Martin van buren bates autobiography of miss

Martin Van Buren Bates, was a giant amongst men. Literally.

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Hailing from Letcher County, Kentucky he was born average size but when he reached the age of six a growth spurt ensued and by the time he was thirteen, he was 6’ tall and weighed over 200 pounds. As he neared adulthood he would reach the dizzying height of 7’ 9” and weighed in at 328 pounds.

Some reports state his height as being closer to 8 feet. It was said his boots were so big it would’ve taken a full bushel of corn to fill just one.

Initially, Bates lived a fairly low profile life working as a school teacher and in 1861 joining the 5th Kentucky Infantry during the Civil War.

It was during his time in the Infantry that he became a thing of legend. Union soldiers told tales of the “Confederate giant who’s as big as five men and fights like 50.” He eventually reached the rank of Captain and was wounded in battle, captured and imprisoned at Camp Chase in Ohio.

Not surprisingly he managed to esca