Twisted Facts About the Muse Brothers, The Heartbreaking Circus Act
George and Willie Muse, known collectively as the Muse Brothers, were a pair of ill-fated boys from Jim Crow Era Virginia. They overcame their rare genetic conditions and a world prejudiced against them to lead happy and long lives.
But not before more than a few harrowing misadventures that took them far, far from home.
1. They Were Dealt A Bad Hand
George and Willie Muse were the eldest children born to Harriet Muse in the late 19th century in the small town of Truevine, Virginia. As impoverished African-American sharecroppers in the Jim Crow south, the Muse Brothers never really had much of a chance to begin with. But then fate dealt them an even crueler hand.
2. They Were Exceptionally Rare
Rare genetic conditions are exactly that: rare. Unless you’re one of the Muse brothers. Both George and Willie Muse were born with the rare genetic condition of albinism. Even though their condition left them with pale, “white-looking” skin, it only transformed them into greater curiosities. As Black men with unique complexions, the Muse brothers became targets for the worst kind of evil.
3. They Were Going Blind
From the day they were born, albinism affected how the world saw George and Willie. In an even crueler twist of fate, however, another rare condition would affect how the Muse brothers saw the world.
Not only did they suffer from albinism but George and Willie also had nystagmus; a condition that would, slowly and gradually, make them blind.
This, however, was only the beginning of the nightmare.
4. They Had To Work The Fields
Given their adverse health conditions, George and Willie suffered from the beginning. Their albinism prevented them from spending too much time in the punishing Virginia sun so they weren’t much help in the fields. Nevertheless, to make ends meet, they did their best to help out the family by pulling their own weight. But then the other shoe dropped.
