John ‘Bud’ Rogan (1868-1905)
John William Rogan was born in 1868 in Tennessee. He is one of 16 individuals in medical history to reach a height of eight feet or more. John William Rogan began to grow very rapidly at the age of 13 leading to Ankylosis, and eventually he could not stand or walk. He moved around in a cart which he had made himself from his bed, pulled by goats. He was not having a proper source of income and was unable to spend a happy living life. Due to Ankylosis he was not able to work but he use to sell self made portraits and postcards at local railway station. Noted in a 1897 article in the Kansas City Journal, Rogan had a number of his drawings published. He refused all offers to join the carnival and side shows. Shortly before he developed ankylosis, Rogan was 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m) tall and weighed 300 lbs. His exact height was not measured until his death and he was measured while he was in a sitting position. At that time he measured 8 feet 8 inches (264 cm) tall but weighed only 79 kg (175 pounds), making him the tallest African-American, and the second tallest man ever recorded. John William Rogan died in 1905 from complications of his disease.
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