supported the South throughout the period. Fortunately, Bedford County Democrats were strong enough to protect the paper twice from Republican mobs and Union soldiers who had other opinions.
But Meyers did not escape unscathed. The editor constantly complained about restrictions placed on Copperhead newspapers and editors by the Lincoln Administration. He kept readers informed about all the follies of the President, Congress, State and local Republicans as they took more privileges away from the people — both north and south. As Republicans achieved political dominance after the Civil War, Meyers turned the business over to a new generation of Democrats..

Click Here to View the Meyers Years

Edward F. Kerr, et.al. (The Democrats) — 1872-1905

For the next 30 years, the Gazette had a series of owners and editors who all did business under The Gazette Publishing Company label. This period saw the paper change from a political organ to a modern newspaper dependent on advertising and subscriptions. Bedford County itself slipped from the political frontier where national events happened — Indian raids, tax rebellions, west-bound migrations, underground railroad escapes, "peace" Democrat protests, and Civil War skirmishes — to a quiet peaceful county — mostly insulated from the troubles of the world.
The late 1800s was an era of rapid change. In just 30 years, the United States evolved from an agricultural to an industrial economy; new immigrants changed American character with new ideas, new religions, and new cultures; American society extended new rights to ex-slaves, laborers, women and children; public schools brought a more educated workforce; new inventions made life easier for the general population; better transportation and communication brought the country together as never before; and America became a world power.
After two centuries on the frontier, the Bedford Gazette and most Bedford County residents became content to sample the advantages of a new life-style, without letting the innovations disrupt their county's peace or end the residents'independent ways.

Click Here to View the Democrat Years

The Bedford Gazette (1805-1905) in many ways is America's story. The newspaper's pages bring alive the people of this small Pennsylvania community. Chronicled here is the story of 100 years of small town American life through the eyes of local country editors. As the book ends, the United States is poised to begin the 20th Century — America's Century. And this story is important to understand how we arrived there.

Click Here to View the Author's Afterword