Dougherty County woman born with conjoined twin left legacy through carnival appearances

ALBANY – At a time when much of the population of southwest Georgia scratched out a living on the land, one Albany native was making hundreds of dollars a week. 

Those unexpected riches during the Great Depression allowed the girl born to struggling parents with a dozen children to send many of her siblings to college.  It also helped her create a legacy in land in Dougherty County that helped build generational wealth that is still being passed down in the family today.

While some may consider that miraculous during a time when much of the country was struggling, Betty Lou Williams’ birth in 1932 likewise was an unlikely event.

Williams was born with a parasitic twin, with two legs and an arm, including a hand with three fingers, suspended from her abdomen.

“When she was born, they didn’t think she would survive,” her nephew James Williams, a retired Albany Police Department investigator, said. “They were able to work with her (mother), and she gave birth. That was the first one they had seen like this. That’s how the world and the circus got involved. She was two bodies in one. It was my understanding she was the first one ever born that way.”

The word of the child born with the limbs of a conjoined twin exposed outside her body was publicized, the nephew said, and that brought people calling who wished to display her to the public.

Williams never met his aunt, the youngest of the 12 children, who died in 1955. His father, also named James, told him the story, however.

“My father told me a lot,” he said. “Even though they realized they benefited, he always cried.”

Williams’ father, as did several of his brothers, joined the U.S. Army and did well, reaching high enlisted ranks. 

For the family, Betty Lou Williams was able to provide better lives.

“Out of 12 children, most of them went to college,” Williams said. “(She) allowed them to go to college when very few blacks went to college.

“Every one of the brothers and sisters here was very successful in education or the military. I know all my daddy’s children were very successful and active in the community. I thank God I’m in retirement, I’m in good health and I’ve got two grands. I’m very active in my community.”

During her time working with a circus, Betty Lou Williams traveled across the country and in other countries. By her teenage years, she was being showcased in carnivals. 

According to Ripley’s, Betty Lou Williams was earning $250 per week when she began working, and at the height of her fame earned $1,000 per week and was the highest-paid carnival “oddity” in history.

Despite being displayed for the public to observe to view her unusual physical appearance, Williams said his aunt led a relatively normal life as a girl. She wore loose-fitting clothing to minimize the protrusion from her abdomen.

“She was normal in school and everything,” he said. “She was educated. It wasn’t like it affected her being normal, talking normal, cooking. She didn’t let it hinder her. If you didn’t know, you didn’t know she had the double body.”

Using her earnings, Betty Lou Williams purchased a large amount of land in Dougherty County. A portion of that land was sold for the College Heights subdivision, earning money for the family, and about 102 acres remain in the hands of family members.

“I’m going to give (some of) it to my children,” Williams said. 

Four of Williams’ aunt’s siblings are still living, he said. They are Andrew and Joel Williams, who both live in California, Emilye Williams in Maryland and Shirley Williams of Albany.

“The family has been around Albany all their lives,” Williams said. “A lot of people don’t know that story. For young people it’s a lesson: If you have some difficult issues in your lives, there’s still a chance you can make it and be somebody.”