Conjoined Twins. Millie and Christine, also known simply as Millie Christine, were joined from the waist down. In 1853, they started being groomed as entertainers after being sold for $1,000. This freed them from ever having to pick cotton or tobacco but subjected them to a childhood of relentless public humiliation for their rare birth defect that made the two girls one. They were taught how to read, write, sing and dance, and became fluent in five languages. They traveled throughout the East Coast until they were kidnapped and sold to be freak attractions in a circus sideshow and county fairs. The spelling of their last name was changed from McCoy to McKoy during that period. Their mother searched for them for four years and eventually found them in Birmingham, England, where they were exhibits of showmen Miller & Thompson. Millie and Christine were frequently billed as "The Two-Headed Nightingale" because of their beautiful singing voices. In 1888, they made an estimated $750 a week. After a successful 30-plus-year career, the sisters retired to their 10-room Victorian house near Whiteville. The home was destroyed in a fire in 1909. After moving into a smaller home, Millie contracted tuberculosis and died Oct. 8, 1912. Seventeen hours after Millie's death, Christine also died.
Conjoined Twins. Millie and Christine, also known simply as Millie Christine, were joined from the waist down. In 1853, they started being groomed as entertainers after being sold for $1,000. This freed them from ever having to pick cotton or tobacco but subjected them to a childhood of relentless public humiliation for their rare birth defect that made the two girls one. They were taught how to read, write, sing and dance, and became fluent in five languages. They traveled throughout the East Coast until they were kidnapped and sold to be freak attractions in a circus sideshow and county fairs. The spelling of their last name was changed from McCoy to McKoy during that period. Their mother searched for them for four years and eventually found them in Birmingham, England, where they were exhibits of showmen Miller & Thompson. Millie and Christine were frequently billed as "The Two-Headed Nightingale" because of their beautiful singing voices. In 1888, they made an estimated $750 a week. After a successful 30-plus-year career, the sisters retired to their 10-room Victorian house near Whiteville. The home was destroyed in a fire in 1909. After moving into a smaller home, Millie contracted tuberculosis and died Oct. 8, 1912. Seventeen hours after Millie's death, Christine also died.
Bio by: Elizabeth Reed
Advertisement
See more McKoy memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
