Lost Children of the Alleghenies facts for kids

Quick facts for kids George and Joseph Cox
Picture taken when the monument for the Lost Children of the Alleghenies was first erected. Newspaper picture of monument dedication in 1910.
Disappeared	Pavia
Died	April 24, 1856, George (aged 7) Joseph (aged 5)
Nationality	American
Parents	Samuel Cox (father) Susannah Cox (mother)

The Lost Children of the Alleghenies tells the sad story of two brothers, George and Joseph Cox. They disappeared from their home in Pavia, Pennsylvania, on April 24, 1856. George was seven years old, and Joseph was five.

Their story became well-known across the Allegheny Mountains in the Appalachia region of the United States. After a big search, their bodies were found several days later in the nearby woods. They were buried in the Mount Union United Methodist Church cemetery in Lovely.

Today, there's a small memorial for them in the Spruce Hollow forest. You can find it in Blue Knob State Park, Pennsylvania.

The Mystery Begins: What Happened?

A Day Like Any Other: The Cox Family Home

George and Joseph were the sons of Samuel and Susannah Cox. They lived in a cabin that Samuel built for his family. Back in 1856, this part of Pennsylvania was covered in thick, old forests. There weren't many roads or clearings yet.

On the morning of April 24, 1856, Samuel Cox heard his dog barking. He thought the dog had found a squirrel in the forest. Samuel grabbed his rifle and went into the woods to check.

When the Boys Went Missing

While Samuel was gone, it's believed that George and Joseph wandered away from their home. They might have tried to follow their father into the woods. Their mother, Susannah, thought Samuel had taken the boys with him.

When Samuel came back without them, they quickly realized the children were gone. They called out for the boys, but there was no answer. Samuel immediately went to get help from his closest neighbors. By that evening, more than 100 men were searching for the children.

The Search for George and Joseph

To help the boys find their way back, people lit fires in the forest. They hoped George and Joseph would see the lights and come towards them. The next day, nearly 1,000 people joined the search!

A nearby stream, Bob's Creek, was very full. Spring snow had melted, making the water high and fast. Everyone worried the boys might have tried to cross it and drowned. Searchers looked in the creek, but the boys were not there.

A Difficult Time: Suspicions Arise

As the days passed, some people started to suspect Samuel and Susannah Cox. They wondered if the parents had harmed their own children. People even searched the Cox cabin and garden, but they found nothing.

The searchers even brought in a dowser and a witch from Somerset County. A dowser is someone who claims to find things like water or minerals underground. The dowser found nothing. The witch said she knew where the children were. But she led a search team through the woods for hours without finding anything.

Jacob Dibert's Prophetic Dream

A local farmer named Jacob Dibert heard about the missing children. He told his wife he wished he could dream about where the boys were. On May 2, 1856, he had a dream.

In his dream, he walked a path through the woods. He saw a dead deer, then a child's shoe, and then a fallen birch tree. Finally, he reached a small valley with a group of birch trees. There, he found the bodies of the Cox boys.

The dream happened again on the next two nights. Dibert didn't tell anyone about his dream except his wife. But he felt the dream was a true message. On May 7, he told his brother-in-law, Harrison Whysong. Whysong recognized some of the details from Dibert's dream. The two men decided to go search.

The Discovery: A Sad Ending

Jacob Dibert and Harrison Whysong followed the path just as Dibert's dream had shown. They found the dead deer, the child's shoe, and the fallen birch tree. Finally, they reached the small valley. There, under the birch trees, they found the bodies of George and Joseph Cox. It was exactly as the dream had described.

Remembering the Lost Children

A Monument to Their Memory

In 1906, 50 years after the tragedy, the community of Pavia wanted to honor the Cox family. They collected money to build a monument. In 1910, the "Lost Children of the Alleghenies Monument" was put up. It stands at the exact spot where Joseph and George Cox were found.

A Song About the Story

The story of the Lost Children of the Alleghenies has even inspired music. The famous singer Alison Krauss released a song called "Jacob's Dream." It was written by Julie Lee and John Pennell and tells the story of Jacob Dibert's dream.

See also

• List of solved missing person cases
• List of unsolved deaths