Two young boys went missing from a tobacco farm in Truevine, Virginia, in 1899. George Muse was only six years old and his brother Willie was nine when they vanished while working in the fields. Their mother, Harriett Muse, spent almost 30 years trying to find them.
Both brothers had a condition called albinism. As per The Guardian, this meant their skin was very pale, their hair was white, and their eyes were blue, even though they were African American. They also had another problem with their eyes that made it hard for them to see clearly and made bright light hurt them. This made working outside in the hot sun really tough.
The story that families in the area told for years was that a man named James Herman Shelton found the boys in the fields. People said he gave them candy and took them away. But there might be more to it than that. Some people think Harriett may have let them go at first because she knew her sons would struggle to survive as farm workers with their health problems. Either way, once the boys were gone, she could not track them down no matter how hard she tried.
Life in the circus was not what it seemed
The brothers ended up traveling with circuses around the country. The people running the shows gave them fake backgrounds and called them terrible names like “Eko and Iko, the Sheep-headed Cannibals from Ecuador” and “Ambassadors from Mars.” The managers lied to George and Willie and told them their mother had died. The brothers performed for years but never got any money for it. Their white managers kept all the cash for themselves.
Between 1914 and 1927, the Muse brothers went from town to town with different circus shows. They got good at playing music and putting on performances. They grew their hair into long locks and would hide them under big hats. Then during the show, they would take off the hats and let their hair fall down while the crowd watched in amazement. People lined up to take pictures with them.
American freakshow: the extraordinary tale of Truevine’s Muse brothers! Beth Macy’s bestselling book tells the story of two African American brothers with albinism who were kidnapped and forced to perform in a 1920s circus.
— Traveler’s Diary (@travelersdy) October 25, 2023
The Muse brothers had been encouraged to grow their… pic.twitter.com/EiF6coqmqz
In October 1927, the biggest circus in America came to Roanoke, Virginia. This was close to where the brothers had grown up. By then, George and Willie had become famous performers with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. Harriett found out the circus was in town. She went to the show and sat right in the front row where her sons could see her from the stage. When they started performing, George saw her and told Willie that their mother was there.
These are the Muse Brothers. Their biological names are George and Willie Muse. They were two albino brothers;
— AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY (@AfricanArchives) May 30, 2025
In 1899 they were kidnapped as boys in Truevine, Virginia by bounty hunters and were forced into the circus, labeled as “freak show” performers.
Their owners showcased… pic.twitter.com/fjBYPthsoU
Harriett got a white lawyer to help her and took the circus to court. She won and got her sons back after 28 years apart. Like another remarkable woman who escaped slavery and then risked everything to return 19 times, Harriett showed incredible bravery standing up to powerful people to save her family. The brothers did go back to circus work later, but this time they actually got paid.
George passed away in 1972. Willie lived a very long life and died in 2001 at 108 years old. A writer named Beth Macy wrote a book called Truevine about them in 2016, working with their family to finally tell the real story. Their experience shows how medical conditions once trapped people in situations they could not escape.
