tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22156824.post5472015163818801106..comments2024-01-25T06:55:55.041-05:00Comments on Hillbilly Savants: The Letcher County GiantEric Drummond Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10651674250848286847noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22156824.post-18371839171069892572008-07-19T09:27:00.000-04:002008-07-19T09:27:00.000-04:00Anna Swan was already working for P. T. Barnum bef...Anna Swan was already working for P. T. Barnum before Martin joined him. She lived in New York in one of the rooms in the upper floors of Barnum's exhibition hall. When the bulding caught fire she had to be rescued from the building by a crane from a nearby building site.<BR/><BR/>Martin and Anna met when he signed on with Barnum for a European tour. They met on the ship going over to England. They married in England. The queen, who enjoyed their performances, provided the material for Anna's wedding dress. She gave Martin a pocket watch the size of plate for his gift.<BR/><BR/>They lived in England for a while, returning to America after the loss of their first child, an 18 pound daughter, who died at birth.<BR/><BR/>Martin left eastern Kentucky because he had hung 8 men who played a part in the killing of his brother, James, during the civil war. The bodies were left hanging until they were only bones before the families were allowed to bury them because of the threat by the giant to kill anyone who took them down.<BR/><BR/>The house was probably burned for these acts. Surely, descendants of these men would have sought to kill Martin when they could. <BR/><BR/>There was also another 'giant" on Barnum's payroll before Martin and who was also on the voyage to England when he and Anna met. Obviously, he had enough charisma to win her over.<BR/><BR/>The people in Seville said he was not well liked. I think they were a bit jealous of the wealth he and Anna had. They built a house of giant proportions and with furnitre to fit their size. The servants quarters were at a standard size.<BR/><BR/>They had a giant pew at the church. They often hosted members of the circus when they vacationed. They took in some of the animals that were no longer being used in the circus. Once having a python in their basement Martin was afraid the cold might be too much for the snake and took down a comforter for the it. The next morning the snake was dead. The comforter was gone. The snake had eaten it.<BR/><BR/>The townspeople would look on with interest at the train station. They never knew who or what might be coming to the Bates farm. <BR/><BR/>Once a group of them were talking about the giant and how he was big, but probably not all that strong. Martin caught part of this conversation as he came into the station. They bet him that he could not carry a sack of sugar from the station to his farm (I don't remmber the weight of the sugar now, probably 200 pounds at least). He put the sack on his shoulder, walked to the farm with some town members following along. He walked back to the station and asked if they had any other supplies that they would like to give away.<BR/><BR/>The townspeople though saying he was not well liked also said he kept candy in his pocket and the children would climb up on a chair and reach in for a piece.<BR/><BR/>Seville used to have a Giant's Festival at the fourth of July. I attended several back in the early 80's. At one Alice Wrigt Lemoms, Martin's niece, was the grand marshall of the parade. The town set aside a room for relatives to meet and greet and later set one float for the relatives to ride on in the parade.<BR/><BR/>The festival has been moved to a bit cooler time of the year in mid September. You can google it for details for this year. You might find some interesting things by going.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com