The Garden City Telegram

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Sons of original Siamese twins lived at Ravanna

Published 2/6/2010 in History Page

Occasionally we run across a hidden gem of information while browsing biographical files in the Leola Howard Blanchard Research Library at the Finney County Museum. Perhaps they were gems once known and now forgotten, or just overlooked in the excitement of searching for a chosen topic. Those gems can be of historical significance, but occasionally they are stories of human interest.

Three former citizens of old Garfield County (now part of Finney County) were Fred Bunker and his cousins, James Bunker and Robert Bunker. These gentlemen, who lived in Ravanna, were the sons of Ing and Chang Bunker, P.T. Barnum's original Siamese twins.

Ing and Chang came from Siam to America in 1830. They were joined together by a membranous band extending from the breastbone of one to that of the other. It was Ing and Chang who were responsible for the coining of the phrase "Siamese twins" to mean children physically attached to each other, regardless of what race. P.T. Barnum, the famous showman, exhibited them throughout the United States and Europe.

Reprinted in The Garden City News July 16, 1931, from the Wichita Beacon:

Ing was [Patrick] Bunker's father. "My father and his brother never quarreled," he is careful to explain. "Lots of people have said to me they've heard Dad and Uncle Chang used to fight. It isn't true."

[Patrick Bunker] is asked frequently to tell why the son of a native of Siam should have the surname "Bunker" and be called Patrick.

"It was like this," he says, "As soon as my father and uncle arrived in New York they were put on exhibition. It became necessary for them to be naturalized. They went to the government office and gave their names as Ing and Chang, the only names they'd ever had. Someone told them they must have a surname. A man named Fred Bunker was standing near and he suggested they take his name. That was how my father became Ing Bunker and my uncle became Chang Bunker."

The twins were born about 60 miles from Bangkok, Siam in 1811. When they were 18 an American ship captain saw them bathing in a river. Realizing what a curiosity they would be to the American public he arranged to bring them to New York. Barnum made them the featured attraction of his show and gave them widespread publicity.

[Patrick] Bunker remembers accompanying his father on several of these tours. At the height of their wealth the twins married Sallie and Adelaide Yates of Dutch and Irish descent.

"Sallie was my mother," Bunker says, "and she was a handsome woman and a fine Christian. She had a wonderfully good disposition. Father and his brother were married on the same day in a double ceremony. They each had farms not over a half a mile apart. They would stay at our house three days and nights and then go to my uncle's house for three days and nights. Father had 11 children and Uncle Chang had 10."

The Siamese twins, Ing and Chang, toured the United States and Europe off and on from 1829 until 1870. One morning in 1874, Ing awoke one morning and found Chang dead by his side. Half an hour later, Ing also was dead. Ing and Chang left behind a legacy of 21 children. Some of Ing's children went west to Kansas to start families of their own. Patrick Bunker and a brother, James Monroe Bunker bought farms in Sumner county, Kansas. Another brother, Fred Bunker, settled in Ravanna in Finney county, Kansas. Fred was a druggist and a partner to Dr. Mandigo. Two of Chang's son's Robert and James also settled in what is now known as Finney County.

The Garden City News July 16, 1931:

Robert and his wife were both deaf mutes. James was single at the time he lived at Ravanna. Robert lived on a farm near Ravanna, and James lived with him part of the time. Both brothers left Garfield Township about 1887.

Mr. and Mrs. L. D. Price of Garden City, who were living in Ravanna at the time the Bunkers lived there, remember all three of them well.

"I knew the Bunkers before they came to Garfield township, when they lived in Sumner county." says Mr. Price. "They were nice people."

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