Men Posing at the Lost Children of the Alleghenies Monument

A memorials photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

Inscription on the monument: "The Lost Children of the Alleghenies were found here, May 8, 1856, by Jacob Dibert and Harrison Whysong."

See also a detail showing the inscription and the full version of the real photo postcard (below).

The Lost Children of the Alleghenies monument stands as a memorial to the sad story of George and Joseph Cox, ages 7 and 5, whose bodies were discovered at the site on May 8, 1856. The boys wandered away from their home in the Allegheny Mountains of northern Bedford County, Pennsylvania, on April 24.

The boys' parents sought help when they were unable to locate their children, and hundreds of people eventually came to help search through the mountainous terrain during the following days. After two weeks of searching, however, the boys still had not been found, and the freezing cold weather in the higher altitudes was a cause for concern.

A man named Jacob Dibert, who lived some distance away and had not participated in the search, dreamed that he was out in the woods looking for the boys. He dreamed for three nights in succession that he saw a dead deer, a little shoe, and a tree that had fallen across a stream. After crossing the stream, he found the boys' bodies.

He sought the help of his brother-in-law, Harrison Whysong, who was familiar with the area where the boys had gone missing. After Jacob described what he saw in his dream, the men attempted to locate the site. They noticed a dead deer, found a boy's shoe, and spotted a tree that had fallen over a stream. They crossed over, and discovered George and Jacob's lifeless bodies.

The poignant story of the boys "found by a dream" circulated widely in newspapers and books and by word of mouth. The monument was built and dedicated on May 8, 1906, fifty years after the sad event.

For more information, see the Wikipedia article about the Lost Children of the Alleghenies. The boys' story was also the subject of Alison Krauss's 2007 song, "Jacob's Dream."