Big Love: The Story of the Tallest Couple in History

Unfortunately, the lives of very tall people are fraught with numerous difficulties. In a world where the average height, depending on the nationality, ranges from 160 to 180 cm, it's difficult for giants to find not only furniture, clothing, and employment, but also a life partner. Anna Haining Swan stood 243 cm tall, but she found love. Sadly, the story of this 19th-century couple ended tragically.

Anna Haining Swan was the third daughter in a humble American family. Her mother, father, and sisters were not particularly tall, so when a girl weighing over 15 pounds was born, everyone considered it a miracle. The birth was very difficult, but fortunately, both mother and child survived. Anna's mother later gave birth to several more children, including several boys. The Swans had 10 children in all, and Anna was the tallest of them all.

At age 4, Anna's height was 137 cm, and by age 6, she had grown to 157 cm, only slightly shorter than her mother. At 11, Anna reached 188 cm, almost a head taller than her father, and weighed 96 kg. By age 15, her family doctor recorded her height at 210 cm and was surprised to note that she was continuing to grow.

Despite her enormous height, Anna was proportionately built. Even when she reached her maximum height of 243 cm at age 16, she did not look ugly. It wasn't just her height that distinguished her from her siblings. She was the most intellectually developed and inquisitive of them all. Anna enjoyed mathematics and reading, played musical instruments, sang well, and adored the theater.

In 1862, Taylor Barnum, owner of the world-famous Barnum & Bailey Circus, came to the Swan family's home. It was a time when circusgoers flocked to see more than just trained animals and acrobats. People with unusual appearances and physical deformities were of greatest interest to the public. A 16-year-old girl, 243 cm tall, was a valuable asset to the circus.

Anna Swan accepted Barnum's offer and agreed to join his troupe. She was attracted by the prospect of moving to New York and earning $1,000 a month, a considerable sum at the time. She planned not only to perform but also to get an education so she could find a serious profession she enjoyed. She viewed the circus as merely a stepping stone to her future.

Anna's circus career was thriving. She was modest and friendly, and had a keen sense of humor. She happily interacted with the audience, and many came to see her performances just for her. Her signature act was her waist measurement. Anna would enter the arena with a measuring tape and measure her waist. Then she would call women from the audience and ask them to compare her waist measurement to theirs. Naturally, the giantess's figure was always two or three times larger, which was incredibly flattering to the women.

Since Anna lived and worked in the circus, her height didn't pose any problems. However, she once nearly died due to her size. On July 13, 1865, a fire broke out at Barnum's museum, engulfing the hallways and stairwells. Performers jumped out of windows and down fire escapes, but Swan couldn't do either. Her body couldn't fit through the stairwell, and jumping from the window with her weight would have been tantamount to suicide.

Fortunately, the woman wasn't abandoned. Eighteen men joined forces to lower Anna out of the window with a rope. She was unharmed, but the intense shock knocked her off balance, and Swan took a leave of absence. The circus performer went home to see her family. Upon returning to New York, she immediately went on tour, which changed her destiny. She met Martin van Buren Bates, who became her life partner.

Unlike Anna, Martin was born a completely ordinary child. Until the age of seven, he was completely indistinguishable from his peers. But then he began growing rapidly, and by age 14, he was 210 cm tall and weighed 140 kg. Unfortunately, his adult height was never documented. Most sources agree that Martin stopped growing when he reached 235 cm. The giant himself gave greatly inflated figures, as he was embarrassed that his beloved was taller than him.

Martin trained as a teacher and taught in a rural school in Kentucky. During the Civil War, he was drafted into the army and fought on the Confederate side. He demonstrated courage and resourcefulness in battle and rose to the rank of captain within a couple of years. After the war, he decided not to return to school and instead found work in a circus.

Martin met Anna after her manager lured him to Barnum's circus. He rightly believed the two giants would make a colorful couple and bring in even more profit. The man and woman began performing together, pretending to be married. But their pretense didn't last long—they developed feelings for each other and decided to tie the knot.

They married on June 17, 1871, at St. Martin's Church in London, where they were on tour. To prevent the solemn ceremony from appearing comical, a tall priest had to be found. A priest measuring 191 cm tall was found, but he looked like a child next to Anna and Martin. Queen Victoria herself attended the ceremony, presenting the newlyweds with a gold watch encrusted with diamonds.

After a year of marriage, the couple purchased a plot of land and built a house. It boasted 4.3-meter-high ceilings, and all the furniture was custom-made. To avoid disturbing guests, Martin and Anna furnished a living room, which was somewhat more modest in size than the rest of the house.

The couple lived together for 17 years, but their marriage was hardly a happy one. Anna and Martin loved each other, but tragedies followed one after another. On May 19, 1872, Anna gave birth to a girl who was larger than her mother at birth. The baby weighed 8.2 kg and was 68 cm long. But the long-awaited infant died during childbirth.

For several years, the Bateses hesitated to have children, but in 1878, Anna became pregnant again. Labor began on January 15, 1879, and lasted three days. The fetus was again large, and the obstetricians had to invent special instruments on the fly to safely deliver it. The baby was a true giant—it measured 76 cm (30 in) long and weighed 10.5 kg (22.5 lbs). Sadly, it lived for only 11 hours. The baby was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records, but this was of little consolation to its parents.

After the second misfortune, Anna and Martin decided not to push their luck. They returned to the circus and toured successfully for a time. But age and health problems took their toll, and the couple was forced to leave the profession. Due to their height and weight, the couple began to suffer from joint and heart problems before they were even 40.

The Bates family acquired a small farm and began a secluded life. They never entertained guests and rarely appeared in public. They could only be seen at church on Sundays, where a large pew was installed for them. Anna Bates died of tuberculosis in 1888, aged just 42.

There was a hitch during the woman's funeral. The coffin delivered to the Bates' home turned out to be a standard size. As it turned out, the undertaker, upon seeing the measurements, couldn't believe his eyes and assumed someone had made a mistake. The entire arrangement had to be redone, delaying the funeral by three days.

After Anna's death, Martin married again. This time, his chosen one was a woman of average height named Annette Lavonne Etherby. He died of a heart attack in 1919. He lived to be 82 years old, an incredible age for someone his size.

The tallest woman in the Russian Empire, Elizaveta Lysko, who lived at the same time as the Bates family, was 227 cm tall.