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Henry Clay
Thruston was born on May 4, 1830 in Greenville, South Carolina. He grew to 7 feet, 7 ½ inches
by the time he was 19. Henry was the youngest of 5 brothers, all of whom were
over 6 feet tall. His parents moved the family to Missouri soon after he was
born and except for the notoriety of the boys being so tall, they lived a
quiet, uneventful life. In 1850, Henry moved to California to try his hand at
gold mining, but soon came back home to Missouri where, at age 23, he married
Mary Thruston, a distant cousin. He began traveling with the P.T. Barnum show
where he was billed as “The Missouri Giant” or, while traveling through Texas, “The
Texas Giant” and “The Tallest Man in the World.” While touring in the south, he
would lead the circus parade wearing a large “Stars and Bars” flag draped around
his shoulders, but when the circus was in the northern states, he dressed as “Uncle
Sam” and wore the “Old Glory” flag.
By the time the
Civil War broke out, Henry and Mary had four children. When Union General Lyons
invaded Missouri in February 1861, he broke up the State Legislature and drove
the Governor, Claiborne F. Jackson, from the Capitol. He also took prisoners a
company of State Guards in St. Louis, shot down women and children in the
streets, and proclaimed that “the blood of women and children should run as
water” before Missouri should go out of the Union. The Thruston family held
strong views regarding state’s rights and upon the actions of General Lyons and
his troops, Henry and two of his brothers joined the Morgan County Rangers, a
unit of the Missouri State Guards. Henry remained with the State Guards,
participating in several small battles until after the battle of Pea Ridge
where his well-loved nephew, Joe Thurston, was killed. Henry then quit the
State Guards and joined the Confederate Army, serving as a private under Col.
John Q. Burbridge in the 4th Missouri Cavalry.
One day, Henry
and a small group of soldiers were far in front of the Rebel lines serving as
scouts when they came upon a farmhouse. As they approached, a young woman broke
out of the house yelling, “Watch out! The woods are full of Yanks!” A major in
charge of the Union troops came running out of the house and aimed his rifle at
the woman. Before he could shoot however, Henry stood up, fired his rifle and
mortally wounded the major. The remaining Union troops ran from the house and
retreated into the woods. While giving aid to the wounded Yankee major, he kept
saying, “A Reb standing upon a tree stump shot me.”
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(Historical Photo)
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On another occasion, the two sides were dug in just yards apart on either side of
a pasture. At night, the men would shout at each other across the field. The
Union men told the southerners they better watch out as they had a giant on
their side and he would be coming to destroy them. The Rebs shouted back they
had a giant as well and their giant was undoubtedly bigger. To settle the
argument, the two sides agreed on a truce for the next day to settle who had
the bigger giant. At the appointed hour, Yanks and Rebs left their guns behind,
met in the middle of the pasture and the two “giants” were stood back-to-back. The Union giant was only 6’10 1/2” and Henry,
at 7’7 ½” was clearly taller. The Yanks had to admit the Reb giant was bigger.
Afterward, for the rest of the hour of peace, the men swapped each other for
food, tobacco, clothing items and gave each other news of what was happening
elsewhere. It was reported that at least one set of brothers one Yank and one
Reb, found each other and spent the hour in tears while hugging and talking
about their parents and relatives back home. At the end of the hour, each side turned
and went back to their lines. The rest of the day was peaceful, but early the
next morning, a Union soldier shouted, “Duck your heads, Rebs! Here we come!” The
Yankees then charged the Rebel lines and the death and horror of war resumed.Henry survived that
battle and several others as well. A few months later, he was standing in the
second line of a formation for the colonel to “inspect the troops.” The command
“Attention” was given. The colonel looked at the lines of men and shouted “Attention”
himself, but when nobody moved, he drew his saber, ran straight at Thruston yelling,
“By God, I will make you obey orders! Get off that stump now!” Henry said, “Sir,
I’m not standing on a stump. I’m standing on the ground.” Getting close enough
to see that Thruston was indeed just standing on the ground, the Colonel said, “My
God, how the Yankees haven’t killed a target as big as you is unbelievable.”
Later in the war, Henry was serving
in the cavalry under Major-General Sterling Price who was raiding across
Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri in what was called “Price’s Raid.” It was during
this campaign in 1864 when, amazingly, a mini-ball grazed the top of his head.
He later said, “It didn’t hurt much and only parted my hair.” It was at another
battle in Arkansas in 1864 that Henry’s incredible luck ran out. He was
seriously wounded in the side and was captured by Yankee forces. A Union doctor
managed to remove the bullet and eventually, Henry made a full recovery. He
remained a prisoner of war until being paroled in June 1865 after the war
ended.
After the war, Thruston reunited with his family in Missouri
and soon migrated southwest to Texas, stopping when he got to Titus County. He
bought 100 acres east of Mount Vernon and spent most of the rest of his life
farming and occasionally touring once again with Barnum and Bailey circus.
While touring with the circus this time, he took to wearing a tall beaver hat,
high-top boots and a long coat which made him look ten feet tall. Thousands of
people came to see and talk with “The World’s Tallest Man.”
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Henry Thruston home. Now restored
and serves as the Mt. Vernon
Visitor's Center. |
