Inventory of the Chang and Eng Bunker Papers, 1833-1874, 1933-1967, 1998
Collection Number 3761
Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Collection Information
- Contact Information:
- Manuscripts Department
- CB#3926, Wilson Library
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
- Phone: 919/962-1345
- Fax: 919/962-3594
- Email: mss@email.unc.edu
- URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/
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Descriptive Summary
- Repository
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
- Creator
-
Bunker, Chang, 1811-1874.
Bunker, Eng, 1811-1874.
- Title
- Chang and Eng Bunker Papers, 1833-1874, 1933-1967, 1998
- Call Number
- 3761
- Language of Materials
- Materials in English
- Extent
-
- Items: About 130
- Linear Feet: 0.5
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Administrative Information
- Restrictions to Access
- This collection has restrictions to access. Please see details below or contact the Manuscripts Department for more information.
- Alternate Form of Material
- Microfilm copy (1975) available.
-
Reel 1: Folder 1 (account book, 3 July 1833-June 1939)
- Acquisitions Information
- Received from Joffre P. Bunker of Mount Airy, N.C., in 1966 and 1967; from Worth B. Daniels of Washington, D.C., in 1974; and from Advanced Medical Productions of Chapel Hill, N.C., in March 1999 (Acc. 98326).
- Processing Information
- Processed by: Southern Historical Collection Staff, 1960s-1990s
- Encoded by: Linda Sellars, September 1999
- Preferred Citation
- [Identification of item], in the Chang and Eng Bunker Papers #3761, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Copyright Notice
- Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Online Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
- Abnormalities, Human.
- Account books.
- Agriculture--North Carolina--History--19th century.
- Bunker, Chang, 1811-1874.
- Bunker, Eng, 1811-1874.
- Bunker family.
- Carnivals--United States--History.
- Conjoined twins.
- Daniels, Jonathan, 1902-
- Daniels, Worth B. (Worth Bagley), 1899-
- Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
- Slave bills of sale--North Carolina.
- Slavery--North Carolina.
- Surry County (N.C.)--History.
- Wilkes County (N.C.)--History.
Related Collections
-
Printed items received with these papers were transferred to the North Carolina Collection, Library of the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Biographical/Historical Note
Chang and Eng Bunker (1811-1874), the original Siamese twins, were born in Meklong, Siam, and were brought from Bangkok to Boston in 1829. After extensive tours in North America and Europe, they settled in Wilkes County (later Surry County), N.C., were naturalized, and received the surname Bunker by act of the legislature.
In 1843, Chang and Eng Bunker married Sarah and Adelaide Yates, daughters of David Yates of Wilkes County, N.C. Chang had ten children; Eng had nine children. They continued to make exhibition tours until about 1870.
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Correspondence, bills, and receipts, including slave bills of sale, of Siamese twins Chang Bunker and Eng Bunker relating to their North Carolina property, planting interests, family matters, and arrangements for exhibition tours. Also included are an account book, 1833-1839, showing income from public appearances and itinerary; clippings; photographs; articles about the twins by Worth B. Daniels and Jonathan Daniels and related material; and Joined at Birth, a 1998 videotape about the twins that was made by Advanced Medical Productions of Chapel Hill, N.C., for the Discovery Channel.
Back to TopItems Separated
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Pictures (P-3761)
Oversize papers (OP-3761)
Videotape (VT-3761)
Microfilm (M-3761)
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Detailed Description of the Collection
Papers, 1833-1874, 1933-1967, 1998.
About 130 items.
Folder
1Account book, 3 July 1833-June 1839
Record of amounts received by Chang and Eng, with date and place of each amount. The record shows appearances in many cities
and towns in the eastern United States; Canada; France and Belgium, 1835-1836; and Cuba, 1835. The account book documents
long runs in New York (Peale's Museum) and Philadelphia and the twins' appearances in North Carolina in October 1834 and May-July
1839.
Papers, 1840-1854 and undated
Letters; bills and receipts; incomplete copy or draft of a proposed contract for public appearances in 1849 to be managed
by Edmund H. Doty of New York; and several items relating to the settlement of the estate of David Yates of Wilkes County, N.C., of which Eng was administrator. Included are bills of sale for slaves purchased and other financial items about the twins' interests in Wilkes County and Surry County, N.C. Letters were written by Robert S. Gilmer and Elisha Banner at Mount Airy, N.C., concerning the twins' business and farming interests and giving news of home, crops, and neighborhood; by R. D. Martin of Philadelphia, 1848, requesting a letter of credit and mentioning Tom Thumb; by Edmund H. Doty about a contract, 1849; by William Rawley, 30 April 1849, giving the twins news of their homes and families; by Bunker & Co. of New York, 2 February 1850, including an account of merchandise being shipped to Raleigh by way of Petersburg; by P. A. Browne, 1850, requesting locks of hair for study; and by Chang and Eng Bunker, 19 March 1854, to their wives and children with news
of themselves and of Kate and Chris, the children who were accompanying them.
Papers, 1855-1874
Letters, bills, and receipts. Letters include one, 10 December 1860, from Eng Bunker and child James in San Francisco to Eng's
wife and children in Surry County, giving instructions about things at home and telling of their trip from New York; one,
17 October 1861, from William Soyars in the 50th Virginia Regiment, naming friends who were ill or dead; three, 1866, 1867, and 1870, from C-- M-- Bunker at Mount Airy, N.C., to her father,
giving him news of family, home, and neighborhood; one from Robert S. Gilmer at Mount Airy to Chang and Eng concerning land purchased for them and other business and news of home; and a photocopy of
a letter, 29 January 1874, to the widows of Chang and Eng, inquiring about purchasing the twins' body.
Clippings
Nine clippings, including one broadside advertising an appearance of the Siamese Twins. One clippings is dated as late as
1939, but most clippings are undated.
"The Siamese Twins: Some observations on their life, last illness, and autopsy," by Worth B. Daniels, M.D., 1961
Typescript of paper read to several medical groups in 1961 and 1962 and submitted for publication. (Offprint of article in
the Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association, Vol 73, 1961/1962, p. lvii-lxv, was received from Daniels and transferred to the North Carolina Collection.)
Worth Daniels's bibliography and notes
Folder
7Worth Daniels's correspondence, 1961-1965
Correspondence in connection with preparation of article on Chang and Eng Bunker, includes correspondence with Jonathan Daniels,
Joffre Bunker, librarians, curators, and others.
Worth Daniels's copies of source materials
Typed copy of James W. Hale's Account, published in 1830; photocopies of letters, 19 January 1874 and 1 April 1874.
Worth Daniels's clippings, 1933-1967
Folder
10Article by Jonathan Daniels for American Heritage, 1962.
Oversize Paper Folder
OP-3761/1Posters advertising appearances by the Siamese Twins
Image Folder
P-3761/1-2Photographs of the twins, their relatives, and the houses where they lived.
Image Folder
P-3761/3Autopsy photographs.
Videotape
VT-3761/1"Joined at Birth." Videotape, 1998
Made for the Discovery Channel by Advanced Medical Productions of Chapel Hill, N.C.
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