John "Bud" Rogan (February 12, 1867 – September 11, 1905; some sources indicate 1867, 1868 and 1871 as his birth year), is recorded as the tallest non mobile person who ever lived and second-tallest person ever at , behind only

Robert Wadlow Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 July 15, 1940), also known as the Alton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was an American man who was the tallest person in recorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. He was born and raise ...

Biography

John Rogan was born in Hendersonville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He was the son of the former slave William Rogan, as the fourth of twelve children. His rapid growth began at the age of 13, due to gigantism. This led to

ankylosis Ankylosis is a stiffness of a joint due to abnormal adhesion and rigidity of the bones of the joint, which may be the result of injury or disease. The rigidity may be complete or partial and may be due to inflammation of the tendinous or muscular ...

(an abnormal rigidity of the skeletal joints). By 1882, he could not stand or walk. Although unable to perform physical labor due to his condition, Rogan made a living by selling portraits and postcards at a train station. An 1897 article in the ''

Kansas City Journal The ''Kansas City Journal-Post'' was a newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1854 to 1942. It was the oldest newspaper in the city when it went out of business. It started as a weekly, ''The Kansas City Enterprise,'' on September 23, 1854, a ...

'' mentions that a number of his drawings were published. He declined all offers to join carnivals and

sideshow In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. Types There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions: *The Ten-in-One offers a program of ten ...

s. In 1899, he was measured at , then tied with Franz Winkelmeier as the tallest person ever at the time. He weighed between and , often billed in newspapers as the "negro giant" and "living skeleton". He used a goat-pulled cart like a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

and was always the center of attention, often noted for his deep voice and playful attitude. Rogan's hands measured in length and his feet measured in length. Around the time of his death he measured 8 ft 9 in. He was the tallest person of African descent and the second tallest person on record.

's height surpassed Rogan's in 1939. A newspaper article said his maternal grandfather was also a giant, requiring a larger saddle when he rode horses, hinting at a possible genetic inheritance. Rogan died on September 11, 1905, due to complications related to his condition. Evidence points to his having been buried on old Rogan farmland; prior rumors suggested after his death and buried him in an unmarked grave, covering him in a cement vault.

References

1870s births 1905 deaths African-American people Burials in Tennessee People from Hendersonville, Tennessee People with gigantism {{US-med-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References