Jewelry Company's Old Ads Feature Bedford County

Advertising: the method used by businesses to catch the public eye regarding goods or services being offered. Advertising is everywhere one looks today, but was a challenge for many two centuries ago when newspapers and roadside signs were among the few offerings.

But one Pittsburgh jewelry company came up with an angle the owners hoped would keep their name and the quality of their product in the forefront for months if not years.

The Roberts Jewelry Company, which boasted as being the oldest jewelry company in America, regularly ran newspaper ads in the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph featuring each of the counties in the commonwealth.

Brief historic sketches of each county were published in the newspaper along side information such as details about the family, the store’s glass display windows and an outline of the convenient payment terms for purchases.

Tucked between vignettes about the hazardous journey linked to transporting precious jewels from New York City to Pittsburgh and electric display lights in store front windows are stories behind the names of Bedford and Blair counties.

While most of the information provided is already known by Herald readers, the sketches provide a quick look at how it all began.

None of the stories provide attribution, so we’ll pass along the information which was eventually published in booklet form and distributed to 75,000 state residents.

It was on March 9, 1771, that Bedford County was formed from land taken from Cumberland County.

The Bedford County commissioners tasked three residents to “run, mark out and distinguish the boundary lines.” They were Robert McCrea, William Moore and Robert Moore. There is no further information regarding this trio but one can assume they had some knowledge of land surveying.

The name of the county was taken from the name of the county seat – Bedford, which was well established and had been named for Fort Bedford, built between 1750 and 1755.

Fort Bedford, the jewelry store owners tell us, was named by Pennsylvania Gov. John Penn when, by his order, the fort along the Raystown branch of the Juniata River was built and named for the House of Bedford, England.

The claim made by U.J. Jones in his book “History of the Juanita Valley,” is that the earliest settlement along this section of the river consisted of three log cabins in the vicinity of where Bedford now stands. The year was 1751 and the houses were built by Robert Ray.

A Bedford resident told the jewelry men that defending the tiny settlement from Native Americans was needed from the beginning. Charles Hickok said the area was known as “Camp at Raystown.”

The site was later used as an encampment by General Forbes and his first official papers were dated from the spot.

Bedford was first settled in 1732 and was called Raystown and in 1751 a trading post was established.

The area was used as a gathering post by dignitaries including President George Washington, Secretary Alexander Hamilton, and General Henry Knox as part of the effort to quell the Whisky Rebellion.

The town of Everett, formerly Bloody Run was laid out in 1795 by Michael Barndollar. Saxton was incorporated in 1867 and named for James Saxton while Hyndman, at the southern end of the county, was initially named Bridgeport and later changed to honor E.K. Hyndman, president of the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad.

Bedford County covers an area of 1,026 square miles with 13 boroughs and 25 townships.

Yet to come is a look at Blair County, which the authors of the stories described as “one of the most picturesque in the state.”