From the scrap book of Mrs. SAM
COLLINS, Sr.
A
baby boy was born in Letcher
County in 1837 who was to emblazon
his name in history as one of the
most unusual men who ever lived.
MARTIN VAN BUREN BATES was of
normal size at birth, was the son
of normal parents and his brothers
and sisters were of average height
and weight. Yet MARTIN BATES grew
into a man seven feet and eleven
inches tall, and for years his
weight was 525 pounds. But his
phenomenal physique does not by
any means exhaust this amazing
man’s attributes and
accomplishments. Although of peace
loving nature, he was a courageous
and fearless officer in the Civil
War, gaining his commission for
bravery on the battlefield. ~At a
time when 75% of Americans lived
out their careers within fifty
miles of their homes, Captain
BATES toured much of the world. He
gained fame in the United States,
Canada, England, and Europe.
These achievements would seem
sufficient for any mortal in the
slow-paced days of a century ago.
But BATES had such a gregarious
personality, such genuine liking
for humanity, that he knew
President GARFIELD, was a personal
friend of President McKINLEY and
was honored in London by Queen
Victoria.
BATES acquired many nicknames,
including "Baby" and Giant of the
South, but his first nickname was
given to him when he was eleven
years of age and weighed 170
pounds. Seeing the astonishing
dimensions of the boy on his
eleventh birthday, his uncle said,
"That’s a mighty big boy, by
heck."
MARTIN’s mother was deceived by
his rapid elongation and came to
the natural conclusion that be
must be delicate. She forbade him
to help with the household chores
until she became convinced he was
stronger than his older brothers.
While yet a young man BATES,
journeyed to the county seat and
took the examination for a school
teacher, received his certificate
and embarked on a teaching
profession. "Well," said one of
his former students many years
later, "I never did care about
obeying a teacher, but that
‘Big Boy Bates’ was a fellow none
of us boys ever sassed! We didn’t
dare. Why, he was so big his voice
just sort of rumbled like a bull
bellowing." Fact of the matter is,
though, all the students liked
BATES.
In
the Civil War BATES chose the
cause of the "Rebels" and enlisted
in the Confederate Army as a
private. Once into the conflict,
BATES forsook his habitual good
nature and became a fierce and
capable fighter. He soon won a
battlefield promotion and became
Captain before the end of the war.
He engaged in battles to over much
of the south and his fame spread
among the "Yankees" who talked a
great deal about "that Confederate
Giant who was as big as five men
and fights like fifty." He was
severely wounded in a battle
around the Cumberland Gap area and
also captured, although he later
escaped. After the Civil War Bates
returned to his native Kentucky.
He spent months renewing old
friendships. But a restlessness
was upon him. The hectic life he
had known in combat made him
reluctant to settle down to a
commonplace and uneventful
existence. Also he was sensitive
enough to foresee the coming of
the feuds which had their actual
beginning in the hatreds
engendered by the Civil War.
"I
don’t want any part of the trouble
that’s coming to these hills,"
MARTIN BATES confided to his
nephew, JOHN WRIGHT. "I’ve seen
enough bloodshed. I didn’t want
any more."
When BATES left Kentucky after
selling his property, he traveled
to Cincinnati and joined a circus.
He immediately became on of the
stars of the show. Soon after he
became a trooper, the circus took
a preliminary swing into the
eastern part of the United States,
then departed for a tour of
Canada. In Halifax, Nova Scotia,
BATES figured in one of the
strangest encounters that ever
occurred outside the pages of a
fairy story. A personable young
woman visited the circus at
Halifax. Her name was ANNA HANNON
SWAN, but her meeting with BATES
was one of the oddest coincidences
on record. Incredibly she was
eight feet tall, one inch taller
than BATES. The elated circus
manager knew a natural attraction
when he saw one. He hired Miss
SWAN, and when the circus left
Canada for an extended stay in
Europe the "giantess" was with the
cast. Romance followed as the two
"super people" found themselves
drawn to each other.
This love affair was culminated in
London when ANNA HANNON became
Mrs. MARTIN VAN BUREN BATES.
Half of London tried to be present
at the wedding. Queen VICTORIA
found the "giants" as charming as
the common people found them to
be. She presented the newlyweds
with a watch for each of them. At
her order the watches had been
made of a size to correspond with
the proportions of the recipients.
The watches were as large as
ordinary saucers. Moreover, they
were gold, studded with diamonds,
and worth $1,000.00 each —
a fabulous sum in that day.
Fresh from this royal welcome in
England, the BATES were the
stellar attraction in every city
the circus played in Europe. All
the acts drew applause, but the
overgrown man and woman with such
warm smiles were the darlings of
the people. Their magnetic
personalities transcended all
barriers of race, custom and
language and endeared them to the
spectators everywhere.
Back in the United States, Captain
and Mrs. BATES remained with the
circus for many years. They
repeatedly criss-crossed the
United States. The fame they had
gained and their personal
qualities combined to make them as
popular in their own country as
they were in Canada, England, and
Europe. When the circus swung
through Kentucky it was like "old
home week" except that now the
affable BATES had a wife to
introduce to his many friends.
Quoting now from Mr. BATES’
autobiography after they had
toured England, Scotland and
Ireland:
"At
Glasgow, we exhibited at the
Argoyle Rooms; after a most
successful season we re-crossed
the River Tay. This was before the
bridge was completed, and returned
to our London residence.
"It
was on the 19th day of May, 1872,
that our first child was born only
to die at birth. Doctors CROSS and
BUCKLAND were the physicians in
charge. It was a girl weighing
eighteen pounds and being
twenty-seven inches tall. This
loss affected us both, and by the
advice of the doctors I took my
wife upon the continent. There we
traveled for pleasure, only giving
receptions when requested to do so
by Royal Command.
"After a short tour in Ireland we
decided to return to America. We
left England on the second day
July, 1874, upon the City of
Anwerp. We journeyed west for
pleasure. While in Ohio, I
purchased a farm in Seville,
Medina County. It consisted of 130
acres of good land. I built a
house upon it designed especially
for our comfort. The ceilings have
a height of fourteen feet, the
doors are eight and one half feet
in height. The furniture was all
built to order and to see our
guests make use of it recalls most
forcibly the good DEAN SWIFT’s
traveler in the land of
Brobdignag.
"I
had determined to become a farmer,
so I stocked my farm with the best
breeds of cattle, most of them
being full-blooded and short
horns. My draught horses are of
the Norman breed. Carriage horses
eighteen hands high with a couple
of Clydesdale mares constitute my
home outfit. I am thus specific
because I am continually asked as
to these matters.
"My
rest was not to last long, for
yielding to the solicitations of
managers, I consented to again
travel. The seasons of 1878, 1879
and 1880 found us leading
attractions of the W.W. Cole
circus.
"While we have during these years
been blessed with many things,
affliction again visited us in the
loss of a boy, born on the 19th
day of January, 1879. He was 28
inches tall, weighed twenty-two
pounds and was perfect in every
respect. He looked at birth like
an ordinary child of six months.
With this exception our lot has
been one of almost uninterrupted
joy."
In
the supposed autobiography of Mr.
BATES, he states he was born on
November 9, 1845. The author of
the first part of this letter
states [he] was born in 1837. Take
your choice. At any rate he was
born at what is now Kona, Letcher
County, Kentucky, the son of JOHN
W. and SARAH BATES. He died and is
buried at Seville, Ohio. His first
wife died and he remarried a woman
weighing 135 pounds.
Letcher Countians will not soon
forget the Giant of the Hills,
MARTIN VAN BUREN BATES.
Article from the Giant of the
Hills - The article concerning
Civil War-era giant Martin Van
Buren Bates, is reprinted from the
Independent Herald
