Eng and chang bunker biography for kids

The origins of the phrase “Siamese Twins,” Chang and Eng Bunker were conjoined twins who operated a plantation in North Carolina during the Civil War. 

Born on May 11, 1811, in Mekong, Siam, modern-day Thailand, Chang and Eng were connected at the breastbone by a small piece of cartilage. The twins walked side by side and had completely separate organs aside from their fused liver. After meeting British merchant Robert Hunter in 1824, the twins and their mother recognized the financial potential of exhibiting Chang and Eng. Beginning in 1829, Chang and Eng embarked on a series of tours in Boston, London, and New York City.

The Bunker Twins became naturalized citizens of the United States in the 1830s and resided in North Carolina. On March 1, 1845, the twins purchased 650 acres in Surry County, North Carolina, and started their family-owned plantation. Chang and Eng invested $10,000 in property and $60,000 in the importation of goods, which holds an estimated value of $1.8 million in modern times. The twins constructed two homes, Mount Airy and Traphill, for their respective wives and children. Chang and Eng purchased 18 slaves to maintain the property and take care of their families. Their slave-owner status cemented their support for the Confederacy during the Civil War.

In October 1860, Chang and Eng signed with P.T. Barnum and agreed to have a wax sculpture of themselves on display in Barnum’s American Museum in New York City. Chang and Eng remained in business with P.T. Barnum until the onset of the Civil War in 1861.

During the Civil War, Chang and Eng’s conjoined bodies became symbols for the divided American nation. The Louisville Journal suggested that the Bunker Twins symbolized the rivaling factions within the Democratic Party. The New-York Tribune falsely reported that Chang and Eng disputed over secession, thus reflecting the tensions of the American nation regarding the issue of slavery. However, the Bunker twins w

Chāng (Chang) and Ēn (Eng) Bunker were conjoined twins in the nineteenth century in the United States, the first pair of conjoined twins whose condition was well documented in medical records. Conjoined twins are a rare condition in which two infants are born physically connected to each other. In their youth, the brothers earned money by putting themselves on display as curiosities and giving lectures and demonstrations about their condition. The Bunker brothers toured around the world, including the United States, Europe, Canada, and France, and allowed physicians to examine them. Due to the popularity of their exhibition and their origin from Siam (later called Thailand), they became known as the Siamese twins, a term that was used to describe conjoined twins in general until the twentieth century. During their travels and, later, with the autopsy they received, the Bunker brothers provided insight about the development of twins and conjoined twins.

Chang and Eng Bunker were born on 11 May 1811 in Meklong, Siam, as conjoined twins to parents Nok and Ti-eye. Their father was a Chinese born fisherman. At birth, Chang and Eng were connected at the breastbone by a small piece of cartilage, a type of connective tissue. As infants the connective tissue caused the brothers to be positioned face to face. However, their mother encouraged them to exercise in their youth, and the tissue stretched until it extended long enough for them to walk side by side. Chang was positioned on the left and Eng was on the right, from their own point of view. Apart from their fused liver, each of the brothers had a complete body and separate organs. Chang was one inch shorter than Eng, and wore lifts in his shoes to make up the difference. They had seven siblings who were not conjoined, four older and three younger. The Bunker brothers lived near a river, and as they grew up, they learned to walk, swim and operate a boat together. As children they contrac

Thai-American conjoined twins (1811–1874)

"Chang and Eng" redirects here. For other uses, see Chang and Eng (disambiguation).

Chang Bunker (จัน บังเกอร์) and Eng Bunker (อิน บังเกอร์) (May 11, 1811 – January 17, 1874) were Siamese (Thai)-American conjoined twin brothers whose fame propelled the expression "Siamese twins" to become synonymous for conjoined twins in general. They were widely exhibited as curiosities and were "two of the nineteenth century's most studied human beings".

The brothers were born with Chinese ancestry in Siam (now known as Thailand) and were brought to the United States in 1829. Physicians inspected them as they became known to American and European audiences in "freak shows". Newspapers and the public were initially sympathetic to them, and within three years they left the control of their managers, who they thought were cheating them, and toured on their own. In early exhibitions, they were exoticized and displayed their athleticism; they later held conversations in English in a more dignified parlor setting.

In 1839, after a decade of financial success, the twins quit touring and settled near Mount Airy, North Carolina. They became American citizens, bought slaves, married local sisters, and fathered 21 children, several of whom accompanied them when they resumed touring. Chang and Eng's respective families lived in separate houses, where the twins took alternating three-day stays. After the Civil War, they lost part of their wealth and their slaves. Eng died hours after Chang at the age of 62. An autopsy revealed that their livers were fused in the ligament connecting their sterna.

The novelist Darin Strauss writes, "their conjoined history was a confusion of legend, sideshow hyperbole, and editorial invention even while they lived." Many works have fictionalized the Bunkers' lives, often to symbolize cooperation or discord, notably in representing the Union and Confederacy during the Civil War.

Originally from Siam but later residents of Surry County, Eng and Chang Bunker became the reference for the medical condition when twins are conjoined. Born in 1811, the two were joined together at the chest by a thin band of flesh and remained that way until their 1874 death.  

After seeing the twins in Siam, Scottish trader Robert Hunter purchased them from their parents.  In cooperation with American captain and trader Abe Coffin, Hunter emarked on a business plan.  For a passage to the United States, he insured the twin’s lives, and once in America, Hunter rented rooms across the nation to exhibit the Siamese twins.  Eng and Chang later worked for P.T. Barnum during the mid-1830s.  They were not part of Barnum’s circus; rather they were separate exhibits and were showcased in theatres.   

While on tour, Eng and Chang stopped in Wilkesboro, North Carolina and fell in love with the Piedmont landscape.  No doubt tired of being spectacles the two wanted to settle down and live normal lives.  They moved to North Carolina, owned and operated a store, and then worked as farmers.

The North Carolina years were more than likely the happiest days in Eng and Chang Bunkers’ lives.  In 1839, the two became American citizens (and adopted the name of a bystander, Fred Bunker), and in 1843 Eng married Adelaide Yates and Chang married Sarah Yates. The couples resided in Surry County.  There, Eng and Chang built two houses (one for each wife).  The twins spent three days at Adelaide’s house and then three days at Sarah’s house (one day, probably Sunday, was spent together as a large extended family).   Eng fathered ten children and Chang twelve.  

Civil War exigencies and circumstances depleted Eng and Chang’s finances. So they rejoined P.T. Barnum’s show; however, they were unable to earn pre-war profits.  During this time, they started inquiring whether they an operation might successfully