Siamese Twins in Mayberry?

If you did not know already, Mount Airy, North Carolina, is actually famous for pretending to be another city. That city would be Mayberry, NC, from the iconic TV classic, The Andy Griffith show. Therefore, if you visit Mount Airy, NC, you will find all things Mayberry….Andy Griffith museum, Aunt Bea restaurant, Wally’s Service Station, etc. But, why does Mount Airy get to be Mayberry? Well, the star and Hollywood icon, Andy Griffith, is actually from Mount Airy. Consequently, since he was born here and the geographic location is generally correct, Mount Airy seized the tourist opportunity to become Mayberry. Initially, I was going to write a post exposing Mount Airy for pretending to be Mayberry. However, during my mission, I found something better than their dubious claim of being Mayberry, NC. Beyond Andy and Opie, there were Siamese Twins in Mayberry?

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Admittedly, I do not know if the term “Siamese twins” is politically correct anymore. But, be that as it may, I am using the term, Siamese twins, as it seems appropriate for this story. In 1811, in the country of Siam (now Thailand), twins by the name of Chang and Eng were born. For some Siamese humor, Chang and Eng actually mean “left” and “right” in their language. A physical connection at their abdomen joined these twins forever. Chang and Eng shared a liver and a circulatory system. Reportedly, Chang and Eng had a reasonably normal childhood. But, eventually, some western merchants discovered them and began their exploitation. In 1829, Chang and Eng’s “managers” brought the twins to America. To be blunt, this begin the “Freak Show” portion of Chang and Eng’s life. As they were twins from Siam, someone coined the phrase Siamese Twins to label their tour.

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Certainly, in the initial years in America, a few exploitive jerks made lots of money at the expense of Chang and Eng. But, Chang and Eng were smart guys. Eventually, Chang and Eng managed to take control of their own affairs. They did their show on their own terms. And, most importantly, Chang and Eng pocketed most of the money. With fame and money, Chang and Eng were able to become American citizens. This is the point in their lives where they adopted the last name of “Bunker.” Anyway, with wealth and citizenship, Chang and Eng gave up the side show act entirely. They bought some land in Mount Airy, NC. Then, Chang and Eng began their lives as successful plantation owner(s).

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As you might expect, with money, land and a conjoined liver, these eligible bachelors were going to attract the local talent. Subsequently, it was the lovely Yates sisters, Adelaide and Sarah, that finally captured the hearts of Chang and Eng. Ultimately, Chang/Adelaide and Eng/Sarah were married in a dual ceremony at the local Baptist church. Now, pay attention. Here comes the jaw dropper. Chang and Eng had 21 children between them. They maintained separate homes for each wife (three days in one house then swap). In one home, Chang and Adelaide made 10 babies. In the other home, Eng and Sarah made 11 babies. If you find that hard to believe, I offer up their family photo…

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To fast forward their lives, Chang and Eng had a really good run until the Civil War. No, they were not soldiers. But, they were wealthy plantation owners that backed the wrong side of that war. Consequently, much of their fortune was lost. After the war, to make ends meet, Chang and Eng had to take the Siamese Twins act on the road once more. Sadly, Chang became an alcoholic and was the generally unhealthy one of the two. In 1874, Chang died of what is believed to be heart failure. Unfortunately, Eng (the healthy twin) died a couple hours later. They believe his death was due to all sorts of unique complications related to sharing a liver and circulatory system with a now dead brother. Today, Chang and Eng’s grave is behind the White Plains Baptist Church just outside of Mount Airy.

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Normally, these posts end when the subject dies. But, there was nothing normal about Chang and Eng’s life. Upon their death, their families buried them in the basement of one of the homes. Chang and Eng were famous, not to mention medical marvels for the day. The family feared someone would dig up and steal their bodies. Well, some ghoul dug up and stole their bodies. Following an unknown chain of custody, the bodies ended up in the nation’s premier medical museum, the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. The fine folks at Mutter made a cast of the bodies, did an autopsy, and then a cast of their conjoined liver. The Mutter Museum still exists to this day, as do the casts. Thankfully, loyal reader and guest author, the Philly Kid knows all things Philadelphia. He agreed to finish my post by supplying some on the scene photos from the Mutter…

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The bad news is that the museum does not allow photography. The good news is that the museum did not take his phone and no charges were filed. Thanks much to the Philly Kid for risking arrest to bring home the photographic documentation. Anyway, the twin’s body was eventually released by the museum. Their bodies were returned to their Mount Airy home where they were buried as I said above. See, I told you there were Siamese twins in Mayberry. With all due respect to Andy Griffith, Chang and Eng were much more interesting than some North Carolina town pretending to be Mayberry. Have a wonderful day. PT

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To plan your own Chang and Eng excursion, start here http://www.surryarts.org/siamesetwins/index.html