Siamese twins were Mount Airy’s first world-famous celebrities
MOUNT AIRY, N.C. Eng and Chang Bunker settled in Mount Airy after gaining worldwide fame by exhibiting their unique physical characteristics as conjoined “Siamese” twins.
They were born in 1811 near present-day Bangkok, Thailand, numbers five and six in a family of nine children, and kept hidden by their parents who were afraid they might be mistreated or even killed. Later, however, they wound up traveling as ambassadors with the king of Siam, who was impressed by the boys’ intelligence, despite their unusual physical condition.
“When they were 18 years old they had been discovered by a sea merchant from the Boston area who made arrangements with their mother to bring them to America, to go around in circus-like attractions,” said Melvin Miles, a local history buff.
But they were taken advantage of by the sea merchant’s wife who exhibited the brothers seven days a week, keeping most of the money for herself. At 21, they took off on their own and hired a kindly manager whom they had met along the way during their previous engagements.
“He agreed to work for so much per month,” Miles said. “They got to keep the rest of the money. From there they started doing tours all over the world for at least 10 years.”
How does Miles know all this?
“Their travel manager, Charles Harris, was my great-great-grandfather,” he said, smiling. “So I’ve got a connection.”
During a trip to New York, the twins met a doctor from North Carolina who was fascinated with and took a liking to them. After accepting an invitation to visit North Carolina on vacation, the brothers fell in love with the area and decided to make it their home.
Before long, they also fell in love with two sisters, Sara and Adelaide, whom they met at their manager’s North Carolina wedding.
“It was an outdoor wedding where people brought stringed instruments and covered dishes,” Miles said. “The twins got up enough nerve to walk up to the sisters and Eng said, ‘My brother wants to get married. Do you all know anybody available?’ That was the icebreaker for their whole future.”
Over time, the couples had 21 children the brothers became highly successful farmers with more than 1,500 acres of land. They were all one big happy family until the sisters stopped getting along.
To resolve their conundrum, the brothers built a second house and spent three nights with one family, followed by three nights with the other.
“They did that without any exception until they died at 63 years old on Jan. 17, 1874,” Miles said. “They died within 45 minutes of each other.”
The first, Chang, died of pneumonia. Eng couldn’t survive because of the way their systems were intertwined.
Afraid of profiteering grave robbers, the wives had the brothers buried beneath the house in a double coffin. Eventually, after the wives died, Eng and Chang’s eldest sons decided they should be moved to a public cemetery, where they were taken by horse drawn wagon.
“As soon as the horse took its first step a white dove appeared out of the heavens and lighted atop the twins’ coffin and set there all the way to the cemetery,” Miles said. “This is documented. It continued to set there over the grave until they started to lower the coffins and then it vanished.”
The cemetery is next to White Plains Baptist Church, just outside Mount Airy.
The Bunkers’ life story is exhibited in a special wing of the Andy Griffith Museum whose director, Tanya Jones, is Eng’s great-great-granddaughter.
On the last weekend of July, many of Eng and Chang’s 1,500 descendants hold a large private reunion in Mount Airy each year.
One of them is Mount Airy native Adelaide Alexander “Alex” Sink, Chang’s great-granddaughter, the state of Florida’s former chief financial officer who lost the 2010 governor’s race by one percent of the vote.
Another descendant was president of the Union Pacific Railroad and Chang’s grandson, U.S. Air Force Major General Vance Haynes (1895-1966), was an aide to President Woodrow Wilson during the Paris Peace Conference after World War I, and became a highly-decorated aviator known for his daring and expert flying ability during World War II.
“This reunion has gotten so big the past two years,” Miles said. “The ambassador from Thailand to the United States and most of his office staff from Washington come down for the reunion and they invite other people from Thailand, sharing the two cultures.”
– Paul Post
Reporter Paul Post shares details of his visit to Andy Griffith’s hometown.
MOUNT AIRY, N.C. Melvin Miles peels out in his sheriff’s squad car, siren blaring, and bad guys don’t even bat an eyelash.
To Miles, driving around in a black-and-white 1964 Ford Galaxy 500 is all in a day’s fun.
A retired school teacher, he’s one of the many people dedicated to keeping native son Andy Griffith’s legacy alive, and Mount Airy’s reputation as the inspiration for Mayberry RFD, the fictional town in Griffith’s popular 1960s-era television show.
All 249 episodes, from 1960-68, were filmed in Hollywood.
However, a half-century later, people still flock to Mount Airy by the hundreds each day, trying to recapture qualities the Andy Griffith Show depicts of a calmer, simpler way of life
“It’s a giant step back in time,” Miles said. “I think that’s why we get so many tourists. They’re still searching for that.”
A walk down Main Street is like taking a stroll down memory lane.
Griffith patterned many characters after real-life folks including Russell Hiatt, now 91, who gave the actor haircuts. In the “Andy Griffith Show,” of course, he’s Floyd the Barber.
His shop’s walls are covered with photos of famous celebrities and everyday people that have stopped in through the years.
Opey’s Candy Store, the famous Snappy Lunch (its signature pork chop sandwiches are out of this world) and the historic Earle Theater, where live bluegrass broadcasts are held, are also must-see destinations. Each Saturday morning, a dozen or so men and women get together upstairs in the Earle for a bluegrass jam session.
Lots of pickin’ and a grinnin’ and fun memory makin’.
Griffith’s rise to stardom began with a third-grade talent show.
“He and one of his little friends were going to sing,” Miles said. “When they opened the curtain, his friend turned chicken and would not come on stage. Andy came out anyway and bellowed out: ‘Put on Your Old Gray Bonnet.’ It brought the house down. He said he felt so great at that moment, he knew right then he wanted to become a performer, and he never lost sight of the dream.”
The school itself is long gone, but its auditorium is now a playhouse, adjacent to the Andy Griffith Museum, which tells the complete story of his entertainment career, highlighted by including many authentic artifacts – his musical instruments, movie clips, apparel and television props. Of course, it’s the rural small-town comedy and well-cast actors (Don Knotts, “Barney Fife;” Frances Bavier, “Aunt Bea;” Ron Howard, “Opey”) that made the show so popular.
“The humor and writing is timeless,” said Neal Brower, author of the book “Mayberry 101: Behind the Scenes of a TV Classic.”
“It still makes you laugh,” he said. “It hasn’t gone out of style. I could watch it again and again.”
There’s no absolute proof, but Griffith might have taken the name Mayberry from a tiny Virginia town located about 20 miles away in the Blue Ridge Mountains, an area his mother came from.
Mount Pilot, a town neighboring Mayberry on television, is based on an actual town called Pilot Mountain, N.C. – home to Pilot Mountain State Park. A drive or hike to the top of this precipice affords breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding region.
Griffith is by far Mount Airy’s most famous product, but not its only celebrated persona by any means. Country singer Donna Fargo, who hails from Mount Airy, had seven number one hits in the 1970s including “Funny Face” and “The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA.”
However, a pair of immigrants from Asia started putting Mount Airy on the map as far back as the mid-19th century. Eng and Chang Bunker settled in Mount Airy after traveling the world on exhibit as conjoined “Siamese” twins. (See sidebar.)
Their life story is told in full at a wing of the Andy Griffith Museum and they are buried a short distance away in the White Plains Baptist Church cemetery.
The Mount Airy Museum of Regional History, another must-see attraction, has four floors chock-full of fascinating information about this pristine part of northwest North Carolina. Exhibits about the area’s natural history, Native American cultures, early settlers and rural economic development bring history to life.
In addition to well-known personalities, Mount Airy also has a unique geologic distinction as home to the world’s largest open-face granite quarry, one so large that astronauts in space use it as a reference point when circling the globe.
“They’ve been mining for 123 years,” Miles said. “More than 95 percent of the street-side curbs in Washington, D.C. have come from this quarry, plus buildings and statues in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. In this state you will hardly go to any county where you will not find a church or courthouse made from our granite. Geologists estimate that stone to be over a mile deep. They will never ever deplete this supply.”
One of Miles’ favorite stops when giving tours is Griffith’s homeplace, the house he grew up in at 711 East Haymore St.
The enterprising owner of Mount Airy’s Hampton Inn purchased the house, which is now available to overnight guests, the same as a bed-and-breakfast. It’s a quaint, modest home in a quiet middle-class neighborhood.
To Griffith, who moved there during the Great Depression, it must have seemed like a palace.
“Before that he and his parents lived with different people,” Miles said. “Andy grew up very, very poor.”
He also wasn’t skilled in sports, so other kids quite often made fun of him.
Griffith’s closest friend, from grade school and for the rest of his life, was schoolmate Emmett Forest, to whom he gave many artifacts and collectibles from the Andy Griffith Show, which are now in the museum.
On rare occasions when Griffith came back to Mount Airy, he didn’t like public attention.
“He would come in for two or three days and stay with Emmett and never leave his place,” Miles said.
However, Griffith obviously had a strong appreciation and affection for his roots, as depicted by Sheriff Andy Taylor and his many Mayberry friends and acquaintances.
He also left a considerable amount from his estate to fund and promote bluegrass music in Mount Airy, which helped pave his path to stardom. “If you have a child, they can get free banjo, fiddle, guitar and stand-up bass lessons,” Miles said. “If you can’t afford the instrument the arts council gives it from Andy’s money.”
There will never be another Andy Griffith, but he’s making it possible for a whole new generation of young people to make their mark in the world of music and entertainment.
It’s this kind of concern, caring and compassion – traits not always found in large urban centers – that makes Mount Airy a welcome destination for people from all walks of life.
During the last weekend in September each year, Mount Airy hosts a large townwide festival called Mayberry Days with more than 25,000 people on hand. Highlights include a large Saturday parade with old black-and-white sheriff’s cars from all over the country, Barney Fife impersonators and lots of live music.
Some Andy Griffith Show cast members including 89-year-old Betty Lynn, who played Barney Fife’s sweetheart, Thelma Lou, also take part.
To Brower, the most important reason for visiting Mount Airy is simple.
“It seems like a familiar friend, a familiar place to go,” he said.
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