.jpg)
Jabez Mckay,a blacksmith;the twins later adopted Mckoy,a version
of their master's name,as their own.Their daddy were of pure African descent;their mama was both African and Native American.The twins were conjoined at the lower spine and stood at an approximately 90-degree angle to each other they shared a single pelvis,each had a full of set of limbs.At birth the frail Millie,who weighted an estimated five pounds,seemed to be only an attachment to her twelve-pound sister's
back,and henceforth the two were also known as a single "girl" named Millie-Christin,whom other family members referred to as "Sister." As adults they reached a combined weight of 170 pounds.
Jabez owner of the twins,quickly recognized their commercial value.When they were ten months,old,he sold them for $1,000 to an agent fr public exhibition.Over the next few years the twins changed hands several times,their price increasing to perhaps as much as $40,000,before setting with Joseph Pearson Smith and his his family.Millie & Christine were hired out by Pearson to various road shows,where they were billed as "the Carolina twins." For several years they toured the South and later other parts of the United States,appearing as sideshow attractions along with jugglers and acrobats as well as other "freaks," as human oddities"were called then called.General admission was twenty-five cents;visitors had to pay an additional fifty cents to see the girls.
By late 1854 Pearson had lost track of the of the now three-year-old twins,who were then appearing at Barnum's American Museum in New York City,billed as "the celebrated African United Twins." The following year,after appearances in Canada the twins were taken to England under the aegis two other contemporary showmen,
"Professor" W.J.L.Millar and William Thompson.For more than a year they toured cities throughout the British Isles,captivating audiences and creating a sensation wherever they appeared.To counteract public skepticism,they twins were usually subjected to physician examinations wherever they appeared,a practice that ended only in their early teens,when the twins refused to be subjected to further intimate scrutiny.By 1856 Pearson had traced the twins to England,and early the following year he traveled to London,accompanied by the twins' mama',to reclaim them.Pearson had earlier purchased both parents and numerous siblings from Jabez,and they now were living with the Smith family.After a lengthy trial,Pearson regained legal custody of Millie & Christine and return with them and their mama to the family plantation in North Carolina.While other McKoy family members worked as slaves for the family,the twins were groomed for careers as stage entertainers.By all accounts the twins were precocious and highly intelligent,Pearson wife wife taught them to read,write,and present recitations in German and French as well as English;she also taught them to sing and dance and to play the piano.Soon the twins were making public appearances to great acclaim throughout the country as well abroad,under acts that included musical performances and declamations of verse that they had written themselves.
When the Emancipation Proclamation brought an end to slavery in 1863,the twins along with their parents and siblings chose to sty with the smiths.After several years Jacob McKoy bought a nearby farm with money donated by the twins,who were now earning some $600 a week.With Joseph P.Smith,Jr.,acting as the twins' manager encouraged their popularity by writing an autobiography,History and Medical Description of the Two-Headed girl,that was widely circulated following its publication in 1869.Among their most famous fans was Queen Victoria,who invited them to
Buckingham Palace for several performances in the summer of 1871 and presented the pair with diamond hair clips.In the early 1880s the twins were featured with P.T. Barnum's traveling circus,and they continued to make public appearances at fairs and carnivals until the end of the decade,when Millie's failing health forced the pair to retire to their home in rural Columbus
County.There they continued the charitable work they had begun earlier,supporting African American schools and churches in the South.By the end of the century the twins had long faded from the public,eye,and they lived
the rest of their lives in obscurity.Early in the twentieth century Millie was diagnosed with tuberculosis,and the twins spent time at an unidentified sanitarium in the Northeast in an unsuccessful effort to arrest the disease.Over the years various inquiries had been made about the possibility of separating the twins,and was this was declared impossible while both remained alive,there was discussion of performing surgery after the death of one of them,in hopes of saving the life of the other.As Millie's condition worsened,a local doctor consulted with physicians at John Hopkins Medical College about postmortem surgery but was advised not do so;indeed the John Hopkins doctors recommended that Christine be given massive doses of morphine to end her life quickly after Millie's death.This course was apparently pursued,following a petition to the state governor for approval,Christine whowas in good health,outlived her sister by a number of yours,possibly as many as seventeen.They never married.
No comments:
Post a Comment