Mondays 'IN' The Undergroundrailroad

Hello everybody and welcome to MONDAYS 'IN'! I am back from vacation and I missed you! We have so much to look forward to in this Presidential election year! Today for our dessert in the UGRR, will be a warm peach cobbler with generous scoops of vanilla bean ice-cream. The recipe title is called Busy Day Peach Cobbler. It is very easy to make and it's a comfort food, comfort in the form of the busy twists and turns that will be taking place in this election. Doesn't it look good?

I'm looking forward to saying hello to the regulars (affectionately called the "bunch") in the UGRR but I want to hear from new members as well! I will roll out the red carpet, literally, and give you a proper welcome.

So let's get to it and thanks for dropping in to say hello!

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Millie-Christine
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The date is July 11, 1851 and the place is a remote North Carolina farm. A birth was taking place that night in the slave quarters, a mud shack, where loud screams could be heard just before dawn. The scream was not that of the mother, but of the black midwife, over what she had just brought forward. Was it one baby or two? The baby had four legs, four arms, and two heads. Quickly, a preacher was brought in to look at what was being called a "strange curiosity" . Everyone had their opinion of the two girl babies, born into slavery. As word spread about the miraculous birth, locals trekked across swamps and marshland to the North Carolina farm to see the girls. They'd never seen twins connected to each other at the lower spine, sharing two heads, four arms, four legs and one pelvis. Their parents, Jacob and Monemia, "property" of slaver owner and blacksmith, Jabez McKay, loved the girls the moment they saw them. Monemia held her sweet, beautiful daughter tight. She rocked and kissed her calling her "my baby". Her parents named her Millie-Christine and as far as they were considered Millie-Christine was ONE child.

Of course their "master", Mr. McKay, had other ideas. He saw TWO babies, they were *HIS* property and the girls were "freaks" of nature. He started to make inquiries. So at age two they were wrenched from their mother and sold to showman, J.P. Smith for 30,000.00, a huge sum of money at that time. Then he sold her parents, Jacob and Monemia. The sooner he got them out of the way the better!

But news was traveling fast about the famous girls and a rival showman kidnapped the twins, still children, and discreetly exhibited them all over the country. There were private viewings, freak shows and fairs. They were billed as "The Two-Headed Nightingale", "The United African Twins", and "The Eight Wonders of the World". Their owner, J.P. Smith, had now hired a private investigator to track the girls down, his property. But the girls were now in England where slavery had long since been abolished. J.P Smith could no longer say that the girls were his "property". He tried another approach. He purchased their parents, Jacob and Monemia. This group traveled to England to locate Millie-Christine and J.P. Smith reunited the girls, now age four, with their mother. Millie-Christine returned to the United States and were given a first class education. They learned how to read, compose sheet music, became accomplished pianists (duets), singers (Millie was contralto, Christine a soprano) and developed a graceful way to walk and dance sideways. Millie-Christine became fluent in five languages; German, Italian, Spanish, Russian and French. During this time it was against the law to teach a slave to read much less learn other foreign languages, but Mr. and Mrs. Smith were reluctant slaver owners, and considered them family members.

Of course, there was a dark side to this "strange curiosity" and as the girls developed into women their joint bodies were subjected to prurient interrogation. Practically everywhere they went, doctors gave them demeaning physical examinations to prove they weren't a fraud. Barely 5 feet tall, they reportedly could command some $25,000 a season on the county fair circuit. A huge sum of money for that time. Among countless cheerful publicity photos, they decided to pose for one single evocative picture, semi-nude. In that photograph, Millie glowers at the camera. The more accommodating Christine bows her head in shame. Soon the girls, now mature and savvy business managers of their own careers, put a stop to the physical examinations. They now understood that some of the repeated examinations were nothing more than sexual curiosity of both the doctors and the viewing public. Countless photographs and drawings were surfacing that described in great detail the anatomy of their bodies and they did not want their sexuality to be the focus of their shows. Instead, they showcased their extreme talents. Queen Victoria was so impressed with their performance, she gave them diamond hairpins, which adorned their hair in many photographs.

They performed until they were 58 years old. In later pictures, they looked exhausted.

Just a week after their 61st birthday, on Oct. 8, 1912, Millie died of tuberculosis. Christine lay beside her singing hymns and praying. She stopped breathing 17 hours later.

The grave site was guarded because relatives feared scientists would steal their remains.

On their tombstone, these words are inscribed:

"A soul with two thoughts. Two hearts that beat as one."
They developed a motto "As God decreed, we agreed" and truly loved each other.

Pictures of Millie-Christine

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The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder

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Questions Of The Day

1. How many things can you name in your car right now?

2. What song would you sing KARAOKE on?

3. If you could return to any age in your life, what would it be?

OK, I'm OUTTA. See you next Monday 'IN' The Undergroundrailroad