Martin Van Buren Bates

Martin Van Buren Bates (November 9, 1837 – January 19, 1919), known as the Kentucky Giant, was an American man famous for his great height. He was Template:Cvt tall<ref name="guinness">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>His height is listed as 7'9" by Guinness World Records. Various other sources list his height as 7'2", 7'7", 7'9", or 7'11". </ref> and weighed Template:Cvt.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Youth and growth

Bates' growth rate jumped at the age of six or seven. At age 12 he was over Template:Convert tall and weighed over Template:Cvt.

American Civil War

Bates was attending university in Virginia when the American Civil War broke out.<ref name="nickell">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp He subsequently joined the 5th Kentucky Infantry Confederate States Army, later becoming a lieutenant and then captain.<ref name="nickell" />Template:Rp He was severely wounded in a battle near the Cumberland Gap and was captured and imprisoned at Camp Chase in Ohio, although he later escaped.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Adulthood and first marriage

He returned to Kentucky after the war. Before the war, his first occupation was as a schoolteacher. While the circus was on tour in Halifax, Canada, the Template:Convert tall Anna Haining Swan visited.<ref name="guinness" /> She and Martin soon got to know each other, and were married in 1871. The highly publicized wedding, at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London drew thousands of people trying to attend, due to both the uncommonness of the spectacle and the couple's disarming good nature. Queen Victoria gave Bates an engraved watch, and gave Swan a satin gown and diamond ring.<ref name="nickell" />Template:Rp

They moved to Ohio in 1872, settling in Seville. On May 19, 1872, Anna gave birth to a daughter, who weighed Template:Cvt and died at birth.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They built a large house to accommodate themselves comfortably.<ref name="nickell" />Template:Rp Martin described the next few years in his autobiography:

Final years

Anna Bates died on August 5, 1888. Martin ordered a statue of her from Europe for her grave, sold the oversized house, and moved into the town. In 1889 he remarried, this time to a woman of typical stature, Annette LaVonne Weatherby,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and lived a mostly peaceful life until his death in 1919 of nephritis.<ref>They Live In The House The Giants Built The Cincinnati Post. April 17, 1948. Reprinted First National Bank Chronicle, Vol. 7, No. 2 – Winter 1996. Accessed July 8, 2008.</ref><ref>Vigil, Vicki Blum (2007). Cemeteries of Northeast Ohio: Stones, Symbols & Stories. Cleveland, OH: Gray & Company, Publishers. Template:ISBN</ref> He was buried beside his first wife and their son in Seville.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is one of the tallest known people to live to at least 80 years.

Some years after his death, a family of typical heights had purchased the 14-ft ceiling home built by the giant couple. However, the original house in which he and Anna lived burnt down. Later a standard house was built on that site and eventually converted into a museum for the Seville Historical Society.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Gallery

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  The marriage of Martin Bates to Anna Swan, 1871
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  Martin van Buren Bates and Anna Haining Bates
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  Bates family grave, Seville, Ohio

See also

• List of tallest people

External links

• Martin Van Buren Bates Accessed July 22, 2014.
• The Giants of Seville Accessed April 25, 2011.
• An extensive historical page on Bates and his wife