George W. Nash (1835 - 1920) Stood 8’ 8 1/2” tall

Question

Hi Wikitreers,

We have veteran of the U.S. Civil War a Sgt. George W. Nash who served with the glorious 106th New York Infantry regiment in Company G. The bio description in his fold3 wasn’t too surprising he had light color eyes (doesn’t describe exact color), brown hair, and a light complexion. The record also lists Sgt. George Nash’s occupation as a farmer.

The part that took my breath away was his height in the bio description handwritten in document as 8 foot and 8 1/2 inches tall!

I can only assume it’s a typo of the person from his time but is it possible as it’s on his hard copy of fold3 record that he truly was this height?

I’ve read many a bio and gone over many descriptions of our veterans but this is a first

He still needs better connecting as he is only connected to his father currently. 

Any collaboration is appreciated

Thank you

Answer 1

Yesterday I signed up for the U.S. Civil War Project January 2024 Challenge. George is the first person on my list. I added his father then fell asleep  

I just connected him to the tree by adding his wife, whose sister was already in the tree.

Comments

Thank you so much  it’s awesome to have so much collaboration 

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I believe this is his fathers memorial for Alfred Nash?

See https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/89919533/alfred-nash

Answer 2

I don't know about this person and would also suppose it is a mistake (because he lived so long).

But FYI, I recently saw on TV (with many photos) that the world's tallest man had a disorder called gigantism and never stopped growing, getting to 8'11". He was Robert Ludlow, b: c1918; d: 1940 Michigan, USA @22yrs of sepsis.

Comments

Found obit The Republican-Journal, 24 February 1920 — Page 8 

It doesn’t mention anything about his height. I would assume his height if it was 8’ 8 1/2” tall would be a key note?

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Your 1920 obit must be for a different guy with the same name as my guy died 20 years later in 1940.

The tv show specifically said he and his family very much downplayed his condition and height as he tried to live a "normal" life. Since non-celebrity obits are usually made by the family, I would assume that their obit continued to respect his wishes and not discuss his extreme height. I don't know if the media would have made separate news stories.

Answer 3

Could it be that whoever wrote this down had a very curly 6 that could be mistaken for an 8?

6 foot 6 1/2 inches is still very tall for that timeframe, but not anywhere near 8 foot 8 1/2, which almost definitely would have been mentioned somewhere as a record.

Comments

He definitely wasn’t 8’ in my assessment but the 8 on the document is very clear that’s what is so surprising. I think when the writer wrote the 8 1/2 inches part he must of put the 8 in the foot slot then didn’t correct it?