The Popeyed Sisters
My little Grandma was born in 1891, in Henry County, KY. The county seat of Henry County is New Castle, which is where Grandma lived during the school year. They moved to their farm on the Drennon Springs Road in the summer, across the road from my great-great grandfathers house.
Every Sunday, Grandma and her family drove out the Drennon Springs Road to the Mt. Gilead Methodist church built in 1812 by my four greats grandfather. He built the church, and then prospered on his 10,000+ acres, (about 1/8 th of the modern county), leaving many landless descendants, of which my branch has just about died out.
When Grandma was a child, in the late 1890s, a family attended the church that had two severely deformed girls, locally known as The Popeyed Sisters. I dont know if there were any other children in the family or not, but Grandma said they were about her age, but, besides their obvious birth defect, there was nothing really wrong with them-- meaning that they were of normal intelligence. Their eyes were on the side of their heads, like cow eyes, and their nose was broad.
Curious, Ive researched what this could have been and came up with a list of 422 things that are possibilities. Never having seen them, or met them, and not being a doctor, I really have no idea. It could have been one of the named birth defects that I foundor it could have been just a spontaneous malfunction caused by something environmentalor it could have been two people with the same unfortunate recessive gene got together and produced these poor girls.
The closest thing that I can find, is called Crouzon Syndrome. In this syndrome, the eyes are very widely spaced, the nose is broad, and the forehead is somewhat misshapen. Some children with this birth defect also have cleft palates, but Grandma never mentioned that in her description.
Anyway, back to the 1890s, the circus came to town, which seems to have been exceptionally startling to all involved, as New Castle is stuck in the middle of a county with little population, (still), and isnt on the beaten path, (also still). The Sunday after the circus left, the Popeyed Sisters did not come to church with their parents.
Hue and cry was raised: Where are the girls? Why are they not at church?
Their father finally grudgingly admitted that he had sold them to the circus . They were like cows anyway, he said, as reported to me by Grandma. The church was in an uproar! How could this be?
All the church elders got together; my great-great Grandfather leading the pack, and decided that the father of the Popeyed Sisters was an abomination to the Lord and should not be in HIS church. In the first, and as far as I know, only case, he was drummed out of the church and he and his wife prevented from ever attending again.
We now get to my questions. Grandma, what happened to the girls? Did they get to come home? Did anyone go after them?
No, she said. She never saw them again. No one knows what happened to them, or if they adjusted to life in the circus, or if they even survived life in the circus.
Grandma would then look me in the eye, and say, nodding her head wisely, That is why we have things now, like social services. Things like that couldnt happen today. This was in the mid-1960s, and Grandma was very appreciative of the changes FDR had brought to the world.
No one, including the church, bothered to see about these two girlsif they were cared for, had food, or if they were warm, etc. It is likely human nature to take care of ones own, but not to extend the hand of charity when it costs too much time, money, and/or energy. While the father was universally condemned for his actions, the mother wasnt, (but what say did she have in the matter?). How could it really have affected the father that much? All he had to do was sell his farm and leave town, leaving the cloud of universal condemnation behind
I often wonder about the poor Popeyed Sisters, their cruel nickname, and how they fared. Did they embrace the life of circus freaks? Were they beaten? Did they survive? And, while I am sure that by now, they are long dead, I hope that their lives werent too horrible, and that they somehow adjusted to whatever indignity was bestowed upon them.
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I have long wondered why the church members didn't do their best to find the girls, and do something for them. But, I guess the good church members weren't willing to take on the responsibility of the girls.
A sad tale of long ago... How horrible to be them! Sold, by one's own father, to the circus! And, what of their normal intelligence? How could one cope? It is bad enough to be in that situation and be unable to understand it, but to understand it, and have to deal with the rejection, etc., would be a terrible burden!
It also makes me want to thump my great-great grandfather...
Dowser...it may just be my imagination, but this sounds familiar. Did you write about this before? Yes, those poor girls.
That is true!!! I'm hoping they lived good lives...
I don't think so, Nona, although I have commented about them before. Then again, maybe I did... I don't have a whole lot of memory these days. I think my brain is fried!
Ah, you mentioned that it is normal for persons with such a condition to also have a cleft palate. Now that is an opening for a joke (no disrespect intended for you or the girls).
A man had an operation to fix a cleft palate, but due to the bandaging, etc, he was not able to eat or drink normally. He wanted a cup of tea and pestered the nurse so much she finally acquisced, but told him she would have to feed him with it by means of an enema. He said yes, so she prepared the tea, poured it into the bag and inserted the enema, whereupon the man screamed "STOP! STOP!". The nurse asked if it was too hot, and he shouted "NO, TOO SWEET."
I don't have a whole lot of memory these days. I think my brain is fried!
Welcome to my world Dear Dowser!!