August 27, 1911
"On a hot summer night, some years ago during a violent thunderstorm, in the second-floor bedroom of a red-brick rowhouse there would occur an event that would shock the neighborhood. Twenty minutes after Robert was born, a second baby began to emerge; with more than half of it seemingly missing. This baby [had] almost nothing below his rib cage - a monster? It weighed two pounds. Although the second infant's body appeared to end at the waist, he was surprisingly healthy. His family embraced him and christened him John.It was as if God himself hadchosen the family to be born in..."
That's the exact quotes of the famous Johnny Eck on his own accounts ofthe night he was born. Johnny(named John EckhardtJr.) was born on August 27th along with his twin brother, Robert Alexander Eckhardt. After Johnny was born, the midwife had cried out," Oh, my lord, he's a broken doll!" Before Johnny and Robert were born however, their mother-Amelia Eckhardt- had given birth to a baby girl. But she didn't live long due to pneumonia. After that, she gave birth to a baby boy, but it was a still birth, and she was sadened. And then, a miracle, she gave birth to Robert and Johnny.
Chapter 1: Early Life
Robert was born as a complete baby and had a lower half. Johnny didn't, but hewas very healthy. As they grew,before the age of 1, Johnny had learned to walk on his hands before Robert had learned towalk. Despite Johnny's appearance, his family loved and cherised him and his brother, whom he got along with with no arguments or fighting. At the young age of 1, the two twins had begun drawing and painting, learning and enjoying it. Art became apart of their lives after that.
When Johnny was born, he was two pounds and under 8 inches in length.Even though Johnnywas born with nothing just below his ribcage,he would later say that he was,"snapped off at the waist." Besides his defect, he was healthy and could do anything anyone else could do. At the age of four, Robert and Johnny already knew how to read and had formed a love for music. He used to love trains and had wanted to become a train engineer/conductor. When he could, his mother would carry him down to the local train tracks and set him on the gravel where he would sit and watch the trains fly past. He loved it.
Their older sister, named Carolyn, had begun teaching the brothers school necessities and they were fast learners. By the age of seven, they were enrolled in public school. Johnny's parents would take him and Robert to school by driving. He didn't have to worry about bullies then, all the children had fought over the honor of helping him up the steps. School was no different for him, until they had to black out the windows due to people passing by and looking at him. Besides that, he played just like the other children. he played all games: tag, hide and seek, running in which he was very fast at. While playing hide and seek, no one could ever find him.