Welcome to Mother Bedford, a website devoted primarily to the history of Old-Bedford County, Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War period.
On these pages you will find not only references to Bedford County's role in the American Revolutionary War, but also a wealth of information pertaining to private and public life in the Pennsylvania Frontier of the Revolutionary War and Colonial periods.
This website is maintained by Larry D. Smith, historian, registrar and newsletter editor for the Frontier Patriots Chapter, SAR, (and a devoted native son of Mother Bedford).
There are currently over 3,000 pages on this website. Please take your time to look around. I hope you enjoy your visit today, and that you will come back in the future (I'm constantly adding to the site).
Much of the information presented in this website is excerpted from the books, Mother Bedford And The American Revolutionary War, and 150th Anniversary History Of Blair County, Pennsylvania, published by Closson Press. If you are interested in history and want to purchase books on history, please visit their website at (www.clossonpress.com).
This site should be able to be viewed equally well with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Foxfire, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera, Maxthon Cloud, Torch, Avant and SeaMonkey. Note: Certain of the "powder horn" icons provide live links to additional pages. When you hover your cursor over an icon or button, if it changes from an arrow to a pointing finger hand, it is a live link to another page.
May 2022 Note: This website was created twenty-three years ago (1999), and although having since been updated to newer html and css standards, its pages were not made 'responsive' and capable of reducing down to accommodate being read on cellphones due to my busy schedule. For the past seven years I was writing a book (Bedford County, Pennsylvania ~ Two and One-Half Centuries in the Making) and chaired the Sestercentennial (250th) Anniversary of Bedford County, Pennsylvania for 2021. With the conclusion of the Sestercentennial activities at the end of 2021, I can now foresee being able to update this website. Your patience is requested while the changes are being made.
Mother Bedford refers to a part of the region in south-central Pennsylvania which was erected as a county on 09 March 1771 out of lands obtained by treaty from the Indians in 1754 and 1768. The region had originally been formed as Barree, Bedford, Colerain and Cumberland Valley Townships within Cumberland County (in 1767).
When Bedford County was erected out of Cumberland County in 1771, she encompassed the present-day counties of Huntingdon, Fulton, Blair, Bedford, Cambria, Somerset, Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington and Greene, along with portions of the present-day counties of Centre, Indiana, Armstrong, Allegheny and Beaver.
In 1773 the county of Westmoreland was erected out of the western half of Bedford. The county which retained the name of ‘Bedford’ was left with the region encompasssed by present-day Huntingdon, Fulton, Blair, Bedford, Cambria and Somerset counties. It is that region that is Mother Bedford.
Mother Bedford and the
American Revolutionary War
The Bedford County Resolves
The Battalions
Veterans of Mother Bedford
Forts
The Engagement Of Frankstown
The Massacre Of Philips' Rangers
The Tory Expedition To Kittanning
Hessians Buried In Bedford County
The Frontier Patriots Chapter, SAR
The Colonel John Proctor Chapter, DAR
The Class Tax Of 1782
A Time Line Of The American Revolutionary War, Noting Events In Provincial Pennsylvania's Counties
Calendars Of The American Revolutionary War Years
Fort Bedford's Flag
The Liberty Pole
The Jersey And Other Horrors ~ British Prison Ships
The Articles Of Association
Patriot Flags Of The American Revolutionary War
Photo Gallery ~ Evidence Of The American Revolutionary War In Mother Bedford
The Music Of The 1770s
Rosters Of Patriots Of The American Revolutionary War From Bedford County
The Authentic Muster Roll of Captain Jacob Hendershot's Company
The Irish, Scottish, Welsh And Ulster-Scot Patriots
A Chronology Of The American Revolutionary War
An Ordinance For Regulating The Cloathing Department For The Armies Of The United States
The Attempt To Win Over The Hessians
The Mutiny Of The Pennsylvania Line
The Pox: Ten Times More Terrible Than Britons, Canadians And Indians Together
Cannon: A Review Of Artillery Of The American Revolutionary War
The Black Patriots
John Hains' Letter ~ From Camp At Race town June the 24th 1758
Documents Of Bedford County During The American Revolutionary War
Historical Documents Of The United States Of America
The Time That Has Elapsed Since Certain Revolutionary War Events Occurred
This website is dedicated to the memory of the native sons
of Mother Bedford
who embraced the Patriot Cause
during the American Revolutionary War,
and to the memory
of those Patriots who chose to reside
in Bedford County following the War.
The Early Settlers
of Mother Bedford
The Lineage Of Mother Bedford
The Indian Occupation Of Mother Bedford
Maps Revealing The Formation Of The Townships Of Bedford County
The Tax Assessments Of Bedford County During The American Revolutionary War
The Germans
The Ulster Scots
Bedford County Everyday Life
Everyday Life In Mother Bedford Revealed Through Estate Inventories
The Coming Of The Euro-Americans
The Glass Tax of 1798
The Celebration Of Christmas
The Holidays Celebrated In Colonial America
The Occupations, Professions & Offices Of Our Colonial Ancestors
Patriotism and How
The American Revolutionary War
Affected Mother Bedford
Flag Etiquette
Who Were The Pioneers Of Bedford County Who Became Americans In The Revolutionary War?
George Washington Slept Here
The Declaration Of Independence
The Whiskey Rebellion
The Sons Of Liberty & Committees Of Correspondence
George Washington: A Memorial On The Eve Of The 200th Anniversary Of his Death
The Presidency ~ Prior To, & Including, Washington
A Museum Of Antiques, Historical Artifacts, & Everyday Items
Archived MotherBedford Blog Pages
United States Military History Webring Home Page
Genealogical & Historical Research In Old~Bedford County
Scottish Lore
A History Of Clan Muirhead
Heraldry
A Genealogical Book Of Hours
The Sesquicentennial Of Blair County
Historical Societies Of Mother Bedford
Deciphering All The Cousins
The Old-Greenfield Township Historical Society Home Page
Links To Other Sites Related To Mother Bedford & The American Revolutionary War
Mother Bedford's Search Page (Link to search engines)
Mother Bedford Webrings Page
Mother Bedford Awards Page
Website Creation Made Easy
Mother Bedford's Virus Alert Page
Mother Bedford's Bibliography
Watermarks
A Memorial Page
Alchemy ~ and other metaphysical studies
Follow this link to the personal home page of Larry Smith (where you'll find links to genealogical information.)
Follow this link to the "Lineages Of Larry D. Smith" main page, which includes various ancestral lines, including that of Muirhead, Shaw, & Walter.
Follow this link to the personal home page of Larry Smith's parents, the Bernard Smith Family.
E-Mail To Larry D. Smith
Note: The majority of the text used throughout this website has been excerpted from the book, Mother Bedford And The American Revolutionary War, Published by the Closson Press and Copyright ã 1999 by Larry D. Smith. All rights reserved.
Additional information has been excerpted from other published books by the webmaster. All information contained on the pages of this website has been copyrighted by Larry D. Smith in one book or another. Please e-mail the webmaster if you wish to copy and utilize the information found here for your own publications and/or website.
Entire website Copyright 2006 Larry Smith