Chang and Eng were born 11 May 1811 on a houseboat on the Mekong
River in Siam – the 5th and 6th of nine children of the Chinese
fisherman Ti-eye and his Chinese/Malay wife, Nok. The twins,
connected by a band of abdominal “cartilaginous substance” were
considered an ominous sign and upon hearing the news of their
birth Rama II, the King of Siam, condemned “the monsters” to
death. Fortunately the King never carried through on his threat
and the twins grew up living relatively ordinary lives, becoming
known as simply the “Chinese Twins.” By the time they were
teenagers they even found favor with the next king, Rama III,
who showered them with gifts and sent them on diplomatic
missions. The British merchant Robert Hunter noticed the twins
and convinced them their fortunes lay in the New World. After
several years of negotiations Hunter and the American sea
captain Robert Coffin took the twins, at age 18, to America.
Upon their arrival in Boston the Daily National Intelligencer
reported that “It was one of the g