Part 1
Biographical Sketch of Millie Christine
[Illustration: EIGHT WONDERS OF THE WORLD.]
THE LIGHTHOUSE OF PHAROS.
Pharos was an island off the coast of Egypt, near Alexandria. It was famous for its lighthouse, completed 280 B. C., built of fine white marble. Its light was visible more than 40 miles. It existed 1600 years. Destroyed by earthquake.
THE TEMPLE OF DIANA.
The Temple of Diana at Ephesus was 220 years in being built, was of imposing richness, was 425 feet long, 225 feet broad, and supported by 127 columns of the finest Parian marble, each column 60 feet high and weighing 150 tons--these columns furnished by 127 Kings.
STATUE OF JUPITER.
The Colossal Statue of Jupiter in the Temple of Olympia at Elis was of gold and ivory and sat enthroned 800 years, and was destroyed by fire about A. D. 475. An imitation of the head is preserved in the British Museum.
THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES.
This statue was 105 feet high, and hollow, with a winding staircase to its head. After standing 56 years, it was destroyed by an earthquake, 224 years B. C. It lay for nine centuries on the ground. It is said to have required 900 camels to remove the metal, hence it must have weighed over 700,000 pounds. It was erected to express the gratitude of the City of Rhodes to their allies under the King of Egypt against their enemy, the King of Macedon.
THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD.
=MILLIE CHRISTINA= =The Carolina Twin= =Born in Columbus Co.,= =North Carolina= =JULY 11th, 1851.=
THE MAUSOLEUM OF HALICARNASSUS.
This structure was erected by Artemisia, who was the sister, wife and successor of Mausolus, King of Caria, B. C. 353. It was a rectangular building, surrounded by an Ionic portico of 36 columns, and surmounted by a pyramid rising in 24 steps, upon the summit of which was a colossal marble quadriga, with a statue of Mausolus.
THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT.
These were 70 in number. They were constructed of blocks of red granite and of a very hard stone. These were of extraordinary size, and their transportation and adjustment indicates a surprising degree of mechanical skill. The Great Pyramid was supposed to have been erected about 3,800 years B. C., and is of the enormous size of 746 square feet at its base, covering about 12 acres of ground, and is over 450 feet high. It was probably erected as a burial place for the rulers of Egypt.
THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON.
These were built by Nebuchadnezzar to gratify his wife, Amytis, a native of Media, and who longed for something to remind her of her mountain home. They consisted of an artificial hill 400 feet square at the base, and rising in terraces to a height which overtopped the walls of the city. These terraces were filled with luxuriant vegetation of all kinds, even large trees, and were watered by a fountain at the summit, fed with water drawn from the Euphrates.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RAILWAY COMPANY. PASSENGER DEPARTMENT. H. G. THOMPSON, Gen’l Pass. Agt. H. K. GREGORY, Ass’t Gen’l Pass. Agt.
Los Angeles, Cal., Jan. 30, 1895.
TO CONDUCTORS, Los Angeles to Santa Ana, San Bernardino via Orange, San Bernardino to Redlands, and Redlands to Los Angeles:
It is customary for Millie Christine, the dual woman, to require but one ticket. Please be governed accordingly when Millie Christine is making a trip over any of our lines as above indicated.
Yours truly, H. G. THOMPSON, G. P. A.
THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD CO. PHILA., WILMINGTON & BALT. R. R. CO. ALEXANDRIA & FREDERICKSBURG RAILWAY CO. CAMDEN & ATLANTIC RAILROAD CO. NORTHERN CENTRAL RAILWAY CO. BALTIMORE & POTOMAC R. R. CO. WEST JERSEY RAILROAD CO. OFFICE, 233 SOUTH FOURTH STREET. PASSENGER DEPARTMENT. J. R. WOOD, Gen’l Pass. Agent. GEO. W. BOYD, Asst. Gen’l Pass. Agent.
Philadelphia, June 10, 1894.
Subject: Refunding extra fare.
J. P. SMITH, Esq., Grand Central Hotel, New York City.
DEAR SIR:
Referring to your call at this office a few days since I enclose herewith order No. 25286 on our Treasurer for $4.71, covering refund of extra fare paid from Washington, D. C. to Philadelphia, June 4th, by Millie Christine, the dual woman, in connection with one first-class ticket between same points, which the conductor lifted on the ground that two fares were necessary to cover passage.
Please sign and return enclosed form of receipt, and oblige,
Very truly, GEO. W. BOYD, A. G. P. A., Wash.
BALTIMORE & OHIO SOUTHWESTERN RAILROAD. PASSENGER DEPARTMENT. CITY OFFICE, SOUTHEAST CORNER FOURTH AND VINE STREETS. O. P. MCCARTHY, General Passenger Agent.
CHAS. H. KOENIG, District Passenger Agent.
Cincinnati, O., April 13, 1892.
CONDUCTORS B. & O. S W. and connecting lines:
This is to certify that Manager Smith has purchased three (3) tickets, Cincinnati to New York, in connection with Millie Christine, the dual woman, this person being included. It is customary to require but one ticket for her passage. Kindly be governed accordingly.
CHAS. H. KOENIG, D. P. A., B. & O. S W.
TREASURER’S OFFICE, T. H. GIBBS, Treasurer. COLUMBIA, NEWBURG & LAURENS RAILROAD COMPANY.
Columbia, S. C., Sept. 8, 1893.
CONDUCTORS S. A. Line and connecting lines:
This is to certify that J. P. Smith, Esq., has purchased three (3) tickets from Columbia, S. C. to Lincoln, Nebraska, in connection with Millie Christine, the dual woman, this person being included. It is customary to require one ticket for her passage.
B. F. F. LEAPHART, Ticket Agent, C. N. & L. R. R.
BURLINGTON, CEDAR RAPIDS AND NORTHERN RAILWAY. LOCAL FREIGHT AND TICKET OFFICE. A. F. PILCHER, Agent.
Sioux Falls, So. Dak., Oct. 5, 1895.
TO CONDUCTORS:
It is customary to carry Millie Christine on one ticket.
Respectfully, A. F. PILCHER, Agt.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
OF
MILLIE CHRISTINE,
THE CAROLINA TWIN,
SURNAMED
THE TWO-HEADED NIGHTINGALE,
AND THE
EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD.
“None like me since the days of Eve-- None such perhaps will ever live”--Except Christine Millie.
At each Levee MILLIE CHRISTINE will sing some of the songs and duets which will be found at the end of the book.
_Hennegan & Co., Print. Cincinnati. O._
SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY, Office of Division Passenger Agent. R. W. Hunt, D. P. A. S. H. Hardwick, G. P. A., Washington, D.C. W. H. Tayloe, A. G. P. A., Atlanta, Ga.
Charleston, S. C., December 13, 1902.
To Conductors:--It is customary for Millie Christine, the dual woman, to travel on one ticket. Please be governed accordingly when she is traveling over the Southern Railway.
Yours very truly, R. W. HUNT, D. P. A.
ATLANTIC COAST LINE, Traffic Department. T. H. Emerson, Traffic Mgr. H. M. Emerson, G. F. & P. A.
Wilmington, N. C., December 10, 1897.
To Conductors:--Millie Christine, the dual woman, is transported over these lines for one ticket, notwithstanding the fact that she has two heads.
Yours truly, H. M. EMERSON, G. P. A.
BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD, Passenger Department. John K. Cowen and Oscar G. Murry, Receivers. S. B. Hege, D. P. A. H. R. Hoser, Ticket Ag’t, 619 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D C., June 9, 1898.
Conductors B. & O. R. R.:--This is to certify that Manager Smith has purchased four tickets Washington, D. C. to Zanesville, Ohio, in connection with Millie Christine, the dual woman, this person being included. You will accept one ticket for the passage of Millie Christine.
Yours truly, Per S. B. H., D. P. A. J. M. SCHRYVER, G. P. A.
PLANT SYSTEM OF RAILWAYS. B. W. Wrenn, P. T. M.
Savannah, Ga., November 22, 1900.
To Conductors:--It is customary for Millie Christine, the two headed woman, to travel on one ticket. You will please govern yourselves accordingly.
Yours truly, B. W. WRENN, P. T. M.
SEABOARD AIR LINE RAILWAY.
To Conductors:--It is customary for Millie Christine, the two headed woman, to travel on one ticket. You will please govern yourselves accordingly.
Yours truly, A. O. MACDONELL, A. G. P. A.
ATLANTIC VALDOSTA & WESTERN RAILWAY, Traffic Department. Smith D. Pickett, G. F. & P. A.
Jacksonville, Fla., November 30, 1900.
To the Conductors, A. V. W. Ry.:--It will only be necessary for Millie Christine, known as the Dual Woman, to present one ticket for her passage over our line.
S. D. PICKETT, G. P. A.
SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY, Office of Traveling Passenger Agent. W. A. Turk, G. P. A., Washington, D. C. C. A. Benscoter, A. G. P. A., Chattanooga, Tenn. John C. Lusk, T. P. A.
Selma, Ala., January 11, 1901.
To Southern Railway Conductors:--It is the custom for Millie Christine, the dual woman, to travel on one ticket. Please be governed accordingly.
Yours very truly, J. O. LUSK, T. P. A.
SKETCH OF THE LIFE
OF
Millie Christine; or Christine Millie,
THE CAROLINA TWIN.
The Two-Headed Lady, the Double-Tongued Nightingale, the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Puzzle of Science, the Despair of Doctors, the Dual Unity.
All of these names has she earned at various times, with the final title which we claim for her in defiance of any other or others:
The Most Wonderful Being Alive.
There are giants and giants, dwarfs and dwarfs, fat men and women, living skeletons of both sexes, hirsute monsters and baldheads by the century; there are marvels of nature, science and art, of all which the world knows; but there can only be one NONPAREIL, one UNEQUALLED, and that is the subject of our brief sketch, for only one living creature is like Millie Christine, and her name is Christine Millie.
But, says the curious reader, was there ever such another heard of before?
Only one is on record, attested as a fact, and leaving out of the question fabulous monsters. The first year of the eighteenth century witnessed the birth of a similar phenomenon in Hungary, the sisters Helen and Judith, born in the year 1701. These girls were united at the lower part of the body only, and were perfectly distinct beings in every way. Helen was larger, stronger, and better-looking than Judith, besides being much more active and intelligent. These girls lived to their twenty-second year, when Judith fell sick and died, Helen following her within a few minutes of her demise. And all this, you remember happened more than a century since, so that it takes Nature a hundred years at least to produce such a marvel again. Helen and Judith died at twenty-two years of age, while Millie Christine still lives, healthy and happy, at thirty-eight, and bids fair to attain a ripe old age as easily as less wonderful beings. The following pages, confined to a simple record of the facts in her career, will therefore prove of interest and value.
Miss Millie Christine, or Christine Millie, was born of slave parents, on the plantation of Mr. Alexander McCoy, near the town of Whiteville, Columbus County, North Carolina, on July 11, 1851. At her birth her mother was in her thirty-second year. She was a handsome woman, finely formed and in excellent health. Millie Christine’s father, of Moorish descent, slender and sinewy, with the powerful activity characteristic of his race. Prior to the birth of Millie Christine, her mother had borne seven other children, five boys and two girls, all of ordinary size, with no peculiarities of conformation, and some of them are still alive.
The wonder of the family, Millie Christine, weighed seventeen pounds when she entered the world, and, although her mother was only attended by a colored midwife, no serious consequences attended such a remarkable birth.
But, when the child was once fairly in the world, how rumor flew about the township of Whiteville, and spread from thence over the whole country! “Have you seen the girl?” was the first question asked of every one by every one, and pilgrimages to visit her became all the rage in the country side.
The old nurse who had superintended her introduction into this world was doubtless awestruck at the anomalous and wonderful addition she had made to her master’s property, and not unnaturally prided herself on having assisted Nature to produce a phenomenon; but the master himself, and his amiable lady, without stopping to question the designs of Providence, immediately surrounded the extraordinary infant with such care and attention as enabled it to thrive and grow. The dual-headed child was taken from the cabin to the mansion, and Mr. McCoy’s family commenced then a course of care and attention to her health and welfare.
During the first eighteen months of her life nothing of importance occurred to Millie Christine worthy of note. She grew as other girls grow, learned to walk at twelve months old, was of a lively and agreeable disposition, and at fifteen months began to talk with both her mouths. She was cheerful and active as any girl of her age, with every appearance of robust health. Her vivacity and goodness, together, no doubt, with her peculiar formation, rendered her the almost idolized of the mother and a general favorite of both old and young, and every attention and kindness was bestowed upon her.
At this time Mr. McCoy, being a man in very moderate circumstances, a plain farmer, thinking the girl would become a burden to him, and annoyed with the frequent visits of strangers to see her, determined to dispose of her. He was not long in finding for her a purchaser, a person of the name of Brower, who offered $10,000 for her, seeing the possibilities of the child in the way of an exhibition. But inasmuch as this Brower was not possessed of the requisite cash to back his faith, and only offered to give a note of hand for the purchase money, Mr. McCoy naturally desired some responsible person to whom to look for the money in case of the non-payment of the note when due. This person was ultimately found by Brower in Joseph P. Smith, of Wadesboro, North Carolina, and Mr. McCoy finally parted with Millie Christine, in consideration of Brower’s note for $10,000, endorsed by Mr. Smith.
The happy Brower, in full possession of his prize, at once departed for New Orleans, in obedience to a request from the medical faculty of that city asking that she be brought there for a scientific examination.
Rooms were taken and every preparation made for the contemplated examination, after which she was to be placed on public exhibition. It had been arranged, prior to their leaving home, that their presence in the city should be kept as quiet as possible, as the desire to see her would undoubtedly be very great and might interfere with the examination. This precaution was not strictly regarded, and soon the rooms and the passages leading thereto were literally besieged with anxious crowds of people eager to get a sight of her.
The examination, however, at length took place and proved most satisfactory, every physician in attendance concurring in pronouncing her Nature’s greatest wonder. Being endorsed by the medical faculty, she was now put on public exhibition, but from want of proper management she succeeded but indifferently.
Mr. Brower, being quite ignorant of the business he had undertaken, despaired of success after a few more efforts. About this time he became acquainted with a certain adventurer who hailed from Texas and boasted of his immense tracts of land in that State. This swindler proposed to purchase the girl by giving for her lands, at a fair market valuation, to the amount of forty-five thousand dollars, and Brower, having full confidence in the would-be millionaire, concluded the bargain by giving possession of the girl, and was on the following day to receive the deeds in due form. The day arrived, but neither the Texan nor the deeds were forthcoming, and then for the first time the unpleasant fact broke upon him that he had been completely duped. To gain some knowledge of her whereabouts was now his first effort; but so adroitly was everything pertaining to her abduction managed that no clue to her, or even the direction she had been carried, could be gained, and every effort for a time to learn anything of her proved futile.
Mr. Brower, after weeks of useless search, becoming convinced that, for the present, further efforts to regain her would only prove useless, determined to return to North Carolina and impart to Mr. Smith his loss, and to the mother the sad intelligence of the abduction of her daughter. Words are inadequate to describe the anguish of the parent on learning the fate of her child. For a time she was perfectly frantic, during six days refusing food and for the same number of nights her eyes did not close in sleep. Her excellent character, uniform kindness and amiable disposition had made her a general favorite, so that everything that could be was cheerfully done to comfort and soothe her mind. She was promised that no amount of money should be spared, no effort left untried to procure her much-cherished child. How truly this promise was kept the sequel will prove. Brower and partner were bankrupt, and Mr. Smith expected no assistance from them. But before anything could be done to recover the child it was necessary that her original owner should be compensated for his loss in the transaction. Christine Millie had been spirited away to parts unknown, and all that Mr. McCoy had to show for her was Brower’s note for $10,000; and as Brower could not pay this money his endorser, Mr. Smith, became the responsible party and accepted the responsibility. He at once paid the purchase money in full to Mr. McCoy, and took from him a deed which made him the exclusive owner, under then existing laws, of the person of Millie Christine. The proviso, “wherever he could find her,” was of course understood, and in order to quiet the mind of her mother and convince her that, whenever found, the child would be restored to her care, Mr. Smith at the same time purchased the father, mother and seven children, a transaction of course involving a large sum of money, all of which was dependent for its recovery on the recovery of Millie Christine herself.
The question then arose, where was she, and if found, how was she to be recovered, if at all?
Mr. Smith found in the person of Mr. T. A. Vestal of Selma, Alabama, one of the shrewdest detectives in the country, and Vestal at once commenced operations, with the assistance of two other detectives, and ultimately gained intelligence of her in the city of Philadelphia, though not before the lapse of some fifteen or eighteen months.
Vestal heard from a negro barber, whose confidence he had obtained, that about a year ago a child answering her description had been in the city, and for a time had been secreted in a cellar on Pine Street. The cellar was found, and, through the influence of bribes, it was ascertained from an old woman still living in a portion of the house to which the cellar belonged that the child had been carried to New York. The next day Mr. Vestal started for that city to prosecute his search, and remained there five weeks. Every effort was made, but no further intelligence of her could be learned. If any one knew of her or had seen her there, their mouths were sealed to the influence of money or persuasion. Mr. Vestal began almost to despair, yet determined not to yield his cherished object. He had every reason to believe she was alive, for when taken from New Orleans she was in excellent health. The papers had been watched closely by him, and no account of the death of any one answering her description had been noticed, which certainly would have been the case had she died. From New York he proceeded to Boston; from thence to Philadelphia, and ultimately to Newark, New Jersey. There, for the first time, he got definite information of her. He learned from a man then keeping a drinking house that at one time, when engaged as a cabman in the city of New York, he had been hired to convey a girl answering her description to a sailing vessel, the name of which he did not remember, bound for and ready to sail for Liverpool; that he had seen the vessel depart, and knew the child was aboard of her when she sailed. Acting on this valuable information, Mr. Vestal immediately returned to North Carolina and urged on Mr. Smith the necessity of following her. Mr. Smith determined to make the attempt, and accordingly prepared for the journey. Accompanied by the mother of Christine Millie, he reached New York, took the steamship Atlantic, and after a pleasant voyage reached Liverpool. There they learned that the child had been on exhibition in that city; also in London, Leeds and other places.
Seated in a promiscuous crowd of traders and traveling clerks one evening, in front of his hotel, her name was introduced, and he learned that a short time before she had been on exhibition in Glasgow, Scotland. Immediately they started for that city, but on arrival found that a short time before she had been taken back to England, and was then in Birmingham. So to that city they posted, and on their arrival, to their joy, found she was then on exhibition. It now became necessary that extreme caution should be used, lest their long-cherished object would be frustrated on the very eve of consummation. The impatience of the mother knew no bounds: scarcely could she be restrained from rushing to the exhibition room and defiantly claiming her child, supposing the party who then had possession of it would recognize her claim. She was, however, at length convinced of the imprudence of such a course, and submitted until the case had been placed in the hands of the proper officers. Accordingly the Chief of Police and a select body of assistants were called and a true statement of the affairs given. The American Consul was also waited upon and consulted. He immediately took a lively interest in the matter, and advised that the arrival of the American party be kept unknown to the exhibitor until they, in company with a protective force of police, should enter the hall that evening; and should the child recognize the mother among the audience, it would be _prima facie_ evidence of the facts attempted to be established by them, and used as such in case of litigation. Accordingly, the impatience of the mother was restrained until the hour of the gathering of the visitors, when a portion of the police (selected for the purpose and disguised) Mr. Smith and the mother procured tickets of admission and entered the hall, as casual visitors impelled only by the general curiosity. No sooner, however had the keen eye of the mother caught a glimpse of her long-lost child than she uttered a scream of such heart-rending pathos that the audience simultaneously rose to their feet, wondering and astonished. The mother, overpowered, fell fainting to the floor. When resuscitated she wildly threw her arms about, crying in most piteous tones. “My own child! O! give her to me! Do not take her away again; she needs my care! Where is she? Where is she?” While this scene of excitement was going on, the exhibitor attempted to secrete the girl in an adjoining room; but an honest Scotchman, divining his intentions, placed his back against the door, and bringing himself into a position that would have delighted a pugilist, cried out: “Ye’ll nae tak’ the bairn ayant the door, maun ye wallop me first, and I’m nae thinkin’ ye’ll soon do that.”