Siamese Twins

The brothers were born in Siam, which would later become Thailand, on May 11, 1811, in a province near Bangkok. They were the first noted conjoined twins. Joined at the sternum, they gave the name to Siamese twins.

Robert Hunter, a Scottish merchant living in Bangkok, saw the twins and realized their money-making potential. In 1829, he paid their parents to allow him to tour the world and put them on exhibit. Chang and Eng fulfilled their contract but had become tired of the traveling and shows. One of their exhibits had been in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and they liked the area. When they could, they moved there, and ended up with a 110 acre farm near Traphill. Much later, they had separate households and owned property in Surry County.

They became naturalized citizens of the United States and adopted the last name, Bunker. They wanted to have as normal a life as possible, and they married the Yates sisters in 1843. Chang and Adelaide had eleven children, and Eng and Sarah Anne had ten. 


The Siamese twins have a very minor part in my second book in the Appalachian Series, Sown in Dark Soil. I included them for a bit of local color when I realized the time frame worked out. The main characters meet them at the Wilkes County Court House.

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