Anna Swan and Martin Van Buren Bates were both close to eight feet tall, making them one of the most extraordinary couples ever recorded. Anna measured 7 feet 11 inches, while Martin reached 7 feet 9 inches, meaning that the bride was actually slightly taller than her husband.
Their unusual appearance made them famous, and the couple spent some time traveling across Europe as performers. Despite the public attention surrounding them, their relationship was reportedly genuine, and eventually they chose a quieter life in Ohio. There, they had a home built specifically around their extraordinary height, with oversized doors, ceilings and furniture designed to make everyday life more manageable.
That house would later become the setting for one of the most heartbreaking episodes of their lives. After already losing a child, Anna and Martin welcomed another baby in 1879. The birth immediately attracted attention because the newborn weighed an astonishing 22 pounds and measured 28 inches in length, figures that made the child both the longest and heaviest baby ever recorded at birth.
The joy lasted only briefly. Their son survived for just 11 hours before dying, leaving the couple devastated. Years later, another tragedy struck when Anna died in 1888 at only 41 years old. Tuberculosis and thyroid-related complications were blamed for her declining health.
Martin eventually married again, but he never seemed to forget Anna. He arranged for her burial beneath a monument featuring a statue inspired by a Greek goddess, giving her grave a memorial as unusual as the woman herself. When Martin's own life finally came to an end, he left instructions that he wanted to be buried beside Anna, ensuring that the couple who had shared so much in life would remain together in death.