1 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: Even in death, Moses and Aaron Wilcox stuck together. They 2 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: were twins, after all, and identical ones at that. Maybe 3 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:16,800 Speaker 1: it's cliche to say this, but the fact was that 4 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,959 Speaker 1: they did everything together. They went to the same school, 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,920 Speaker 1: started a business, married sisters, and had the same number 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: of children. Even in their pastoral hometown of killing Worth, Connecticut, 7 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: their friends and neighbors, the people who should have known 8 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,239 Speaker 1: them best, were often stumped when playing Who's Who. To 9 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: think of one without the other was inconceivable to other people, yes, 10 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: but even more so to themselves. As far as we know, 11 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: Moses and Aaron weren't keen on separation and independence. Quite 12 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: the opposite. In fact, they were far more interested in 13 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: doubling down on their twindom, so much so that they 14 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: decided they were going to create a lasting legacy based 15 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: on this very principle, their own twin utopia. Smack in 16 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: the northeastern corner of Ohio, the brothers Wilcox got some land, 17 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: moved west, and found themselves in the sparsely populated township 18 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: of Millsville. But to have a town, you must have people, 19 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: So Moses and Aaron quickly got to work. They began 20 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: buying and parceling off the land for a steel bringing 21 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: in more and more settlers. Eventually they would make Millsville 22 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: and offer they'd give the town six free acres to 23 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: be developed into a public square, plus a bit of 24 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: seed money to create the town's first school, and in return, 25 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:34,759 Speaker 1: all the town needed to do was changed its name 26 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: from Millsville to Twinsburg. The town readily accepted the deal, 27 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: and the name stuck. Not only did it stick, but 28 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: the town has continued to grow in ways the brothers 29 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: could never have dreamed. The twin identity has become so 30 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: baked into the DNA of that town that every summer 31 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: since nineteen six it hosts the Twins Day Festival. It's 32 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: the largest annual gathering of twins in the world, with 33 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: thousands of pairs attending. Naturally, Singleton's and other kinds of 34 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: multiples are welcome, but for this occasion, the twosomes are 35 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: the stars. There are all sorts of contests, parades, and 36 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: talent shows at the festival. Twins come dressed in matching sets, 37 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: hoping to play up their likeness, and it's there, more 38 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: than anywhere else in the world, where they can be 39 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,920 Speaker 1: among people who experienced the same rare fortune of sharing 40 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,959 Speaker 1: real estates in a single uterus. But there's something else there, 41 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: because it's more than just a celebration of twindom. In fact, 42 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: the festival functions as an ongoing scientific investigation centering around 43 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: the question of nature versus nurture. For years, Twinsburg is 44 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,639 Speaker 1: drawn researcher is interested in studying the effects of genetics 45 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: on behavior, personality, predispositions, and diseases. Festival participants, for their parts, 46 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: are often more than happy to oblige. It's not uncommon 47 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: to hear stories of multiples being separated at birth, only 48 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: to find each other years later, and sometimes with uncanny results. 49 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: These siblings, who often haven't known the other has existed 50 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: for their entire life, have been known to develop similar interests, mannerisms, 51 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: and temperaments. Some would also talk about the feeling that 52 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: a piece of themselves had been missing. Scientists are only 53 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: now beginning to develop ideas about why this might be, 54 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: but we certainly have a long way to go in 55 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: our understanding. And as for Moses and Aaron, they would 56 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: go on to spend the rest of their lives together. 57 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:33,399 Speaker 1: In fact, that the age of fifty, they have said 58 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: that they became sick on the very same day and 59 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: died within hours of each other, and not wishing to 60 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: ever change that they were even buried in the same grave. 61 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: I probably don't need to tell you that families are complicated. 62 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: Sibling relationships are at the heart of so many great stories, 63 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: from old myths, religious lessons, folk tales, and even true crime. 64 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: Although our genetic makeup might make siblings appear similar, they 65 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: often can't be more different, and that genetic lottery, a 66 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: random ticket plucked from the grab bag of d n 67 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: A is something that will never be able to escape. 68 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: I'm Aaron Manky and welcome to the side show. Depending 69 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: on where you're listening right now, you may be able 70 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: to see it tonight. Gemini, one of the most recognizable 71 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 1: constellations in the world, is made up of eighty five 72 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: stars that are visible to the naked eye. It's too 73 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: brightest stars. Castor and Pollox are named after some of 74 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: the most famous twins in Greek mythology, and their pedigree 75 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 1: was nothing to sniff ats either. Their mother was a 76 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: princess who later became a Spartan queen. The boys had 77 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: two different fathers, though Castor was the mortal son of 78 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: tim Dareus, while Pollox was the divine son of Zeus. 79 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: The myth tells us that when Castor was fatally wounded 80 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: later in life, Zeus offered his son Pollocks a choice 81 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: spend his time as a demigod on Mount Olympus or 82 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: give half of his immortality to his brother. Pollocks chose 83 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: to save his twin and gave him half his immortality, 84 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: and in doing so they would travel together between Mount 85 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: Olympus and Hades in equal measure, never again to be separated. 86 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: In the story of human history, the specter of twins 87 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: looms large. For eons. Stories of twins have belonged to 88 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: the realms of old world religion and folklore. Thinkers have 89 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: been obsessed with understanding their nature. Accounting for only three 90 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: percent of natural births, their cultural effect has been outsized 91 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: and profound. Scientific curiosity about twins goes back to ancient times. Hippocrates, 92 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: the famous physician, wrote about a pair of brothers who 93 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: he suspected as being twins, based on the fact that 94 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: the two became sick with the same illness at the 95 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: same time, which progressed at the same rate and then 96 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 1: cleared up simultaneously. The modern scientific study of identical twins, though, 97 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 1: seems to have begun around eighteen seventy five with Sir 98 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:07,599 Speaker 1: Francis Galton, the cousin of another than Charles Darwin. The 99 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: most common twins are fraternal, meaning that two babies are 100 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 1: born from two different fertilized eggs. Identical twins result from 101 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:17,719 Speaker 1: the splitting of a single egg, and the most rare 102 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: form of all are twins who are born conjoined, the 103 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: result of an incomplete separation of an early embryo. Conjoined 104 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: twins are further classified according to how and where they 105 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,600 Speaker 1: are joined, and they can be fused just about anywhere, 106 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: sharing any number of body parts and internal organs. Now, 107 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: historically such births have caused quite an alarm, often being 108 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: blamed on the devil or witchcraft. Interestingly, one of the 109 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: first recorded attempts to surgically separate conjoined twin boys was 110 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: in the Byzantine Empire during the tenth century, but the 111 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: first successful surgical separation of conjoined twins was in Switzerland 112 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 1: in sight nine. Twins have appeared on stage for just 113 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:01,920 Speaker 1: about as long. For his part. P. T. Barnum began 114 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:06,919 Speaker 1: billing twins as living curiosities, highlighting their otherness alongside his 115 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: other born and manufactured x. The questions were always suggested 116 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: to the audience. Were they one person, were they too? 117 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: Who would they be without the other? And could they 118 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: or should they be separated? Many can join twins undergo 119 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: surgery so they can lead more independent lives, but for some, 120 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: choosing to stay together has offered something more attractive, the 121 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: path to fame and prosperity. Their birth foreshadowed disaster, or 122 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: so king rama, the second of Siam thought for the 123 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: price of a few inches of connective tissue at their 124 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: stern um. The boys were condemned to death, but fortunately 125 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: for conjoined twins Chang and Eng, their sentence was never 126 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: carried out. In fact, they're pos sit of celebrity was 127 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: uncommon in a world where physical differences were often treated 128 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: as oddities. The brothers were no social pariahs. By age ten, 129 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: the brothers had entered the workforce. They had lost five 130 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: of their siblings and their father to cholera. With a 131 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 1: purchase of a fishing boats and reputation in the duck 132 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: egg trade, they became quite popular among their neighbors. In 133 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty four, when they were thirteen years old, the 134 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: boys had gone for a swim. There they caught the 135 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: eye of a Scottish merchant named Robert Hunter, who, according 136 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: to his retelling, at first assumed them to be some 137 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: sort of creature. He said, he quickly realized his mistake, 138 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: but still considered the potential of their monstrosity again his 139 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: word not mine, and began to think about exhibiting them. 140 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: Roberts and an American sea captain named Able Coffin approached 141 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: the boys and their mother, Nock, hoping to have her 142 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 1: sign off on his plans. Robert was also tasked with 143 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: convincing the same King of Siam to give them permission 144 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: to go abroad. The king was excited about the positive 145 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: press the boys would elicit for their small country and 146 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: was eager to establish deeper ties with western developed nations. 147 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: For a thirty month contract with her sons, Roberts and 148 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: Able paid Knock the sum of five dollars. The accounts 149 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: of the transaction vary widely. Were they sold or simply 150 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:23,559 Speaker 1: entrusted into the men's care. Who did Chang Nang belong 151 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: to the market for oriental curiosities was flourishing in the West, 152 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: and Chang and Yang's compound ethnic and physical makeup was 153 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: irresistible in the eyes of the showman. Their first stop 154 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: in America would be Boston, where they were billed as 155 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:43,199 Speaker 1: the Siamese Double Boys, and they were an instant sensation. 156 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: Unlike other acts at the time, the boys were not 157 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,679 Speaker 1: taught to do tricks or otherwise perform. Rather, they were 158 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:53,079 Speaker 1: allowed to conduct themselves as they saw fit, though they 159 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,559 Speaker 1: eventually would take to performing feats of strength. The price 160 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: to see them was high, though, with tickets often selling 161 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: for the modern quivalent of about one dollars. Now. Where 162 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:05,439 Speaker 1: other sideshow acts were put on stage and seen as 163 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: a spectacle, Chang and Aaning position themselves more like hosts 164 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: at a tea party, entertaining and conversing with curious guests 165 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 1: with bits of English, and this hallmark, the one of respectability, 166 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: would prove to be a lifelong pillar of the brother's identities. 167 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:25,320 Speaker 1: They pursued their own independence outside of their management, aligning 168 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: themselves with society's upper crust who came to see them. Frequently. 169 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:32,959 Speaker 1: They would entertain doctors and other spectators who addressed the 170 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:36,080 Speaker 1: question of separation. It was usually the doctors who would 171 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: approach them, but the brothers were also known to seek 172 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,079 Speaker 1: out the Council on their own. Chang and Eng were 173 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,080 Speaker 1: known to fight ferociously from time to time and had 174 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: wildly different personalities. By twenty one, they pursued total independence 175 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: and announced that they had fulfilled all contractual obligations that 176 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: had brought them abroad in the first place. Striking out 177 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: on their own, they would finally get into business for themselves. 178 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: They traveled to Europe, they traveled across North America. They 179 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,680 Speaker 1: adopted an American style of dress, save for their long 180 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:12,080 Speaker 1: braided hair. Chang and Ang were already positioning themselves not 181 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:16,199 Speaker 1: as servants, slaves, or beholden to others, but rather as 182 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: agents in their own right. One thing they could not escape, though, 183 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 1: was the social order they found themselves in. At the 184 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: end of the day, it would still never be white. 185 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: But by the end of the eighteen thirties, the twins 186 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: began to entertain the idea of retirement. They made their 187 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 1: way to Wilkes County, North Carolina and purchased one hundred 188 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:38,239 Speaker 1: fifty acres of land. The newly minted U S citizens 189 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 1: also adopted a new American surname. They would now be 190 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: called Chang and Ang Bunker, they settled into their American identity. 191 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: They attended church, opened a local store, and eventually took 192 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: up farming. And what's more, they each married on April 193 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 1: thirteenth of eighteen forty three, in true American fashion, Chang 194 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:59,680 Speaker 1: En Ang married the farmers daughters from down the way. 195 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 1: Chang married Adelaide Yates, and Ang married her sister Sarah 196 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: Ann in a proper Baptist church wedding. The papers, of course, 197 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 1: were all a twitter at what they called a be 198 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: steel union, but within ten months both couples welcomed their 199 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: first child, and over the next three decades, Chang and 200 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 1: Ang and their respective wives would have a total of 201 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: twenty one children. The two families moved into a larger 202 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: house and began farming tobacco and several other crops. They 203 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:30,680 Speaker 1: would eventually build two houses side by side for each 204 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: nuclear family and spend alternating days at each. They became 205 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: gifted carpenters, horse breeders, and marksman. Chang and Yang, who 206 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: had once been leased out as human exhibits, purchased dozens 207 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 1: of enslaved people to maintain their farms. It seems they 208 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 1: had no limits when it came to amassing the trappings 209 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 1: of white aristocracy. But their retirement wasn't to last. They 210 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: returned to the stage on and off in the intervening years, 211 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:00,080 Speaker 1: even passing through P. T. Barnum's American Museum. At one 212 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: point it was said that he was resentful that he 213 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,439 Speaker 1: hadn't been the one to discover them, and that they 214 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:11,000 Speaker 1: found him to be quite stingy and exploitative. They paused 215 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,560 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty one with the outbreak of the Civil War. 216 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:18,319 Speaker 1: Slaveholders and secessionists as they were, they backed the Confederacy, 217 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,319 Speaker 1: suffering many great losses, with the deaths of two daughters 218 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: and almost total economic ruin. The pair continued to tour 219 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:28,199 Speaker 1: the country after the war, but by this time their 220 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:31,319 Speaker 1: health was beginning to fail, and Chang's drinking, which had 221 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: already been quite heavy, became even worse. It didn't help 222 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:37,959 Speaker 1: that their appeal as a form of entertainment was also 223 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:41,960 Speaker 1: beginning to wane. Barnum had evidently offered to send them 224 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: on a tour through Europe and offered Chang, and Ang 225 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:48,080 Speaker 1: took him up on in late eighteen sixty eight. While there, 226 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 1: they once again consulted with several doctors about the possibility 227 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: of separating them, but were repeatedly told that it would 228 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 1: be much too dangerous. And then, in July of eighteen seventy, 229 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: on their way back from Europe, Chang suffered a stroke 230 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: connected only at the stern um. Chang and Yang's bodies 231 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:09,280 Speaker 1: seemed to be aging at different rates. Chang's condition would 232 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: never improve, with his brother physically and spiritually shouldering the 233 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,000 Speaker 1: weight of their inevitable demise. It said that in the 234 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,679 Speaker 1: last years of their life, they became obsessed with their 235 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: own mortality. They knew their time was coming, cruel and 236 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 1: dreadful it would be. They thought they have to carry 237 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: on with the other's corpse at his side. They didn't 238 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: have to wait long, though. Chang would eventually catch a 239 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: fatal case of bronchitis, and Ang, it said, died of 240 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: fright before doctors could rush in for an emergency separation attempt. 241 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: They both passed away on January of eighteen seventy four 242 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: at the age of sixty two, just a few hours 243 00:14:48,560 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: apart the train can doctor has never understood why the 244 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: girls only traveled on one ticket, after all, it was 245 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: clear that there were two of them. The girls went 246 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 1: by the collective hyphenated Millie Christine, and although they fully 247 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 1: acknowledged their two personhood, they really only had one body, 248 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,760 Speaker 1: so one seat was all they were going to pay 249 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: for a little less than fifteen years after Chang and 250 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: Aang Bunker initially retired. In North Carolina, Millie Christine McCoy 251 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: had been born into slavery the opposite side of the state. 252 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: The girls had two hearts, two sets of lungs and intestines, 253 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: two bladders, and were conjoined at the base of the spine. 254 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: But it was only ten months after they were born 255 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:42,240 Speaker 1: that their career began. Their first visit to the North 256 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: Carolina State Fair build them as the North Carolina Twins 257 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 1: and the Double Headed Girl. They were allowed to be 258 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: examined by medical men to indeed certify that they weren't 259 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: a fraud, that they were well the real McCoy. And 260 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: as horrible as those examinations sound, we know this is 261 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: an expectation that had been long impressed upon side show performers. 262 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: Millie Christine had the compounded problem of being born into 263 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: legal enslavements. At birth, they didn't even belong to themselves. 264 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: The question that was on every spectator's mind was the 265 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,000 Speaker 1: same as when folks went to see Chang and hang, 266 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: could they be separated? And more perversely, would they be 267 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:23,840 Speaker 1: able to bear children? And what would the mechanics of 268 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 1: that even be. The girls were soon sold to a 269 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 1: fellow by the name of Joseph Pearson Smith, and in 270 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: a rash of business dealings gone awry, they were kidnapped. 271 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: The swindler, it seems, began exhibiting them privately to small 272 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: groups in various cities along the East Coast, during which 273 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: time they once again changed many hands, turning up as 274 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: side show acts are wont to do at Barnum's American 275 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 1: Museum in New York City in eighteen fifty four. By 276 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: the summer of eighteen fifty five, Millie Christine ended up 277 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: in Quebec, Canada, in the hands of two showmen, William 278 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: Thompson and William Miller, who claimed to have found Millie 279 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: Christine in Boston. They soon took off to Liverpool, England, 280 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:07,439 Speaker 1: where Miller then stole Millie Christine and headed to London, 281 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: where the twins were examined by more physicians and exhibited 282 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:14,920 Speaker 1: to the public for a shilling pert ticket. Thompson eventually 283 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:17,639 Speaker 1: caught up with Miller and took up to court the crime. 284 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 1: Thompson felt Miller was guilty of stealing his property. However, 285 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: slavery was no longer legal in England, but Thompson was 286 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: awarded the closest thing to it, guardianship of Millie Christine. 287 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: Back in the States, where enslavement was in its final 288 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 1: legal years, Joseph Pearson Smith remember him, was alerted to 289 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:41,640 Speaker 1: their whereabouts. He proceeded to purchase Millie Christine's entire family 290 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: from their original owner. Because he had a plan, Joseph 291 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,640 Speaker 1: traveled to England, bringing Millie Christine's mother, Monemia in tow. 292 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,680 Speaker 1: They caught up with Thompson and the twins in Birmingham 293 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: and January of eighteen thirty seven, and accompanied by a 294 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: group of disguised policemen, the girls were taken away in 295 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:02,360 Speaker 1: a flurry of draw Mamma. Later, Millie Christine was said 296 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,440 Speaker 1: to have looked back on this as an act of mercy. 297 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: They had been separated from their family so young. By 298 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:11,919 Speaker 1: purchasing the whole family, Joseph made it possible for them 299 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,399 Speaker 1: to be reunited with their parents. I'm a bit skeptical 300 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 1: of this altruism myself, but even so, this event surely 301 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,679 Speaker 1: was bitter sweet. The girls would go on to live 302 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,880 Speaker 1: at Joseph's home in Spartanburg, Tennessee. So while the rest 303 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:28,919 Speaker 1: of the family was still enslaved and working on the farm, 304 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: Millie Christine was taught to read, write, and sing. The 305 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: entire family was laboring, but for them the work looked 306 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: much different. On stage, Millie Christine was billed as the 307 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 1: two headed Nightingale and homage to Barnum's wealthy, cosmopolitan, wheeling 308 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,399 Speaker 1: and dealing Swedish protege Jenny Lynn. An ad from an 309 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:52,120 Speaker 1: English newspaper in eighteen seventy one even talked about their 310 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: performance in glowing terms. She sings duets in soprano and 311 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:00,400 Speaker 1: contralto have voices. The review read, Chicken dances gray facefully 312 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,679 Speaker 1: and with as much enjoyment as any ballroom couple, and 313 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,960 Speaker 1: even when alone, she does not let company, being able 314 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,359 Speaker 1: to carry on a brilliant conversation with herself. It was 315 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: amusing yesterday to notice how in the middle of a polka, 316 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,440 Speaker 1: the two heads inclined to each other, and the two 317 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,560 Speaker 1: voices kept chattering away in their inseparable but beyond doubt 318 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:25,439 Speaker 1: joyous companionship. In early November of eighteen sixty two, the 319 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 1: twins suffered one of the greatest losses of their life. 320 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 1: Joseph died, and in settling his debts, their family was 321 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,719 Speaker 1: once again sold off. Millie Christine's biography tells us that 322 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: they stayed with his widow and even continued to do 323 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,159 Speaker 1: so after being legally freed. Following the end of the 324 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: American Civil War, they were legally emancipated, but still they 325 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: continued to exhibit, according to them, for the purpose of 326 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 1: helping the widow Smith with bills and expenses that were 327 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: left to her by her late husband. However, recently discovered 328 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:59,199 Speaker 1: letters in the National Archive tell a different story that 329 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: Mrs Smith fused them their freedom and even kept them 330 00:20:02,359 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: hidden from their parents. The letters document an argument between 331 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 1: Mrs Smith and Monemia, forcing their mother's hand in signing 332 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,639 Speaker 1: over custody of the twins. In a powerful turn of events, 333 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,920 Speaker 1: though Millie Christine, who were young women by this point, 334 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: eventually claimed their earnings and their freedom. They made their 335 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: way together with their parents and brother to Welsh's Creek, 336 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: North Carolina, and there they bought and reclaimed the land 337 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: their parents had once worked while enslaved. They would continue 338 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:34,320 Speaker 1: to exhibit in various cities in the Greater Area, evidently 339 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,359 Speaker 1: still in collaboration with Mrs Smith. Much of what we 340 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: know about Millie Christine comes from the memoirs they wrote 341 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,440 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty nine, when they were just seventeen years old. 342 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 1: Copies of it were sold at their performances for the 343 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: equivalent of about five dollars. Today, some scholars have raised 344 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 1: serious doubts as to whether the twins indeed are the 345 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,480 Speaker 1: authors of their history, and suspect that at the very 346 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: least their former owners had considerable control over the material, 347 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: or perhaps were even the true writers. Yet it would 348 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:07,240 Speaker 1: be unfair to Milly Christine to entirely discount these materials 349 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,200 Speaker 1: and assume they were wholly powerless. In the fall of 350 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: eighty three, they headed back to their family. They spent 351 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,919 Speaker 1: months decorating their fourteen room home and even built extra 352 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,120 Speaker 1: wide doorways for themselves. They would tour off and on 353 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,960 Speaker 1: until Milly came down with tuberculosis in nineteen twelve. Their 354 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,399 Speaker 1: attending doctor was advised to not try to separate the twins, 355 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,760 Speaker 1: but rather to simply provide comforts. He left a message 356 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:36,879 Speaker 1: for the governor asking for permission to euthanize Christine. Milly 357 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: died on October eight of nineteen twelve. Christine stayed alive 358 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,159 Speaker 1: for less than a day longer praying and singing hymns. 359 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,359 Speaker 1: The governor finally granted the doctor permission, and Christine was 360 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:52,520 Speaker 1: delivered a lethal dose of morphine to hasten her own death. 361 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 1: Neither of them had wanted to ever be without the other. 362 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:01,240 Speaker 1: They could never dream of it, and now they never 363 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: would be. Both in their own time and in the 364 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: decades that followed, Chang and Yang and Millie Christine were 365 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: often compared to each other. Indeed, they were operating in 366 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 1: the world of side shows and standalone exhibits at around 367 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: the same time, and according to at least one source, 368 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,720 Speaker 1: the two pairs may have even briefly exhibited alongside each other. 369 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: But in many ways, there seems to be more that 370 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 1: set Chang and Yang and Millie Christine apart than held 371 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: them together. Chang and Ang were quite independent from one another, 372 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,360 Speaker 1: even having their own families who lived in separate homes 373 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,239 Speaker 1: side by side. They fought with one another, They had 374 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:47,920 Speaker 1: dramatically different personalities. They explored the possibility of separation at 375 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,119 Speaker 1: many points, even if it was declared too dangerous to 376 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,679 Speaker 1: be done. Milly Christine, on the other hand, while becoming 377 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 1: highly independent, collectively, were nonetheless so close with one another 378 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: that they spoke of them selves in the singular They 379 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: never seem to have entertained the idea of being separated. 380 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 1: The difference between the two can likewise be seen rather dramatically, 381 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:13,640 Speaker 1: and the events which unfolded after each had died. Following 382 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 1: their deaths, Chang and Yang's respective widows initially did what 383 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:18,960 Speaker 1: any person would do with the death of their loved one. 384 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 1: The family assembled and paid final respects. They had a 385 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: local clergyman come and perform last rites. They also objected 386 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: to allowing an autopsy to be performed on the two men, 387 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,160 Speaker 1: and wanted to bury the twins in the cellar. Their 388 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: local physician convinced them to allow him to preserve the 389 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:38,680 Speaker 1: bodies in charcoal so that they may continue to keep 390 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: them in the house. A doctor from Philadelphia felt the 391 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,359 Speaker 1: twins owed their autopsy to science after a lifetime of 392 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: the best medical care available. In the end, the widows 393 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: finally agreed, but wouldn't allow for their connective band to 394 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: be dissected. The body was brought to Philadelphia to be 395 00:23:55,359 --> 00:24:00,199 Speaker 1: examined in great secrecy, much to the newspapers chagrin. Some 396 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:03,720 Speaker 1: of Changan Yang's and trails, namely their joined liver, are 397 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:06,760 Speaker 1: still kept at the Mooder Museum, and later doctors and 398 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:10,399 Speaker 1: researchers continued to examine their organs even into the nineteen 399 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: sixties and seventies. Oh and the same museum has a 400 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: plaster cast made of the twins following their autopsy. In 401 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:22,200 Speaker 1: a way, the brothers continue to be sideshow oddities even 402 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: after death. And as for Millie Christine, their family guarded 403 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,240 Speaker 1: their grave for nine months and it seems they had 404 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 1: no trouble with grave robbers. In nineteen sixty nine, a 405 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 1: descendant of theirs exhumed and reburied them under a new headstone, 406 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: and the message upon it certainly captures the beautiful complexity 407 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:44,399 Speaker 1: of their lives. A soul with two thoughts, two hearts 408 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 1: that beat us one. Today's tour through the Side Show 409 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:00,040 Speaker 1: gave us a look at unique siblings who, against and 410 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:04,399 Speaker 1: pretty incredible odds, came out on top others. However, I 411 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: haven't been so lucky. Stick around through this brief sponsor 412 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 1: break to hear one more tale about the side show. 413 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:23,200 Speaker 1: Before sending the sacks of apples and piles of potatoes 414 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 1: out the door, Daisy and Violet Hilton dutifully weighed them 415 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 1: one by one. They pile the fruits and vegetables high 416 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,879 Speaker 1: on the scale at the parking shop in Charlotte, North Carolina. 417 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 1: The produce counter granted them a bit of anonymity. After all, 418 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 1: a lot of their customers who got to know them 419 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,159 Speaker 1: over the seven years that they worked there, never realized 420 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 1: that they were conjoined at the back. The Hilton sisters 421 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,879 Speaker 1: were born in Brighton, England, just a stone's throw from 422 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:55,600 Speaker 1: the seaside community's entertainment strip. Their mother was young, poor 423 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 1: and unwed, a local barmaid who wanted nothing to do 424 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:03,880 Speaker 1: with her twins. After they were born monsters, she called them. 425 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,399 Speaker 1: She was hopeful that they wouldn't survive the night, and 426 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: was deeply disappointed to awaken the morning and find them 427 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,159 Speaker 1: very much alive. Her boss, however, saw their potential and 428 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,960 Speaker 1: was quickly given custody of the newborns. And that's how 429 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: not long after their birth, they were already being paraded 430 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:23,320 Speaker 1: in front of the public for a handful of coins. 431 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,119 Speaker 1: Over the course of their lifetime, the Hilton sisters would 432 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,880 Speaker 1: make money hand over fist on the side show circuit. However, 433 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: the twins were kept in poverty most of their lives, 434 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:37,800 Speaker 1: their managers growing rich from their exploitation. They went to 435 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: Charlotte for a reason, but stayed there due to great misfortune. 436 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty two, around fifty years old, Daisy and 437 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,959 Speaker 1: Violet had gone on tour to promote Todd Browning's film Freaks, 438 00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: which they had started thirty years before. The movie had 439 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,640 Speaker 1: been recut and re released, and the twins, whose careers 440 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: had faded over the years, we're hoping to cash in. 441 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: But it didn't go as they had planned. In a 442 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,920 Speaker 1: cruel twist of fate, their manager abandoned them at the 443 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,320 Speaker 1: drive in, leaving them penniless with no way out of 444 00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 1: town and no prospects ahead. So when they showed up 445 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,679 Speaker 1: a Charles Reads grocery store, looking worse for wear and 446 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:20,280 Speaker 1: in need of a job, he gave them work. Charles 447 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,920 Speaker 1: was a compassionate neighbor who was going to help them 448 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,119 Speaker 1: get back on their feet. His wife took the women 449 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 1: shopping for new clothes and helped them fix their hair. 450 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,040 Speaker 1: They tamed down the trappings of show business life, the 451 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:35,520 Speaker 1: red nails, the flamboyant makeup, and outfitted them in the 452 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,880 Speaker 1: store's signature red and white checkered shirt. When they eventually 453 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: moved on to become cashiers. A booth was even modified 454 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:47,879 Speaker 1: to fit them both comfortably. The women guarded their private 455 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,560 Speaker 1: lives carefully. They turned down all interviews and all offers 456 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:55,000 Speaker 1: from doctors who wanted to examine them. After a life 457 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:59,600 Speaker 1: in the limelight, theirs had become a quiet existence and 458 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:02,680 Speaker 1: cons during the years of physical and psychological abuse that 459 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:07,920 Speaker 1: they had endured, perhaps even a happy one. Their long 460 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,160 Speaker 1: story came to an end in the winter of nine 461 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,200 Speaker 1: when Violet caught the flu and then Daisy did as well. 462 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 1: Charles checked in on them regularly, but weeks into their 463 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: illness they stopped answering the phone. A wellness checks soon 464 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 1: revealed that the twins had passed away, most likely a 465 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:31,440 Speaker 1: few days apart. Daisy and Violet Hilton were lowered into 466 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: their grave, just as they had passed through life together, 467 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: side by side, through thick and thin. Inseparable Side Show 468 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: was written by Robin Miniter, with narration by me Aaron Manckey. 469 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:54,960 Speaker 1: Research for the series was by Robin Minater, Taylor, Haggard Dorn, 470 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 1: and Sam Alberty, with production assistance from Josh Thayne, Jesse Funk, 471 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 1: Ala Williams, and Matt Frederick. Grim and Mile Presents was 472 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:06,120 Speaker 1: created in partnership with I Heart Radio. You can learn 473 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:08,600 Speaker 1: more about this show and everything else from Grim and 474 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: mild Over at Grim and mild dot com and, as always, 475 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:45,040 Speaker 1: thanks for listening. M HM