People called her 'World's Ugliest Woman' — but for her kids she was 'World's Greatest Mother'

People called her 'World's Ugliest Woman' — what she did to feed her children will break your heart

• Mary Ann Bevan worked in a freak show to support her children
• She suffered from acromegaly, causing her appearance to change
• Her sacrifice provided food, clothing, and education for her kids.

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Mary Ann Webber grew up in East London in the 1870s. Her family was poor and she had seven brothers and sisters. There was never enough money, but they managed.

When she grew up, she trained to become a nurse. She was good at her work. She met a farmer named Thomas Bevan and they fell in love. They got married and had four children.

For a while, life was good.

Then things started to change.

When Mary Ann turned 32, her body began to grow in strange ways. Her hands got bigger. Her feet got bigger. Her face changed shape. Her jaw grew downward. Her nose widened. Her brow stuck out more.

She looked in the mirror and did not know herself.

Doctors today would say she had acromegaly. It's a condition where the body makes too much growth hormone. It makes bones grow larger than they should. Back then, nobody knew what it was or how to stop it.

People stared at her on the street. Children pointed and laughed. Some old friends pretended not to see her.

But her husband Thomas stayed. He loved her anyway.

Then Thomas died.

Mary Ann was alone with four children and no way to make a living.

She looked for work everywhere. But every time someone saw her face, they found a reason to say no. She took small jobs when she could find them. She worked for farmers. She cleaned houses. Nothing paid enough.

One day, a farmer told her straight out, "The only job you're fit for is an ugly woman contest."

She didn't say anything. She just kept working.

But the words stayed with her.

Later, she saw an ad in the newspaper. It said: "Wanted: Ugliest woman. Nothing repulsive. Good pay guaranteed. Send recent photograph."

She looked at the ad for a long time.

Then she thought about her children. They needed food. They needed clothes. They needed a future.

She wrote the letter.

The job meant standing on a stage while people paid money to stare at her. They called her names. They laughed. They pointed at her hands and her face.

It was a freak show. That's what they called it back then.

Mary Ann hated every second of it. But every week, she sent money home. Her children ate. Her children went to school. Her children had what they needed.

Later, a famous showman named P.T. Barnum asked her to come to America. He offered more money. She left her children with family and sailed across the ocean.

She worked at Coney Island. People came from all over to see "The World's Ugliest Woman."

They never saw the mother who wrote letters home every week. They never saw the woman who worked a job she hated so her kids could have a better life. They never saw the nurse who used to help sick people.

They only saw her face.

Mary Ann Bevan died in 1933. She was 59 years old. She worked almost until the end.

Her story does not have a happy ending. She spent years being stared at and laughed at. She gave up her privacy, her dignity and her peace.

But her children grew up. They were fed and clothed and educated because their mother did what she had to do.

Most people knew her as "The Ugliest Woman in the World, " but her children knew her as Mom.