ABSTRACT
Bearded ladies have at all times been exhibited before the public, but the above is certainly a most striking instance. Miss Annie Jones-Elliot, called the ‘Esau Lady’, was born in 1865, at Marion, Smith County, Virginia. Her parents, or sisters and brothers, showed no sign of more than an ordinary supply of hair. At her birth she was already possessed of a good-size moustache, much to the distress of her parents. But when two years old, she proved a godsend to her family—her beard had by then fully developed, and she was exhibited in public with great success. She was a woman of fine physique, her skin smooth and beautiful, and she had all the accomplishments of one of the fair sex. Her hair and beard were dark brown.
