 Life Before Meeting Anna On November 9, 1845 Martin Van Buren Bates was born near Whitesburg, Kentucky into the home of John W. and Sarah Bates. He was the youngest in the family with six brothers and five sisters and was educated at Emma-Henry College, Washington Co., Virginia. When the Civil War broke out between the North and South, Bates joined, being the son of a slave owner. He enlisted as a private in the Fifth Kentucky Infantry C.S.A., on September 15, 1861 and served with this company until 1863, having been promoted several times. He continued to fight with a different company and rose to the rank of Lieutenant, later promoted to Captain, where he remained until the end of the war.
When he stopped growing at the age of twenty-eight he stood 7 feet, 9 inches and weighed 470 pounds. People found his size somewhat unusual, so in 1865 he began exhibiting himself as a curiosity. He did this for five years, traveling all over the United States and Canada.
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