In the Spring of 1856 with the Snow Still on the Ground / Two Little Boys Were Lost In

Here in the Alleghenies it appears thatthe first week of April, 2016, had much in common with a certain week of April 160 years ago– more like late winter than spring with low double-digit temperatures and snow.

In the spring of 1856 with the snow still on the ground / Two little boys were lost in the mountains above the town. / The father went out hunting, the boys had stayed behind / While mother tended to her chores they wandered from her side.

The family’s name was Cox, and they lived in Spruce Hollow; an area that sits in a rugged and still-isolated pocket between the Allegheny Front and Blue Knob in the northwestern corner of Bedford County.

Perhaps the sun was out, offering deceptive warmth and invitation to George and Joseph Cox, because they wandered out into that rugged hollow, looking for their father, while wearing only light coats. George was seven, Joseph only five.

Quickly, searches were organized and mushroomed into an effort that involved hundreds of people. While searchers faithfully kept at it day after day in hopes of finding the boys, they made the logical but fateful decision to stay on the west side of snowmelt-swollen Bobs Creek, convinced that the boys couldn’t have crossed it.

Now Jacob Dibert woke one night from a strange and eerie dream / He saw a path between two hills near a dark and swollen stream. / He told his wife he saw the boys huddled close beside a log / For two more nights the dream returned this vision sent from God.

Dibert lived 15 miles away, didn’t know Spruce Hollow and hadn’t taken part in the search efforts. But a week following the boys’ disappearance, Jacob had the same dream for three consecutive nights, clearly pinpointing the boys’ whereabouts. With help of a guide, and acting upon the information provided by the dream, Dibert found the boys’ bodies, huddled together at the base of a birch tree – on the east side of Bobs Creek.

Today, you can visit the “Lost Children of the Alleghenies” Monument, which marks the location where the Cox boys were found. Look for the sign along PA Route 869 just north of Pavia or call Blue Knob State Park at (814) 276-3576.

But there’s another way to experience this dramatic story. For the italicized words in this column are some of the lyrics of a song, called “Jacob’s Dream,” that was written by Julie Lee and John Pennell about this episode in our regional history.

A Nashville songwriter, Ms. Lee is distantly related to Jacob Dibert. Her mother grew up in northwestern Bedford County and Lee remembers hearing about the Lost Children during her childhood.

Now Julie Lee is no Nashville wannabe. She’s an established singer/songwriter who has eight of her own albums and has had her music recorded by some of the biggest names in Nashville, including Pam Tillis and Alison Kraus.

It was Alison who recorded “Jacob’s Dream” with the Union Station band as a beautiful, hauntingballad. She included it on her compilation album, “A Hundred Miles or More,” which peaked at number three on Top Country Albums and number 10 on Billboard.

Hear Alison’s version of Jacob’s Dream on YouTube, and you’ll experience the chill of the Lost Children as deeply as if you’d visited their monument during our wintry first week of April. But be warned: Keep a tissue handy.

Oh Mommy and Daddy why can’t you hear our cries? / The day is almost over, soon it will be night. / We’re so cold and hungry and our feet are tired and sore. / We promise not to stray again from our cabin door.

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