the "Carolina Twins
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 F...