Remarkable Ohio

Counties

Below is a complete listing of all Ohio Historical Markers. To find a detailed marker listing including text, photographs, and locations, click on a county below. Our listing is updated by the markers program as new markers are installed and older markers are reported damaged or missing.

1-52 The Giants of Seville

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.
Sponsors: Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Longaberger Company, The Seville Kiwanis and Lions Clubs, The Guilford Grange, The Seville Historical Society, and The Ohio Historical Society
Address: SW corner of Pleasant Street and W Main Street, 
Seville, 
OH, 
44273
Location: Eastern end of Maria StanHope Park
Latitude: 41.0100090
Longitude: -81.8664020