Standing at a height of 7 foot and 7 and a half inches, Martin Van Buren Bates was known as the Kentucky Giant. What an impressive man he was, weighing in at a whooping 328 pounds. But there are some conflicting reports on just how large of a man he really was. Some sources list Bates at 7" and 11 inches tall and weighing over 500 pounds. My guess is that he weighed more than 328 pounds. While he was known as the Kentucky Giant, he also was called "Kentucky River Giant", "Giant of the South", and "Baby". He had gotten the nickname baby when he was 11 years old.

Bates was born in 1837 in Letcher county Kentucky to normal sized parent and hit a growth spurt around the age of 7. By the time he was 12 years old, Bates was over 6 foot tall and weighed over 200 pounds and was still growing.

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