The
Original
Siamese Twins
Photograph by
Penny de los
Santos
Born in Siam
(Thailand) in
1811,
conjoined
twins Chang
and Eng
Bunker—portrayed
in an
airbrushed
portrait—settled
in rural
North
Carolina
after years
of touring
the world as
a novelty
act.
Attracted to
a quiet life
out of the
public eye,
the twins
became
farmers,
owned slaves,
married,
amassed a
small
fortune, and
built houses
for their
growing
families.
Today,
Chang's house
(background)
is still
owned by a
Bunker family
member.
A Large
Legacy
Photograph by
Bettmann/Corbis
Once settled
near Mount
Airy, North
Carolina,
Chang (center
right) and
Eng met and
married
sisters from
the town and
fathered 21
children
between them.
Eng's son
Robert (far
left) is the
youngest of
eleven.
Chang's
daughter
(name
unknown) is
one of ten.
Family
Ties
Photograph by
Penny de los
Santos
Blond,
blue-eyed
twins Zack
and Erin
Blackmon are
direct
descendants
of Eng
Bunker. "My
German
heritage has
overridden
the physical
appearance of
the Asian
twins," says
Zack and
Erin's
mother,
Sherry. "But
the
connection is
still there."
To keep ties
alive, the
Blackmons
keep a curio
cabinet full
of pictures
and books on
Chang and Eng
and display
photographs
that trace
the family's
link to their
famous
ancestors.
The Seventh
Generation
Photograph by
Penny de los
Santos
Two-and-a-half-year-old
twins, Lee
(in green)
and Levi
Bunker are
the tenth of
eleven sets
of twins in
the growing
Bunker
clan—now over
1,500 strong.
Apart from
Chang and
Eng, none of
the family's
twins are
conjoined.
Never
Separated
Photograph by
Penny de los
Santos
January 17,
1874—Chang
Bunker's cry
in the middle
of the night
signaled his
death. "Then
I am going,"
Eng said.
Within hours,
Eng passed
too. Modern
doctors
believe Eng's
blood
collected in
his dead
brother's
body causing
Eng to bleed
to death.
After an
autopsy in
Philadelphia,
the twins
were
eventually
moved to the
graveyard of
nearby White
Plains
Baptist
Church. The
tombstone
indicates
both wives
rest
alongside
their
husbands, but
Sarah (Eng's
wife) was
actually
buried on her
husband's
farm. One of
the world's
oldest known
sets of
conjoined
twins, Chang
and Eng lived
until age 62. |
