PREFACE.
At the solicitation of a number of the older citizens of Blair and Bedford
counties, (Pa.) I have consented to publish this brief and thrilling narrative.
The subject is one that does not require the pen of a ready writer to make it
interesting, but a mere relation of the fact as they occurred I think cannot
fail to interest all.
Children are the most interesting and at the same time the most helpless of
all God's creatures, so that until they have reached certain years they are
entirely dependent upon others for food, clothing, and protection. They do not
have the least knowledge of danger. But in order that they may be protected and
provided for in their tender years, God has, by the touch of His finger,
implanted that love that burns in the heart of nearly all parents for their
children. It was this love that led David in the bitterness of his grief to
exclaim, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom; would God I had died for
thee." A railroad engineer, as his train approached his home that was near the
road, saw his little three
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iv PREFACE.
year old boy playing on the track. The situation was such that he could save his
boy by losing his own life. He chose the latter alternative, and was instantly
killed.
In 1874 when the news flashed over the wires that little Charley Ross had
been kidnapped or stolen from his parents in Philadelphia, this entire continent
was moved in sympathy for the little boy and his parents and friends. Such was
the feeling that the name of Charley Ross became a household word in every
family all over the land. His picture was sent to every part of the country. The
press freely advertised him and gave the parents every possible assistance to
find him, while thousands of letters of love and sympathy were written to them
from every part of the United States and Europe. If half the children in
Philadelphia had died in a single day it would not have created a greater
sensation over the country than did the abduction of little Charlie Ross. No one
can imagine what his parents have suffered. Yet through all these years of
painful anxiety they have had some hope that their dear lost boy may one day
find his way back to their home, not as the little boy now, but as a young man
in all his strength of manhood.
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PREFACE. v
They imagine that his abductors though fiends in human form, could not find it
in their hearts to murder their innocent little victim, and that he still lives,
perhaps in their own city. The parents have spent a fortune trying to find their
boy, and would willingly spend their lives in the search. And now as he has been
lost so long they no doubt have given up the search. Still they will live in
hope that he may yet return. But not so in the case I am about to relate. If the
narrative of "The Lost Chlidren," was a romance or fictitious story I might
couch it in entirely different language. But, as every part of it is literally
true, the reader will pardon me for using as nearly as possible the language of
those who were present at the time and witnessed the events as I shall relate
them. The narrative is so sad and touching that even strong men to-day who
helped to search for the lost children more than thirty years ago, are moved to
tears while relating the story.
To the parents and relatives of "the lost children," and to the hundreds of
generous hearted neighbors, who are still living, and who spent so many long
days and wearisome nights in searching for them, this little narrative will
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vi PREFACE.
come home with a touching interest that the strange reader far away from the
wilds of the Alleghenies may fail to realize. Yet I believe the narrative
possesses a merit separate and apart from all mere local and personal
associations. It is hoped therefore that these pages may find many interested
readers, not from any merit of the writer, but from the truthful and touching
subject he represents.
Huntingdon, Pa., June 25th, 1888.
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THE LOST CHILDREN OF THE ALLEGHENIES AND HOW
THEY WERE FOUND THROUGH A DREAM.
CHAPTER I.
The traveler going west over the Pennsylvania Railroad, as he approaches
the Allegheny Mountains some four or five miles west of Altoona, is delighted
with the wild scenery that meets his gaze. Here he is in the very midst of the
Allegheny range, where the great barrier begins to break into the numerous spurs
which lead away in long lines from the interior towards the east.
The iron steed boldly climbs the mountain on one if these numerous spurs,
carrying the traveler up by an ascending grade of eighty-four and a half feet to
the mile, but reduced to seventy-five feet by means of curves.
At Kittanning Point, the road is carried around a sharp curve which has
ever since its construction been a wonder of engineering skill.
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8 THE LOST CHILDREN
The art, or science, here must have been put to the sharpest test, and proved
master of the situation. Two deep ravines had to be crossed, and to accomplish
this feat, a point of the mountain had to be cut away and the two ravines by
high embankments brought up to proper grade, then by a sharp horseshoe shaped
curve, the sides of which are parallel with each other, the train is turned
around in a moment's time, and on the opposite spur of the mountain has the
appearance of running directly back to Altoona, the station it had left a few
minutes before. But after completing the horseshoe bend, the road by use of
another curve, turns to the right and passes on more directly westward, through
the great gateway nature has opened for its accommodation, and through the long
tunnel to Gallitzin. On leaving the horseshoe curve, the traveler is more
delighted than ever with the wild mountain scenery, The gorge here is much
deeper than at the horseshoe curve, and as the train carries him along the steep
mountain side he looks down into the deep ravine some places, almost
perpendicular, hundreds of feet below him; while another mountain rising
abruptly on the other side, and running parallel with the one he is on towers
far above
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 9
his head. Before reaching Gallitzin, the train passes through a long tunnel
which is three thousand six hundred and twelve feet in length, and securely
arched throughout. The highest point attained by the Pennsylvania Railroad is at
the western end of this great tunnel, where the elevation above tidewater is
twenty-one hundred and sixty-one feet. This summit is known as Allegrippus
Point. The entire distance over the mountain, is some thirty or thirty-five
miles.
Hundreds of travelers every day between Altoona and Gallitzin are led, not
only to admire with pleasure this wild mountain scenery, but alike the grand and
daring engineering skill manifested in so successfully building an iron road
over this formidable barrier. These scenes are so grand, and so romantic, that
they never grow old.
Some fifteen or twenty miles south of this, in other wilds of the
Alleghenies is the scene of our narrative. The scenery here is much like that
described above, only upon a scale more extended. The different hills, cliffs,
crags, and ravines have been named by old hunters, so that the people living
near the foot of the mountain understand them. One of the highest points is
known
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10 THE LOST CHILDREN
as Blue Knob, another Fork Ridge, others Blue Ridge, Cedar Swamps, Kings Cabins,
Red Ridge, Hogback Ridge, Spruce Hollow, Gypsy Hollow, Bob's Creek, Ciana Run,
and others.
The isolated farms and small improvements that can be seen in different
parts of this vast mountain range look as if they had wandered away from
civilization, and (like the children) been lost in the wilderness.
Spruce Hollow, is in Bedford county, Pa. From the mouth of this ravine to
the top of the mountain, or to the settlements on the other side is at least
fifteen miles, while the forest extends for many miles on either side. Over this
vast mountain range are numerous rugged peaks and deep hollows, through which
pass a number of creeks and mountain streams. During the spring months, when
these streams are swollen by the melting of the snow, they rush down these deep
ravines on their wild, mysterious errand as though each was trying to outrun its
fellows in reaching the Juniata River below. And while this part of the mountain
has numerous high peaks, hills and hollows, much of it is level and covered
thickly with under growth timber and brush, making it difficult in many places
to trav-
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 11
el through it. And there is such a sameness about it that old hunters sometimes
get lost and have trouble to find their way out.
----------
CHAPTER II.
How the Children Were Lost.
Thirty-two years ago there lived in a little cabin, in Spruce Hollow, a
family by the name of Cox. The family consisted of Samuel Cox, his wife, and two
little sons. Mr. and Mrs. Cox commenced their early married life in Johnstown,
Cambria county, Pa., and remained there until their two sons were born, when
they moved to the State of Indiana, in 1851. But unfortunately for them, they
settled in a part of the state where malaria fever prevailed, and soon their
little family was prostrated with the disease, and for weeks and months, they
lingered between life and death, until for the sake of life and health, they
were compelled to move back to their native hills in Pennsylvania. Soon after
returning they settled in this lonely spot in the wilds of the mountain as their
future home.
It is evident that they had no desire to be
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12 THE LOST CHILDREN
rich or they would never have selected Spruce Hollow as a place to gain wealth.
But being naturally of a contented turn of mind it did not require much of this
world's goods to make them happy. And now that their children were fast gaining
health from breathing the pure mountain air they felt entirely satisfied with
their lonely retreat and with the thought that their children might be a
blessing to them now, and a comfort to them if they should live to declining
years. With such musings in their minds they felt perfectly happy.
But alas! with them, as with all others, how uncertain are all earthly
enjoyments. Grief and woe unutterable was at their very door, and they knew it
not. The dark cloud without a silver lining was fast gathering over their heads
and they had no knowledge of what a single hour would bring forth to them.
It was on the 24th day of April, 1856, that Samuel Cox while at breakfast
heard his dog barking in the woods about one-eighth of a mile from his cabin,
and, as his dog usually had a squirrel treed when he barked this way, Mr. Cox
remarked to his wife that if his dog should continue to bark until he was
through his breakfast
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 13
he would go out and shoot the squirrel. Hastily finishing his meal he shouldered
his gun and started out in the woods in the direction of his dog, leaving his
two little boys at the table with their mother. Failing to find the squirrel he
shortly returned to his cabin by a different route from that he had taken in
going out. Not seeing the children, he inquired of their mother where they were.
She had not noticed them after they had gone out from breakfast. As there was
but little cleared land about their cabin it did not require long to determine
that they must have undertaken to follow their father to the forest. The parents
in the wildest alarm ran to the mountain, and taking in as much of it as they
thought it possible for their children to have reached in so short a time, they
made the most careful search without finding them. Then they returned to their
home thinking the children might have come back to their cabin during their
absence but in this they were sadly disappointed. The parents, now almost
distracted, made the fact known to their nearest neighbors that their children
were lost in the wilds of the mountains. The news spread like wild-fire, and
while many hastened to the mountain to help search for the
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14 THE LOST CHILDREN
lost ones, others on foot and on horse, traveled from house to house, and from
one village to another, carrying the news. Every one that heard it seemed at
once to comprehend the situation, that whatever was done to find them must be
done quickly or they would not likely be found at all. With this kindred feeling
in the minds of nearly all who heard the tidings it is not at all strange that
plowman unhitched their teams midway in the fields, merchants closed their
stores, mechanics threw down their tools with their work unfinished, and all,
with one common purpose, hastened to the mountain, and notwithstanding the day
was far spent before many of them heard the news, yet so quick were the people
in their efforts to rescue the little perishing ones, that not less than two
hundred voices rang along the crags and cliffs of the Allegheny ere the sun had
set on that day. So thorough was the search that every plane, hill top and
ravine within a reasonable distance of their home had been carefully gone over
before dark without finding even a foot print of the lost children. And what
alarmed the parents still more was, that as night approached it was fast growing
cold, dark heavy
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 15
clouds were looming up in the north-west, and as it was in the dark of the moon
everything indicated a dark and stormy night. The father, worn out with exertion
and grief, plead with his neighbors to continue the search through the night.
"For how," he thought, "can they possibly live through this dismal night exposed
to the wild beasts of the mountain, without a shelter to protect them from the
snow that is fast falling, without a place to lay their weary heads, or a morsel
of food to strengthen their feeble and exhausted bodies." Willing to do anything
to comfort the bereaved parents, quite a number remained out all night and kept
up fires on different points of the mountain, thinking the children might be
attracted to the lights, while others returned to the home of the parents, if
possible, to speak words of comfort to them.
Grief sometimes reaches a point when friends, though stored with words of
comfort, do not seem to have the power to express them. So it was in this case.
The grief of the parents was so great that those who had gone there for the
express purpose of consoling and comforting them could only look on in silence
and weep with them.
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16 THE LOST CHILDREN
It is not at all strange that the parents should feel heart-broken at the
loss of their little boys. They were very innocent, interesting children.
George, the elder one, seven years old, had dark hair and blue eyes; while
Joseph, the younger one, aged but five years, had light hair and gray eyes; and,
owing perhaps to their sickness in the west, they were small for their ages, but
in cuteness and knowledge, they were far in advance of their years. George was
remarkably intelligent for one of his age, and always had such a care for his
younger brother, that when going to and from their play, he nearly always led
him by the hand and they were so affectionate with one another that they never
had a quarrel at their play.
"Young loves, young hopes dancing on morning's cheek,
Gems leaping in the coronet of Love!
So beautiful, so full of life they seemed
As made entire of beams of angels' eyes,
Gay, guileless, sporting, lovely little things!
Playing around the den of sorrow, clad.
In smiles, believing in their fairy hopes,
And thinking man and woman true! All joy,
Happy all day, and happy all the night."
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 17
CHAPTER III.
The False Accuser.
The first night the children were out on the mountain was the longest night
the parents had ever experienced; and, notwithstanding so many of the neighbors
were spending the night with them, they never felt so lonesome before. Without
their boys all was dreary and sad, and how slowly and sluggishly the hours
passed away. Morning came at last, but without a single word of comfort for the
sorrowing parents.
The day came in cold and damp, with thick heavy clouds, and the north winds
were piercing even those well clad. The severe weather seemed to touch the heart
of every one in sympathy for the little lost wanderers, who, if living, were far
away on the cold mountain, with but little clothing to screen their tender limbs
from the biting frost, no fire to warm them in their painful wanderings, nor a
taste of food to nourish them in their fatiguing journey among the brambles,
swamps, and rocks of the mountain. With such a general tenderness and com-
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18 THE LOST CHILDREN
passion in the minds of the people it is not at all strange that the day had
scarcely opened until scores, and hundreds of people were seen coming from every
part of the country to aid in the search. They came in groups and bands, and
with one purpose in view they all hastened to the mountain. And while a few
traveled over the same ground that had been explored the previous day, thinking
that the children might have wandered back to these parts, others took a
different direction so that the adjacent hills and vales were everywhere
explored; every thicket, marsh, and cliff was searched till all the dells and
craigs for miles resounded with the call of the hunters for the lost. But no
response was returned. The day was fast passing away without a single sign or
trace of the lost children. And as the dark night came upon the world the
parents felt more disconsolate than ever. The past day's search had failed to
discover even a foot-print of their lost and starving children.
Another long, lonely night to the heartbroken parents passed slowly away,
and the bleak and dreary morning set in. But so persistent were the good people
in their search that before ten o'clock not less than one thousand people had
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 19
gone away in search of the children. Far and near, all over the face of the
mountain, for miles around were scattered hundreds of searchers. From the deep
recesses of the rocky glens, to the far up ragged peaks of the Alleghenies were
seen the busy hunters, searching every retreat, examining every nook, and
exploring every defile, with the anxious expectation of finding the children.
But all exertions seemed in vain. Another day closed with cold and stormy
weather, and with less hope of finding the children alive than before. The night
passed. Another day came with the weather still inclement. And, what was
remarkable in the case, as the prospects of finding the children grew less
hopeful every day they were lost, the efforts and exertions of the people to
find them increased each day until perhaps there were two thousand people on the
mountain. And still they came in multitudes from every part of the country and
the number was still increasing. Now, as every effort to find them up to this
time had failed to bring one word of comfort to the sorrowing parents, it did
seem to the sympathizing thousands who had kept up the unsuccessful search so
long, that the parents cup of misery must be full
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20 THE LOST CHILDREN
to the brim. But they were mistaken. One drop more was wanting; and there was a
Judas in the company of kind sympathizers ready to add this. As in the case of
Charley Ross this fiend in human form charged the parents with murdering their
children for the purpose of getting money through compassion of the people. This
wretch, in company with a few kindred spirits, had the audacity to take up some
of the floor in the parents' cabin, to see whether or not they had buried their
children under the floor, and dug up some places in their garden where they had
buried their potatoes for the same purpose. It was only a man who had a heart in
him to murder his own children that could have thought of such a cruel act. And
when the news was carried abroad that such a charge had been made the people
were so indignant at such an unreasonable accusation, that they would have
punished this wicked party according to their evil deeds, had they not escaped
from the company and remained away. Soon after this, as if to disprove these
slanderous charges against the parents, a murmur came through the neighborhood
and ran along the mountain that traces of the little wanderers had been
discovered. With such a
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 21
rumor every heart beat high with hope. Then came the news that their little
tracks were plainly seen far out in the sands of the unbroken forest at least
ten miles from their home. The hunters were so arranged on the mountain that
they were within speaking distance of each other. So it did not require long to
carry the news from the most distant points. Hundreds of people gathered to the
spot where the tracks had been found, and starting from there they moved out in
every direction, believing that the lost children would soon be found; and the
search was now pursued more vigorously than ever before. But all were
disappointed when the day closed without another mark or foot-print of the
little wanderers. The parents had been much encouraged with the news that tracks
of their children had been found far out on the mountain. This led them to
believe that they were still alive.
But as night had again closed in upon the thousands of diligent searchers
without finding more than a few foot-prints, they were more disconsolate than
ever. Another useless day's search was completed, and another dark night with
all its gloom, had come upon the world. The winds that had blown on the mountain
al-
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22 THE LOST CHILDREN
most constantly from the time the children were lost, now ceased to blow, and a
mournful stillness rested upon the surrounding forest. No voice nor sound,
disturbed the silence of the wilderness, save now and then the howl of the
distant wolf, or the scream of the wild cat and panther, as they broke through
the darkness, and brought to many a heart a fearful sadness for the lost ones,
who, if still living, were exposed to attacks from these wild beasts. Many now
were the views, the conjectures and speculations concerning them. Some said it
could not be otherwise than that they had been devoured by the wild beasts that
abounded in the mountain, as no trace or sign of them could be found. Others
would have it, that they had been taken away by a gang of Gypsies, that had been
strolling through the country. Some supposed that they had been stolen and
placed within the walls of a secret religious institution to be educated in
their peculiar faith. Others believed they had fallen into some of the mountain
streams and were drowned. But the great majority of the people believed that
they were still alive wandering about in the wilds of the mountain, and that
people should double their exertions to find them.
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 23
CHAPTER IV.
The Superstitious Hunters and the Witch.
Up to this time the search for the children had been kept up in a
systematic way. Some one well acquainted with the mountain, was appointed each
day as a leader or captain. He would arrange or align the people at such a
distance from each other that they would be able to scan every foot of ground
within their line of march. Every fallen tree was to be examined and around the
base of every rock and the mountain streams also were to be searched, as many
believed they had fallen into some of them and were drowned. And while the great
mass of the people took a different course on the mountain each day, some would
travel over the ground already gone over, supposing that the children in their
wanderings might have gotten back to that part of the forest so carefully
searched before.
Some five or six nights after the children were lost a woman by the name of
Bentamer, living near the foot of the mountain, distinctly
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24 THE LOST CHILDREN
heard a child crying far out on the mountain at a late hour in the night. She
managed to carry this news to some of her neighbors, and a vigorous search was
made, but to no purpose. It is supposed to-day that this woman really heard the
lost children cry; but by the time the people got to the place the children
perhaps had cried themselves to sleep -- so that with the most careful searching
they might easily have passed them by in the dark. They were never heard to cry
again.
The most remarkable thing connected with the story I am narrating was, that
the people never seemed to weary or tire hunting for them. Although every foot
of ground where it would seem possible for them to have wandered, had been gone
over time and again yet hundreds of people were added to the searchers daily,
all united in one common purpose, never to give up the search until they had
found them either alive or dead; and after so many days and nights of fruitless
search for them, the most hopeful, had but little idea of finding them alive.
Samuel Cox and his wife were opposed to all forms of sorcery, magic, or
necromancy. They had no faith in witches or wizards. But some of
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 25
their neighbors, who had spent much time, both day and night hunting for the
children, were firm believers in all kinds of charms and sorceries. There was a
colored man living somewhere in Morrison's Cove, who had revealed some very
mysterious things by the use of a peach-tree limb. This man was sent for to
practice his art or magic. When he came to the home of the lost children he
procured a forked peach-tree limb, with the branches of equal size. Then taking
a branch in each hand he held it up at arm's length in front of him, with the
point where the two branches united pointing upwards. Then he commenced moving
slowly around in a circle, and when he came to the direction the children had
gone or the place they would now be found the top of the branch would turn in
his hand and point in that direction, and would remain in that position just as
long as he traveled in the direction of the children. But if he lost his bearing
the top of the stick would turn back and point toward him. This man could tell
of many mysterious things he had discovered with the peach-tree limb. He could
tell to an inch where a stream of water could be found hundreds of feet beneath
the surface, and he could tell exactly where two
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26 THE LOST CHILDREN
streams met, and many other things. He was very confident, as well as those who
had brought him on the grounds, that he could soon lead them to the lost
children. It did not require long, however, to discover that he and his peach-
tree limb were a fraud and had it not been for those who were with him, he would
have been lost in the mountain himself.
But the believers in sorcery and witch-craft were not to be discouraged
with one failure. There was an old witch living in Somerset county who was noted
for her conjuring power, not surpassed perhaps by the witch of Endor. After
holding a consultation, it was determined by a few of the superstitious to send
for her. The old lady, on arriving at the mountain, went through a number of
mysterious conjuring tricks, after which she said she knew where the children
were; she could see them plainly -- that they were far out in the interior of
the mountain, living and subsisting well on chestnuts that had lain on the
ground over winter. She said that they lodged at night on a nice bed of leaves
under a heavy bunch of laurel that protected them from the rain and snow. But
she said, "I can't find de children unless you gif me some
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 27
money." Her conditions were complied with. "Now," said she, "Jes you foller me
and I'll soon find de children -- if you had jes sent for me fust, you might
have had em long ago. Again ten o'clock tomorrow we'll have em safe a nuff. De
childers all right."
The poor old deluded creature now with staff in hand started out with quite
a number of searchers, she leading the way. But they were soon interrupted by
night coming on. The night was dark, cold and rainy. But when morning came as
usual, it brought hundreds and thousands of people to the mountain, and quite a
number who did not have any faith in witches accompanied the old enchantress,
curious to know how her conjuring would end.
The reader can imagine the sorcerer, as she leads the way, and see her as
she ascends the rocky heights of the Allegheny. After passing rugged hills and
crossing timber, obstructed vales, and swollen streams that had been more than
thrice explored before, she enters the barren wastes of the interior of the
mountain. Ten o'clock came, and eleven and twelve passed by, and yet, the place
nor children were not found. But on, and on, the charmer went, still declar-
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28 THE LOST CHILDREN
ing to those about her that they should soon see the lost children. And thus
they went on wandering through the wild and dismal forest until night began to
shroud the valleys below in gloom; she at last sunk down, faint, and exhausted,
and declared that she could go no further without sleep and rest, but that in
the morning she would be able in a little while to reach the children and save
their lives. Fires being made, the company passed another inclement night on the
mountain, and in the morning, after taking a hunter's meal, they again set out
to find the children, the old woman, as usual, taking the lead, and affirming
with more confidence than ever, that she would soon bring them to the object of
their search. But hour after hour passed away without discovering even a foot-
print of the lost ones. And those who had watched her closely during the search
could plainly see that she was completely lost herself, that she had no
knowledge where the children were, and that she was just leading them round and
round in the tangled woods, until wearied and wornout, she seated herself on a
log and declared that she could go no further, that she was too ill to make
further effort, and that she must return. And
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 29
had it not been for the aid of those who had accompanied her, she herself would
never have found her way out of the wilds of the mountain. It is hardly
necessary for me to state that those who were favorable to having this old
imposter on the mountain to practice her magic tricks felt ashamed that they had
been so easily duped. Now, while a small portion of the people were following
this man and woman practicing their magic tricks, hundreds and thousands were
keeping up a constant search from hill to hill, and from one ravine to another,
until almost every foot of the mountain had been gone over time and again, where
it would seem possible for the children to have wandered. Yet at the dawning of
each day came the excited thousands. Neither time, money nor exertion was
spared. The whole adjacent population seemed determined to ascertain what had
become of the lost brothers. Far and wide over the mountain region the
surrounding country poured out its inhabitants. Other fields and other forests
were traversed and more distant wilds explored each day. And as the thousands of
hungry and exhausted searchers returned at the close of each day they found that
provisions plenty and to spare had been provided
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30 THE LOST CHILDREN
for them. The ladies everywhere throughout the excited vicinity exerted
themselves to provide the hunters with food as they came in hungry from the
search.
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CHAPTER V.
The Dream and Where the Children Were Found.
Ten days and nights of constant search by hundreds, and thousands of people
had now gone by. Ten long days and sleepless nights had passed away with the
disconsolate parents of the the lost children, and with less hope of finding
them now than ever before. No one can imagine how much they suffered from
anxiety and suspense. It would have been a relief to them to have known that
their children were dead and at rest; but even this seemed to be denied them.
On the tenth night after the children were lost, a man by the name of Jacob
Dibert, living some twelve or thirteen miles from the place where the children
were lost, and who, up to this
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 31
time had taken no part in the hunt for the children, and who had little or no
knowledge of that part of the mountain, dreamed that he was out alone searching
for them. In his wanderings he dreamed that he came to a dead deer. Further on
he found a little shoe. Next he came to a large stream, the name of which he did
not know, (it proved afterward to be Bob's Creek, which I have already
mentioned.) He crossed this stream at one of its narrowest places on a beech
log. Then, in his dream, he traveled over what is known as Blue Ridge and
entered a ravine or narrow valley through which flowed a small brook that came
out of one of the mountain gorges. Following this brook a short distance he came
to a birch-tree, the roots of which formed a semi-circle, and in this little
circle, on the very margin of the stream lay the lost children, dead. Just at
this point of his dream he awoke, and the whole scene was so clearly impressed
upon his mind that he could scarcely be convinced that it was only a dream.
Mr. Dibert was an intelligent man and was in no way superstitious. He had
no faith in omans or dreams, and really he had no reason to believe in them, as
non of his dreams up to
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32 THE LOST CHILDREN
this time had ever come true. The last one, however, was not to be banished from
his mine. He frequently talked to his wife about it during the day, and asked
her, as she had been brought up near this part of the Allegheny, whether there
was such a place on that part of the mountain as had been indicated in his
dream. She told him there was just such a place on that part of the mountain.
On the second night he had precisely the same dream over again. This
impressed him more fully than ever that his dream was true; yet he hesitated to
tell his neighbors about it, fearing they might call him crazy. He would
willingly have gone out himself to test the truthfullness of his dream, but he
did not have any knowledge of the forest, and feared he might get lost himself.
The third night came, and he dreamed the same dream over again. He came up the
same hollow; passed again the dead deer; saw again the little worn shoe that the
weary little wanderer had put off for the last time; crossed Bob's Creek on the
beech log he had seen in his first dream, and where probably the little children
had crossed it; passed again over the Blue Ridge, and came up the little ravine
to where he
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 33
saw the birch-tree, and the stream by whose babbling waters the tired, hungry,
suffering little lambs had laid them down to sleep, to wake up in the arms of
Him who said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not:
for of such is the kingdom of God."
Mr. Dibert felt so sure now that his dream was true that he started on the
following day to his wife's brother, Harrison Wysong, who lived some twelve
miles away, and near where he had dreamed the children were. When he told his
brother-in-law about his dream, and that he had come to get him to go with him
to find the place he had seen in his dream, his brother-in-law thought him
crazy. He said that the place he described was five or six miles away from the
home of the children, that they could not have traveled so far, and if they had
they could never have gotten over Bob's Creek, which is a large stream. None of
the searchers had looked for the children on the east side of the stream. None
supposed for an instant that they could have crossed it without being drowned.
Harrison Wysong used his best arguments with his brother-in-law, to dissuade him
from going on such a wild hunt. "Very well," said Mr. Dibert, "if
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34 THE LOST CHILDREN
you will not accompany me I will have to go alone. I am going at any rate."
Failing to dissuade him, the brother-in-law went along, for knowing that
Mr. Dibert was not acquainted with the country, he feared that he would be lost
if he went alone. Going in the direction indicated by Mr. Dibert, they
presidently passed a dead deer; looking, Mr. Dibert said, "Just as I saw it in
my dream." Further on they found the little shoe which had been worn by the
younger of the two children. Then they came to Bob's Creek. "Here," said Mr.
Dibert, "is the beech long where I crossed the creek." As they passed along, the
route seemed as familiar to Mr. Dibert as if he had been over it many times
before, though he had never been there except in his dream. Passing over Blue
Ridge, and to the ravine, down which the mountain stream flowed, and down this
stream, the woods became more open so that the travelers could see some distance
ahead. "This," said Mr. Dibert, "is just like I saw it in my dream; and if my
dream is true, we will soon be at the place. Do you see that tree with the
broken top on the edge of the stream? If my dream is true that is a birch-tree
and the boys are lying at the root
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 35
of it." And sure enough the tree was a birch and there lying cold in death were
the worn emaciated bodies of the poor, lost children, just as he had seen them
in his dream.
----------
CHAPTER VI.
Mr. Dibert a Soldier.
Mr. Dibert was a soldier in the late war, and died while in the service.
His widow, now Mrs. Gardner, of Pavia, Bedford county, Pa., writes me the
following letter which though not intended for publication, I think will be
interesting to the reader.
"Pavia, Bedford County, Pa.,
April 7th, 1888.
Mr. C. R. McCarthy, Huntingdon, Pa.
Dear Sir: -- I herewith send you a statement of the facts connected with
finding of Cox's lost children, so far as my husband had anything to do with it.
My husband, Jacob Dibert, and myself lived on a farm in Blair County, Pa., about
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36 THE LOST CHILDREN
three miles from the village of Claysburg in said County. From where we lived to
where the children were found, was a distance of about 12 miles. The children
were lost on Thursday, 24th day of April, 1856. On the following Sunday which
was the 27th, at church was the first that we heard that the children were lost.
During that week we heard a good deal of talk about the children not being
found. On the following Saturday night which was the third of May, my husband
and myself were talking about the poor lost children, as we had several about
the same age, we felt much distressed about them. My husband said he wished that
he could dream where the lost children were. Next morning he told me that he had
dreamed that he found the lost children, and he gave me a description of the
place, which he said was in a little valley between two large hills, and that a
small stream of water ran through the valley, and that the children were dead,
and lying very close to the banks of the stream at the roots of a birch-tree,
and that this valley was on the east side of a large stream of water. He was not
acquainted with the woods in that locality and he asked me if I knew of such a
place and val-
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 37
ley. I answered that I did, for I was raised within about two miles of that
place on my father's farm, and that I frequently brought our cows from that
valley. The next night, which was Sunday night, he dreamed the same dream again.
On Monday night he dreamed it over again. The place where he found the children
to where their parents lived, on a straight line, is fully five miles, and on
the west side of the large stream. He was very anxious and could not rest, and
tried to get some of the neighbors to go with him, but none would go because
everybody said it was impossible for the children to cross over the large stream
because the waters was high. He asked me if I thought they might, or could cross
over the high stream. I told him I thought they could if they would go up the
stream a long distance, because trees fell across it, and there were drifts that
they could cross over on. I told my husband to go up to my father's place. He
started on Wednesday, the 7th of May, about 3 o'clock P. M. My father was not at
home, so he went to my brother Harrison's, which was but a short distance away.
Either of them were well acquainted with the locality of the place where he
dreamed he found
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38 THE LOST CHILDREN
them. He told brother Harrison that he had dreamed three nights in succession
that he found the lost children, and that he had come to get him to go along to
the place. Harrison told him that he was getting crazy, that he had a notion to
boot him and send him home. My husband replied, "I am not crazy, but I want you
to go with me to the place.' Next morning they started early, and after
traveling awhile my husband said, "there is the place, and there is the birch-
tree with the top broken indicated in my dream." And when they got close enough
to see, sure enough there the children lay just as he had dreamed, and close by
the stream. The name of the stream along which the children were found in
English would be Gypsy, and in German, Ceina. The hill on the right as you go up
stream is called Red Ridge, and the one on the left Hog Back.
Jacob Dibert, my husband, enlisted in the late war on the 8th day of
September, 1861, (in Company K, 55th Pa. Vols.) Re-enlisted last day of
December, 1863, was appointed Corporal December 20th, 1861. Died at Point of
Rocks, Va., October 26th, 1864, and was buried at that place, where his remains
still lie. He died of
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 39
chronic diarrhoea. He was in a dozen or more hard fought battles while he was in
the service.
Harrison Wysong, who was along with Jacob Dibert when the children were
found, is also dead. He died in Clearfield County, about twelve years ago."
MRS. SARAH GARDNER,
Pavia P. O., Bedford Co., Pa.
Mrs. Gardner is an intelligent woman, and has a remarkably good memory. The
above letter is given in her own words, and although not intended for
publication, I think the reader will agree with me, that her statements are very
clear and satisfactory. She had often told this story of the lost children to
her own, and other young people, and she is anxious that they should see it in
print.
Now the fifteenth and last day's search had come. The morning was clear and
beautiful, and the sun had scarcely touched the hill tops ere the assembling
hundreds could be seen on their way to the forest to renew their search. Already
had the farmers' plows been standing fourteen days with their fields half
plowed, at this throng season of the year, while mechanics had left their
unfinished work, and had gone day
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40 THE LOST CHILDREN
after day to take part in the search. It is said that the willing and benevolent
people had already donated over five thousand dollars in provisions, money, and
other necessaries to carry on the search for the lost ones. The mountain was now
echoing with voices and marching of two thousand people all untiring in their
search.
Mr. Dibert and his brother-in-law, Mr. Wysong, had already gone out in the
direction of the Blue Ridge, the point designated in his dream. And as the
people had no faith in his vision, no one had accompanied him but his brother-
in-law. This was a part of the mountain that during the fourteen days of careful
searching by thousands of people, no one had yet explored, for the reason that
it was deemed impossible for the children to cross over Bob's Creek, a large
stream, as they would have to in getting to this part of the mountain. This was
in part the reason why they had no belief in Mr. Dibert's dream.
About 11 o'clock in the day the signal was given that the children were
found. At first the sound was borne on the breeze so faint and indistinctly that
you could scarcely believe your own ears. "The children are found." Then
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 41
louder and louder, the voices rose to a shout and echoed along the hills. "The
children are found! The children are found." Then swelling louder, and louder,
until like the echoing of the tempest, the mountain resounded with the voices of
hundreds answering back to hundreds that the lost children were found. Then
began the hurried march of the excited multitude to the place where the bodies
lay. Soon the long lines of the approaching hundreds came in from every point of
the compass. As each one approached he took a position as near as he could to
the dead children, and solemnly awaited the coming of the father. When he came,
he was so overcome with grief, that he had to be assisted to the place, and when
there he bent over the little forms and wept bitterly. Every one present was
touched in sympathy for him.
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42 THE LOST CHILDREN
CHAPTER VII.
The Children Starved to Death.
In that part of the mountain where the children were found there was
nothing for them to subsist upon, not even mountain tea. Their bodies were
wasted to mere skeletons, their limbs were scarred and lacerated from traveling
through the thorns and thickets of the mountain. Their clothing was worn out,
and hung in shreds about their emaciated forms. Their little shoes were almost
worn through, although they had been newly soled. It was evident that they had
wandered over the rocks and wilds of the mountain until completely worn out from
fatigue, and crying for bread. They had lain down and died of exhaustion and
starvation. Physicians supposed that they had been dead some three or four days.
That Joseph, the younger one, had died first, and George, the elder one, had
taken a little smooth stone out of the brook and with his hat upon it had placed
it under his brother's head for a pillow. Then, taking his seat beside him, we
can imagine him bending over his cold and life-
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 43
less body faintly calling him to awake, and wondering why he slept so long,
until worn out with hunger and cold himself, he fell over by the side of his
brother, where they both lay side by side, in the cold sleep of death. As soon
as it could be procured, a sled was brought to the place, the remains of the
children were placed upon it, and they were taken to their father's home some
six or seven miles from the place. And there they were kept until the following
Sabbath, when the funeral took place. It is said to have been the largest
funeral ever known in this section of the country, before or since. It is
thought there were about five thousand people present. A number came from
Pittsburg, Johnstown, Bedford and other places. Many came through curiosity to
see the children.
The children were both put in one coffin. And a very affecting sermon was
preached by Rev. Mr. Long from the 7th chapter and 9th verse, Rev., after which
they were buried in Mount Union cemetery, Bedford. county, Pa. Some one, or
more, had offered $50.00 to the party finding the children. Messrs Dibert and
Wysong generously appropriated this money to purchasing tombstones to mark their
graves.
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44 THE LOST CHILDREN
On the third or fourth day of April, 1888, the writer, in company with Mr.
Jacob Conrad, of Newry, (Pa.,) as a guide, visited the place where the children
were found. Mr. Conrad is an intelligent, genial old gentleman, with a very good
memory. He was one who helped to take the children to their home, and prepared
them for burial.
The little smooth stone that George the elder one had taken out of the
brook, and placed under his brother's head, is laying in the very spot where the
little head was taken off it thirty-two years ago. Some of the bark has been cut
off the birch-tree and carried off by the people as souvenirs. Some names have
been carved upon it, and a number of trees have been marked around it as
pointers. I am informed by those who were present at the time the children were
found, that the birch-tree has changed but little in size during the thirty-two
years. Since that time much of these wild lands have been cleared. But I venture
to say if any stranger to the country were placed at the roots of this birch-
tree today, where the little boys met their sad fate, he would have as little
knowledge as they, as to what course he should take to get out of the mountain.
Nothing
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 45
to be seen from this point but a vast wilderness.
Let us now for a little imagine what these poor little boys must have
suffered in body and mind, until death came to their relief; and the
conversation they may have had to each other about their lost condition.
When they entered the woods first perhaps they could see their father in
the distance, but soon he disappeared from their view in the wild thickets of
the mountain. For a time they ran after him, but failing to see him, or hear his
answer to their call, they decided to return to their home. But when they turned
around, home, like their father, had disappeared. They ran around now in almost
every direction crying, and calling their father. They hear the echo of their
own voices up the glen and imagine it is some one answering their call, and they
try to follow the sound, but every moment is taking them farther from home and
mother, the very one they are so anxious to find. They had never known perhaps
what it was to suffer hunger, a kind mother always had their meals ready for
them at the proper time, and often a piece between meals, when they really did
not need it. Now they were starving for bread, and pinched with cold,
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46 THE LOST CHILDREN
no dinner, and no supper. The snow is fast falling upon them and wetting their
little garments, and they have no bed, shelter, or covering. The gloomy night is
fast closing in upon them, and like all other children, they fear the darkness.
They had often, no doubt, from their home, heard the wolf howl, and the panther,
and wild-cat scream on the mountain, and had trembled at the very sound of them,
with father and mother to protect them. Now they were in the midst of these wild
beasts all alone. And no doubt they hear the distant wolf howl and imagine he is
coming toward them. They call for help, until they cry themselves to sleep. But
the pangs of hunger and pinching cold soon wake them up again to cry for help.
Hungry and cold they start out early in the morning and make every effort to
reach their home and save their lives. George, in his manly way, leading his
little brother over the mountain streams, through the swamps, down into the deep
ravines and over the high peaks; for all this they must have done in order to
get to the place where they were found. In vain they cry for help; for father
and mother. The pangs of hunger seem past endurance, while they are sorely
pinched with cold. The piercing
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 47
winds seem to mock at their little light garments, and thus they spend day after
day, and night after night, wandering around in the mountain until completely
worn out with fatigue, hunger and cold, they lie down and die. We may reasonably
suppose that George the elder one, as was his custom, would speak words of
comfort to his younger brother, as he led him along, trying to find their home.
He would plead with him not to cry, that they would soon get home to mother. It
can be seen that the last act of his life toward his little brother was full of
love and tenderness. When he took the smooth stone out of the brook, placed his
little hat upon it, and put it under his head for a pillow, while he would take
his long, and last sleep. What more could he have done?
After leaving the scene at the birch-tree in Ciana Hollow, on the same day
we visited the home of Mr. Samuel Cox, in Spruce Hollow. He and his wife are
both living, and we found them quite a venerable social old couple. They make
the stranger feel welcome, and at home, as soon as he crosses their threshold.
They converse freely about their lost boys. But you can see that a shade of
melancholy passes over them when their names are mentioned. The mother
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48 THE LOST CHILDREN
when asked whether she had ever gone to the place where her children were found,
said, that she had not, that she had started with some of her friends two years
ago to visit the place, but when she got almost there, her courage failed her.
She felt that she could not endure the sight. So the reader will see how tender
her feelings are on this subject. And notwithstanding more than thirty-two years
have passed by, since her little boys wandered from her home never to return,
she thinks of them every day, and in her imagination she can see them as they
sat at her table taking their last meal with her, as clearly as though it had
occurred but yesterday. Their home now is in sight of the place where they lived
when their children were lost, some two or three hundred yards distant. Samuel
Cox is seventy-six years old and his wife is sixty-one. They are both well
preserved people, and are young looking for their ages. Mr. Cox was soldier in
the late war. And the reader will see that his age would have exempted him from
military service. But being a true patriot, he volunteered to serve his country.
Mr. Cox and his wife have for many years been consistent church members.
Therefore they do not feel today, that their little
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 49
boys are lost but gone before, and that they shall soon meet them on the other
shore never to be separated again.
"There is a reaper who's name is Death,
And with his sickle keen,
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
And the flowers that grow between.
"Shall I have naught that is fair? saith he;
"Have naught but the bearded grain?
Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me,
I will give them all back again."
He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes.
He kissed their drooping leaves;
It was for the Lord of Paradise
He bound them in his sheaves.
"My lord has need of these flowerets gay,"
The reaper said, and smiled;
Dear tokens of the earth are they,
Where he was once a child.
"They shall all bloom in fields of light,
Transplanted by my care,
And saints, upon their garments white,
These sacred blossoms wear."
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50 THE LOST CHILDREN
And the mother gave, in tears and pain,
The flowers she most did love;
She knew she should find them all again
In the fields of light above.
O, not in cruelty, not in wrath,
The Reaper came that day;
'Twas an angel visited the green earth,
And took the flowers away."
--Longfellow.
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 51
I will here give the epitaph or inscription on the headstone in Mount Union
Cemetery marking the last resting place of little George and Joseph Cox.
"George S.,
Born March 30th, 1849,
and
Joseph C.,
Born Oct. 29th, 1850.
sons of Samuel and Susannah Cox. Wandered from home April 24, 1856, and were
found dead in the woods, May 8th of the same year, by Jacob Dibert and Harrison
Wysong."
Bedford, Pa.
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52 THE LOST CHILDREN
CHAPTER VIII.
Another Dream.
In connection with this narrative I will tell of another dream of more
recent date, that also proved true. Sometime in the month of September, 1887,
Miss Cidney Griffith, of Pavia, Bedford County, traveled in a buggy with her
brother about twelve miles over the Allegheny mountain to Portage, a station on
the Pennsylvania Railroad to see her father who was sick. Her brother left her
at her father's on Saturday, and drove back to Pavia, promising to return for
her on Monday. On Monday morning Miss Griffith, thinking she would save her
brother the trouble of driving so far, started out on foot early in the morning
to meet him, and lost her way on the mountain, by mistaking an old log road for
the public road. Soon she was completely lost in what is known in the
Alleghenies as the Cedar Swamps. These swamps are several miles in length and
width, so that no one could have been
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 53
lost in a more dangerous place. Miss Griffith became very alarmed at her
situation. She could hear the locomotives whistle at Portage, the place she had
left in the morning, but was so much excited and bewildered, that she had no
knowledge what direction she should take to get there. In the meantime her
brother had gone on to Portage with the buggy, and there learned that his sister
had started out on the Allegheny road early in the morning to meet him. He knew
that she must be lost on the mountain, and made it known to the people in the
neighborhood and they turned out in great numbers to search for her; but with
the most diligent efforts possible, night closed in upon them without finding
her. No one can imagine the feelings of Miss Griffith on that memorable evening
when dark night came upon her. She was suffering from hunger, as she did not
have anything to eat from the early morning. She was weary from wanbering around
through the swamp trying to find her way out, and she did not have a place to
lay her head, or covering to protect her from the chilling night air. She
thought of the story her father and mother had often told her when she was a
little girl, of the Cox children who were
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54 THE LOST CHILDREN
lost on the same mountain, and were not found until they had starved to death.
And she had every reason to believe now, that she should share the same fate.
She dreaded the wild beasts of the mountain and had good reasons for her fears,
as she soon heard the wild-cat or panther, she know not which, screaming in the
distance, and seemed to be coming toward her. They came very near her during the
night, but did her no harm except to frighten her. The night seemed very long to
her, but toward the break of day she slept a little; and when the morning came,
she determined just to remain where she was, that the chances to find her would
be much better than if she would get to wandering about. She frequently hollowed
during the day at the top of her voice but heard no response save the echo of
her own voice. As the clouds had the appearance of rain with the second day, she
fixed up a covering or shelter with bark over some logs to protect herself from
the rain. But as it rained heavily all night, her roof leaked and kept her
awake, so she could not sleep at all. And again the wild-cats screamed around
her, until she trembled with fear, not knowing the moment they might spring upon
her.
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OF THE ALLEGHENIES. 55
Now for two days and two nights Miss Griffith was in this pitiable
situation, without one morsel of food, and every effort to find her had failed.
On the second night after she was lost, Mr. Isaac W. Dibert, a young man living
near Pavia, Bedford County, Pa., dreamed that Miss Griffith was lost in the
Cedar Swamps, and in his dream he could see her so clearly that he was able to
go to the very spot the next morning. This Mr. Isaac Dibert is a son of Jacob
Dibert who dreamed of the Cox children. In April last the writer had the
pleasure of an interview with Miss Cidney Griffith, at her store in a little
town called Texas in Bedford County, near Spruce Hollow. As I had heard of her
misfortune in being lost in the Alleghenies, I felt curious to hear her tell the
story herself. She is quite an intelligent lady, and can tell you much of her
experience during the two days and nights she was lost; but says that her mind
was so much agitated that she cannot remember all that occurred. Few women,
perhaps, in her perilous situation, would have acted as wisely, and with as much
composure. Her remaining at one place was the best thing she could do. If she
had managed to make her way out of the swamp
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56 THE LOST CHILDREN
would only have been to get into other, and more difficult wilds of the
mountain. Miss Griffith, has learned a lesson that she will never forget. She
will never undertake again to meet anyone half way on the Allegheny mountain.
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
THE LOST CHILDREN OF THE ALLEGHENIES AND HOW THEY WERE FOUND THROUGH A DREAM
http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/history/local/lost-children.txt
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