The Giants of Seville

The Giants of Seville is an Ohio historical marker in Medina County.

Medina County · SW corner of Pleasant Street and W Main Street, Seville, OH, 44273 -- Eastern end of Maria StanHope Park

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Side A: Seville’s most famous residents, Captain Martin Van Buren Bates (1845-1919) and Anna Swan Bates (1848-1889) settled here in 1873. Their notoriety stemmed from their dramatic stature: Martin, a former Confederate soldier from Kentucky, stood 7 feet 8 inches tall; Anna, a would-be teacher from Nova Scotia, stood 7 feet 11 inches tall. They met on the carnival circuit in New Jersey in 1871 and wedded in England the same year in a ceremony orchestrated by Queen Victoria. (Continued on other side) Side B: (Continued from other side) Returning to America, Captain and Mrs. Bates bought a farm at the edge of Seville, built and furnished a house (razed in 1948) proportioned for their comfort, and retired to small-town agricultural life. Martin raised blooded stock and draft horses; Anna entertained and taught Sunday school. In 1879, Anna gave birth to a child who weighed a record 23 pounds, but lived only 11 hours. The Bateses and their child are interred in nearby Mound Hill Cemetery. Seville continues to celebrate their symbolic larger-than-life neighbors.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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Marker data: Ohio Historical Markers program, Ohio History Connection (Remarkable Ohio)

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On the National Register nearby

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Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.