Quick Facts
Biography
Martin Bates (November 9, 1837 – January 19, 1919), known as the "Kentucky Giant" was famed for his large height. The Guinness Book of World Records and other reputable sources have him listed at being 7 feet 7.5 inches (2.324 m) tall and weighing 328 pounds (149 kg).
Youth and growth
He began a tremendous growth spurt at some time around the age of six or seven, and was over 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed over 200 pounds (91 kg) by the time he was twelve years old. His first occupation was as a schoolteacher, but upon the outbreak of the Civil War, he joined the Confederate States of America.
Adulthood and marriage
He returned to Kentucky after the war. While the circus was on tour in Halifax, Canada, 7 foot 11 inches (2.42 m) tall Anna Haining Swan happened to visit. She and Martin soon got to know each other, and were married in 1871 The wedding, at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, was abuzz with publicity, and thousands of people, drawn both by the uncommonness of the spectacle and the disarming good nature of the pair, tried to attend. Queen Victoria herself gave them two extra-large diamond-studded gold watches as wedding presents.
Martin and his wife returned to Ohio in 1872 and settled in Seville. In May 1874, Anna gave birth to a child of normal size. They built a large house to accommodate themselves comfortably. He explains 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 1897 he remarried, this time to a woman of normal stature, Annette LaVonne Weatherby and lived a mostly peaceful and uneventful life until his death in 1919 of nephritis.