Chang and Eng Bunker were the original Siamese twins. They were born near Bangkok on 11 May 1811. Both of their parents were at least partly of Chinese origin; Chang and Eng were known locally as 'the Chinese twins'. They were joined at the sternum by a small piece of cartilage, and although their livers were fused, they were independently complete.
In 1829, Robert Hunter, a Scottish merchant living in Bangkok, saw the twins swimming and realized their potential as a show exhibit. He paid their parents to allow him to exhibit their sons as a curiosity on a world tour. When their contract with Hunter was over, Chang and Eng went into business for themselves. In 1839 they bought a farm in North Carolina.
Determined to live as normal a life they could, Chang and Eng bought slaves to do the work they couldn't do themselves. They became naturalized American citizens, adopted the surname Bunker, and in 1843 they married two local sisters, Adelaide and Sarah Anne Yates. The two couples shared a bed built for four. Between them they had 21 (or 22) children: Chang and Adelaide had twelve, while Eng and Sarah had ten (or eleven).
After a number of years, the sisters grew to dislike each other, and separate households were set up in White Plains, North Carolina. The brothers would spend three days at each home in turn. The twins lost most of their money with the defeat of the Confederacy in the American Civil War, in which they each had a son serving. They became very bitter and returned to public exhibitions, but this time they had little success. Even so, they maintained a high reputation for honesty and integrity, and they were highly respected by their neighbours.
In 1870, Chang suffered a stroke. His health began to decline, and he began drinking heavily. Eng remained in good health; Chang's drinking didn't affect him, as the twins didn't share a circulatory system. Chang was then injured after falling from a carriage, and developed a severe case of bronchitis. He died in his sleep on 17 January 1874. Eng awoke to find his brother dead, and cried, "Then I am going". A doctor was summoned to perform an emergency separation, but it was too late. Eng died approximately three hours later.
An autopsy concluded that Chang had died of a cerebral blood clot, but a later review put the death down to pulmonary oedaema and heart failure. The cause of Eng's death remains uncertain; doctors at the time theorised that Eng had died of shock, for fear of his impending death.
Sarah Anne Bunker (Eng's widow) died on 29 April 1892. Her sister Adelaide (Chang's widow) lived for another 25 years, dying on 21 May 1917 aged 94.
© Haydn Thompson 2017