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 tall and weighed .

Youth and growth

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

American Civil War

Bates was attending university in Virginia when the American Civil War broke out. He subsequently joined the 5th Kentucky Infantry Confederate States Army, later becoming a lieutenant and then captain.

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 tall Anna Haining Swan visited. They built a large house to accommodate themselves comfortably. and lived a mostly peaceful life until his death in 1919 of nephritis. He was buried beside his first wife and their son in Seville. 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 burned down. Later a standard house was built on that site and eventually converted into a museum for the Seville Historical Society.

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File:The marriage of Captain Martin van Buren to Anna Swan. Wood Wellcome V0007376.jpg|The marriage of Martin Bates to Anna Swan, 1871

File:Martin Van Buren Bates and Anna Haining Bates.png|Martin van Buren Bates and Anna Haining Bates

File:Bates grave.jpg|Bates family grave, Seville, Ohio

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See also

  • List of tallest people

Notes

  • 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