OUR BENEFACTORS
THE BALLYHOO
CONGRESS OF THE ODD
ANNA SWAN – The Giantess of Nova Scotia
Anna Swan was born in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia on August 6th, 1846. She was a large baby. She began her life at eighteen pounds and simply continued to grow. By the age of four she was almost five feet tall. By the time she was sixteen, Anna towered over her parents and 12 siblings. When she was done growing Anna stood a staggering seven feet, eleven and a half inches tall.
She began her exhibition career shortly after her seventeenth birthday. She started at the very top, working with P. T. Barnum in his New York Museum. Anna was often paired with the famous midget Tom Thumb, to better accentuate both of their statures.
Anna made a great deal of money under the management of Barnum. Unfortunately, her career with the famous promoter was rife with disaster. The original Barnum Museum caught fire while Anna was on exhibit there and she barely escaped with her life. Trapped on an upper floor, Firemen were unable to carry her to safety. Instead, an outside wall was demolished and a crane was called to facilitate the rescue. When Barnum rebuilt his museum, Anna returned only to lose all of her possessions in a second museum fire. Anna quit the business for a time and returned to Nova Scotia. However, in 1869, Barnum invited her on a tour of the United States.
While on tour Anna met a Kentucky gentleman named Martin Van Buren Bates. Bates had been a Confederate Captain during the Civil War. He was charming, soft spoken and eloquent. He also happened to be nearly eight feet tall. The pair fell in love and married on June 17th, 1871. The pair, billed as the ‘World’s Tallest Couple’ were showered with wedding gifts. Queen Victoria herself provided the gown and diamond ring.
The Gigantic couple settled in Seville, Ohio and used their vast career earnings to build a colossal home. The ceilings were fourteen feet high, every door was at over eight feet in height and every piece of furniture was custom build for their frames. The pair continued to tour, but only sparingly.
In 1872 Anna gave birth to her first child. The little girl weighted eighteen pounds, just like her mother had, but unfortunately did not survive long after birth. In 1879 the couple had another child, this time a twenty-two pound boy. Sadly, he too did not survive past infancy.
Despite these tragedies, the two titans lived together in their custom home quite happily in love. In 1888, one day before her forty-second birthday, Anna passed away unexpectedly. Her husband, Martin, erected a great funeral monument to his wife.
Atop her grave towers a fifteen foot statue of a Greek Goddess.
Although Martin later remarried he insisted that, upon his death, he be laid to rest next to his beloved Anna and their children. He request was granted and today they rest together.
Image: Anna Swan pitch card. From the author’s collection.
To learn more about Anna Swan and other Marvels purchase Carny Folk or American Sideshow.
© 2006 – 2008, J Tithonus Pednaud. All rights reserved.
RECOMMENDED READING
American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia
Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit
Sideshow U.S.A.: Freaks and the American Cultural Imagination
Freaks, Geeks, and Strange Girls
Pickled Punks & Girlie Shows: A Life Spent on the Midways of America
The Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton: A True Story of Conjoined Twins
The Circus Age: Culture and Society under the American Big Top
Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body
James Taylor's Shocked and Amazed: On & Off the Midway
THE AUTHOR
J Tithonus Pednaud has dedicated this site to highlighting the remarkable lives of those born exceedingly different. These so-called freaks and human oddities stand as uplifting testaments to human spirit and serve as inspiring examples of human tenacity.
26 Responses to “ANNA SWAN – The Giantess of Nova Scotia”
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Oh, darn, the writing on these has been so good up until now but … “only to loose all of her possessions”.
Please fix, it’s just that so better when it’s right.
Ah, thank you. Editing is such a core…
Susan Swan (no relation but also quite tall) wrote a novel based on the outline of Anna Swan’s life. It does take artistic licence, but it is a NOVEL. The Bigget Modern Woman of the World, is the title.
Woow, yoour reely pikky, ad thatz sumewut ruude iff yu azsk mee!! Howe about yu tri riting thiz meny paqes wit purfect riting?? Serisously, tri noot toe bee zo megative, eets note tat biig off a deel! Yu siy, pleee fex. goosh! Hahaha. :)
u must b hukd on fonix 2
Wondering if she or her husband were ever diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome or any other disorder genetic or chromosomal. Perhaps this could explain why their children did not live. Fascinating story. Glad she found love.
This would not be Marfan’s syndrome. Mafan syndrome people are usually tall, very thin, their arms and longer than the normal arm would be as are their legs. Many baseball players have Marfan’s. Marfan’s comes with an array of other genetic conditons such as heart problems. This lady definately had giagantism. She had a relatively normal life in comparison to a lot of people with gigantism, who are plaqued with diabetes, and serious heart conditons.
Great info about Ms Swan. What pics/info do you for Swan’s husband Martin V B Bates? Thanks
Great story. It’s sad that both of her kids died. :(
Also isn’t ‘he request was granted…’ suppose to be his request?
I’ve read in an article http://www.elmundo.es/magazine/2003/215/1068216672.html (sorry it’s in spanish) That Anna’s kids were not Martin Bater’s and that he had genital problems. They say her children were Apolo Ingalls’…is it true or is it just an imaginary story of Susan Swan?
Thanks so much!
By the way, I love this site! It’s very interesting!
I am related to Martin VanBuren Bates.
My Garndmother was Nancy Bates Daughter of Jesse Bates.
Would like to hear from other relatives.
I have the total chills. Their story is so heartwarming.
I have never heard that the children born to Martin VanBuren Bates and his wife were fathered by a Mr. Ingals.
I am sceptical.
I don’t believe I would be messing around in a giant’s backyard.
Russ Meade
!!!!!!!!!!! :)
This was a touching story! :) I am crying my eyes out I man why did her children have to die!!! :’( :’( :’(
I find it very hard to believe that an 18lb baby could survive birth (and that the mother could survive!) in an era before c-sections. Much less a 22lb baby! Also, most very tall people are not born THAT big. I call bullsh*t.
Era a maior bucetuda do mundo!
that is my real great great great aunt
Thank you, Anonymous. I can’t stand when people nit pick and are so rude like that. If you point out mistakes without actually having the intention of helping the person that made them, you are just trying to show everyone you are better than them. I’d rater b a baad speler then b ah jurk.
Hello. I also would like to know other women in the family, especially those descended from Anna Swan’s grandmother. I have heard that Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is passed down through the mother’s side, and I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Anna, was diagnosed with a thyroid condition I believe. My maternal grandmother told us we were related to her, and I believe we were, through Anna’s grandmother. So that made Anna and my grandmother 2nd cousins. They grew up near each other in the Tatamagouche area of Nova Scotia. Giantism is a result of something wrong with the growth hormone originating in the Pituitary. My TSH is too low to lose weight, and it is at .057 at the last test. I am morbidly obese, and have given up trying to fix it. There are 5 or 6 hormones that are affected by the Pituitary, one is the growth hormone, and another is the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, and there are others. I was tested for a Pituitary tumor but they found none. But I did have intra-cranial hypertension caused by spinal fluid overproduction. I have also been checked for my lactation producing hormones were too high and one doctor thought I was pregnant, but I was not! These are also connected to the Pituitary gland in the brain which stimulates all the normal body functions. I want to know if any other children of Anna Swan’s grandmother had any of the Pituitary symptoms of any of these diseases, and why, and if anything can be done about it. I also feel very odd, being of such a large size – obese; and not having anything help me to lose weight. Is there anyone out there who can answer any of these questions?
Dear Heather I am also related to Anna Swan she is my Great Great Great Aunt, I also have thyroid problems as does my sister my father and my Grandmother all on Annas side I didn’t realize that it was hereditary but now that you mention it i guess its too much of a coincidence. I too have tried too lose weight for years without any success . I hope this isn’t something that my children and grandchildren don’t have to suffer with, but doesn’t look too promising does it!
dear heather i do not have this nor am i tall our ramily is moving down to be short nor am i a adult i am 12 jenny im my grandmother fransis leavit is my great grand mother and then theres the swans hope we can continu our conversations
i see why all our family is full of courage
Dear Laurie and Haley,
Thanks so much for adding on to the family story! Laurie, you are the first one who confirmed my suspicions. My sister has an enlarged Thyroid, but hates needles and refused to get it checked. My other relatives have passed away, and or I could not find any other relatives who had the same problems. Thanks for sharing!