This Pennsylvania Legend Will Send Chills Down Your Spine
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Beth Price-Williams
Author
Some stories remain forever entwined in a town’s history and in people’s memories. Those stories become legends passed down from generation to generation. This Pennsylvania legend, told for roughly 161 years, continues to tug at the heartstrings of Pennsylvanians far and wide. The story started quite innocently enough way back in April of 1856.
Life was much simpler in Pavia, Pennsylvania, in the mid-1800s. One family's happy story, however, would take a sharp and tragic turn on April 24, 1856.
The day started normally enough for the Cox family: mom Susannah, dad Samuel, and their two small sons, seven-year-old George and five-year-old Joseph.
The day started normally enough for the Cox family: mom Susannah, dad Samuel, and their two small sons, seven-year-old George and five-year-old Joseph.
Samuel left the family’s cozy home deep in the forest that morning to the follow the sound of his dog’s barking. Susannah remained at home. George and Joseph followed their father, a fact only discovered when Samuel returned home to Susannah.
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A search party gathered to meticulously search the area, carrying torches in the hopes that the brothers would see the fire and walk toward it. The search went as far as a nearby creek, swollen from melting snow, as searchers felt confident the boys would have little luck crossing the water.
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Several days passed with no sign of George and Joseph. No bodies were found in the rushing creek. Whispers began to spread. Perhaps Susannah and Samuel had murdered their sons in a quest for financial gain. A cloud of suspicion remained over the Cox parents.
Then something odd – the stuff that legends are made of – happened. A stranger named Jacob Dibert had a dream about the missing boys. In his dream, the brothers’ bodies were found in a ravine near a young boy’s shoe and a deer's carcass. Jacob dismissed his dream until…
He had the same dream the following two nights. Along with his brother-in-law Harrison Whyson, Jacob set out to find the boys. He followed the path he had taken in his dream. And, just like his dream, they found George and Joseph in a ravine, a child’s shoe and a deer carcass nearby.
The two brothers had apparently made it safely across the swollen creek, only to die of exposure to the elements. The heartbroken community buried the two brothers in Mount Union Cemetery.
The tragic tale of the Cox brothers has become legend. A monument was designed and placed in their memory at Blue Knob State Park. Singer Allison Krause featured the boys’ story in her song "Jacob’s Dream" and Pennsylvanians still stop by the boys’ grave to leave flowers and remember the young lives so tragically lost.
The tragic tale of the Cox brothers has become legend. A monument was designed and placed in their memory at Blue Knob State Park. Singer Allison Krause featured the boys’ story in her song "Jacob’s Dream" and Pennsylvanians still stop by the boys’ grave to leave flowers and remember the young lives so tragically lost.
Have you previously heard of this Pennsylvania legend? Click here to read about another Pennsylvania tragedy: The unsolved murder of the Boy in the Box.
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