Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-01-21
A MARl Eious CHANGE.
A jersey City Woman Who was Once Black
Ii Now a Pure White

L. Now n Pure White.
A full white negro or Indian woman has
been discovered in Jersey City. She called
u the City hospital with a negro boy, who
had been playing in the street and had fallen
and sprained his shoulder. She was a fine
looking woman, and was very wei, dressed
Her skin was white and her complexion was
perfect. The boy was dressed in ragged
clothes and his face was very black. Warden
Osborn asked her whether she employed the
boy. She said, 'Oh, no, he is my grandson"
This aroused the warden's curiosity, and he
asked, How is it that you are white and he
il blackr
Indeed, Tn no white trasb," she replied.
I'm an honest colored woman, am"
"Your hair is straight" said the warden.
The woman took down her hair and showed
that it was kinky. She said her name was
Mrs. Sisco and her husband was black. She
was black herself eighteen years ago, she
said, and had been gradually turning white
until a year ago when the last trace of black
disappeared from her body. She had not
been sick a day. she said She took her
grandson home with her after his shoulder
was dressed.
He found her just as Warden Osborn des-
.
with a negro accent, kinky hair, negro chill
dren, negro husband, but with skin as white
as any white woman ever had She said she
was full blooded Indian. Her father was
a Hoosac and her mother Mohawk. She
was born in this state and lived on Mulberry
street in this city until 1861, when she first
began to turn white. Then she moved to
Jersey City. She was as dark as colored
people in general are, she said, when she
married Sam Sisco a negro. In 1851 white
spot appeared on her chin, and after being
there month it disappeared. In 1865 several
white spots appeared on her neck, but they
also disappeared. In 1878 another spot ap-
peared on her chin, and it stayed there Other
spots appeared on her neck and body These
spots kept getting larger, until her whole
face and the upper part of her body turned
white. Finally, about a year ago, the last
black spot on her body disappeared, and since
then there has not been blemish on her skin
In all that time she had only been sick
twice, she said. Once she had a cancer, and
the other time she had trouble with her lungs
She had never had a doctor give her anything
for her skin. She had had three children Call
of them were with her while she was talking)
They are all black and their children are
black, too Mrs. Sisco said she was SIS wears
old, as near as she could remember. Her
daughter, who is 81, said she could remember
when her mother was black woman. 'She's
got awful pale lately, though" she added
MIR. Sisco said that when he married his
wife she was as black as he was He didn't
know what had turned her white II didn't
seem to interest him much. Dr. Pyle, who has
attended the family for fifteen years, said he
remembered when he first called on her. 1t
was for trouble with her lungs She was
black then. A little while afterward a white
spot appeared on her upper lip. 1t was round,
but it gradually spread, until it looked like
an irregular patch of white skin. Other spots
appeared on her throat and breasts, and they
continually spread until they ran into each
other. Finally one hand turned completely
white, and the entire arm followed
By this time nearly all of her face had
turned white There were no eruptions on
her skin, he said; the white skin was no
coarser or thicker than the black If any
thing, the white part was softer to the touch
About year ago, he thought, the last black
SPOT disappeared and she was perfectly
white. She always had good health, he said,
except for slight lung trouble and cancer
She asked him TO prescribe for her to stop the
change in the color of her skin, but as she
was not Inconvenience at all by it he did
not do it. He thought it was merely the dis
appearance OF tn, coloring matter of the skin
Such cases were rare He had never heard
of a case before where the whole body
changed color. Both Mrs. Sisco and her hus-
band are in excellent general health.-New
York Sun.