Siamese twins - Chang and Eng Bunker

[Smeg]

For anyone interested. 21 kids between them is good going! Sex must have been strange....

Chang and Eng Bunker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A painting of Chang and Eng Bunker, circa 1836


Chang Bunker and Eng Bunker (May 11, 1811–January 17, 1874) were the conjoined twin brothers whose condition and birthplace became the basis for the term "Siamese Twins."

Biography


The Bunkers in their later years.


The Bunker brothers were born on May 11, 1811 in Siam (now Thailand), in the province of Samutsongkram, to a fisherman and a mother (Nok or นาก (Nak) in Thai).[1] They were joined at the sternum by a small piece of cartilage. Their livers were fused but independently complete. Although 19th century medicine did not have the means to do so, modern surgical techniques would have easily allowed them to be separated today. In 1829, they were discovered in Siam by British merchant Robert Hunter and exhibited as a curiosity during a world tour. Upon termination of their contract with their discoverer, they successfully went into business for themselves. In 1839, while visiting Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the twins were attracted to the town and settled there, becoming naturalizedUnited States citizens.

Determined to start living a normal life as much as possible, the brothers settled on a plantation, bought slaves, and adopted the name "Bunker". On April 13, 1843, they married two sisters: Chang to Adelaide Yates and Eng to Sarah Anne Yates. Chang and his wife had 10 children; Eng and his wife had 11. In time, the wives squabbled[citation needed] and eventually two separate households were set up just west of Mount Airy, North Carolina in the community of White Plains – the twins would alternate spending three days at each home. During the American Civil War Chang's son Christopher and Eng's son Stephen both fought for the Confederacy. The twins died on the same day in 1874. Chang, who had been in declining health for several years, died first; Eng died four hours later.

[The Fresh Prince]

The sex must have been strange, yes, but it would have been a right fucker if they hadn't both died on the same day.

[Ghandi]

taking a shit must have been interesting....

[Rural Surin]

The sex must have been strange, yes, but it would have been a right fucker if they hadn't both died on the same day.

4 in the bed. Siamese orgy?

[Kurgen]

I wonder if the other one got a stiffy while his brother was banging away ?

[Mid]

Descendants of famed Siamese twins gather for annual reunion in Mount Airy
Sarah Morayati
August 1, 2010


Jessie Bunker Bryant (far right), the author of a book on the family’s history, signs one of the books for Gary Rash Yates (left) and his first cousin Barbara Eason Yates of Ashe County. The Yateses are descendants of the sisters who married the Bunker twins.
Journal photo by Bruce Chapman


A portrait of Eng and Chang Bunker and an illustration showing how the two were joined sit on a table at the reunion at First Baptist Church in Mount Airy.
Photo by Bruce Chapman


Milton Haynes (right), the eldest of the Chang descendants, does the roll call at the reunion.
Journal photos by Bruce Chapman


Family genealogist Jessie Bunker Bryant reads a list honoring family members who died since the last reunion.
Journal photos by Bruce Chapman

If you walked into First Baptist Church in Mount Airy yesterday morning, you wouldn't notice anything unusual for a Southern family reunion -- at first.

There's the spread of food brought by the guests, the tables where relatives young and old mingle, the name tags everyone wears. But there's also the display of photos and books about Chang and Eng Bunker, the famous Siamese twins from whom most of the guests can trace their lineage.

For 21 years, descendants of the Bunker twins have gathered from across the United States to share their history.

There are about 1,500 total descendants, and about 80 showed up at this year's reunion. In recent years, the Yateses -- related to the twins' wives -- have also been invited.

"It's kind of neat to know that so many people from different walks of life have a common bond," said Heather Moore of Kissimmee, Fla., Chang's great-great-great-granddaughter. This was her first reunion; she learned about it from a cousin on Face[at]book.

The Bunker twins were born in 1811 in Siam, now Thailand. As conjoined twins, they were the subject of much sensation; they left Siam in 1829 to tour the United States and Europe and were at one point in a P.T. Barnum exhibition.

They settled in Traphill in Wilkes County in 1839 and married sisters Adelaide and Sarah Yates four years later. The twins eventually moved to White Plains in Surry County, where they alternated between their wives' houses every three days. Between them, they fathered 21 children.

While growing up, most of the older descendants weren't told a great deal about the twins. Some of it was racism -- having Asian relatives was then a stigma -- and some of it was just being tired of the same questions.

"The first thing people would ask you is, ‘How did they …' and leave it at that," said Milton Haynes, Chang's great-grandson. "It wasn't a subject anyone dwelled on."

Haynes didn't learn much about the twins until he was 12 and asked his father what his family was famous for. He later researched the Bunker twins and was impressed by their life.

"They fought a lot of adversity, but at the same time, people respected them for their integrity," he said. "We're just carrying on the flame."

In 1990, Haynes got together with Jessie Bunker Bryant, Eng's great-granddaughter and a genealogy buff, and others to organize the first reunion, coinciding with a documentary by a Bangkok TV station on the twins and their descendants. More than 100 people came.

The annual reunion is now a popular destination for researchers and writers studying the family. Most are graciously received, earning the title of "honorary Bunkers."

Next year is the 200th anniversary of the twins' birth, but the family hopes the gatherings will continue long past then. Bryant, who wrote a book about the Bunker descendants, constantly tries to reach out to other relatives and persuade them to keep the tradition alive.

"We just hope that the young people can continue it," she said.

Although most of the faces in the crowd were older, some younger family members did attend. One of them, Sarah Bunker, 21, of Pilot Mountain, is Eng's great-great-granddaughter. A senior at Gardner-Webb University, she has been at every reunion since birth except for two.

Bunker volunteered to help with the logistics of next year's reunion. Eventually, she said, she could take over organizing it.

"‘Why not?' I thought. It sounds like fun," she said. "I've always wanted to listen and learn about my family."

journalnow.com


see also : Chang and Eng Bunker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia