08/12/2024
Millie and Christine (the "Carolina Twins") were born in Whiteville, North Carolina, on July 11, 1851, to Jacob and Monemia McKoy who were enslaved by the blacksmith Jabez McKay. The McKay farm was near the town of Whiteville. Prior to the sisters'''' birth, their mother had given birth to seven other children, five boys and two girls, all of ordinary size and form. The twins were conjoined at the lower spine and stood at an approximately 90-degree angle to each other.The twins were first sold at 10 months of age to South Carolinian John C. Pervis. Pervis and McKay reached an agreement where Pervis exhibited the girls for pay and then paid a percentage to McKay. Fourteen months after the original sale, they were sold to a showman, Brower, who had the backing of a wealthy merchant named Joseph Pearson Smith. Brower first exhibited the twins at North Carolina''''s first state fair, held in 1853. They were called "freaks of nature". The North Carolina State Fair was a success for Brower and the Carolina Twins; however, Brower''''s fortune changed over the next months. Brower was conned by a Texas adventurer, who offered land worth an estimated $45,000 as a purchase price for the twins. Brower accepted, sent the twins on to the Texan, and then waited several days for the deeds before realizing that he had been swindled. Brower returned to North Carolina to relate the loss to Joseph Pearson Smith. Since Brower was left destitute, Smith was given the promissory note and was now the owner of the Carolina Twins. Millie and Christine were handled by several managers before being reclaimed by Smith in Britain in 1857
On October 8, 1912, Millie and Christine died at age 61 of tuberculosis; Christine died 12 hours after her sister. They were buried in unmarked graves but in 1969 they were moved to a cemetery in Whiteville. Engraved on their tombstone were these words: "A soul with two thoughts. Two hearts that beat as one."
