Jim Porter

Jim Porter (born James D. Porter) was very small and sickly as a child. He became a jockey at the age of fourteen at Elm Tree Garden, a racetrack on Shippingport. At age seventeen something began to happen to him that would change his life forever. He started growing and growing for three years until he reached 7 feet 8 inches. He grew so fast that locals would take bets on how much he would grow in a week. Every Saturday night he would allow himself to be weighed and measured.

Around 1830 “Big” was added to his name and he became known as “Big” Jim Porter- The Kentucky Giant. He worked as a hackney or coach driver carrying passengers and goods from Louisville to the Portland Wharf.

In 1836 Jim toured for one year with midgets performing Gulliver’s Travels. When asked how tall he was he would respond 6 feet 21 inches. On 6 April 1842 Charles Dickens stayed briefly in Louisville. He visited Jim and wrote in his book “American Notes”- ‘When he had shown himself and talked awhile, he withdrew his pocket instrument and went bobbing down the cabin, among men of six feet high and upwards, like a lighthouse walking along lamp-post.”

P.T. Barnum contacted Jim after reading what Charles Dickens had written and asked him to join his famous circus. Porter turned down the offer. He opened a tavern near the Portland Canal in 1836. He prospered early and was able to build an eighteen room house which had ten foot doors and furniture made to suit his large build.

A manufacturer of Springfield Mass. Presented him with an eight foot rifle and a five foot sword. He nicknamed his rifle “The Little Rifle” to the amusement of many. He also had a four and a half foot cane made that resembled a spiral bedpost. He enjoyed very much showing these items to children and visitors.

Charles Dickens was one he showed his rifle to with amusement. His entry of this encounter is also recorded in his book “American Notes”- “He brought his gun with him as a curiosity. Christened “The Little Rifle”, and displayed outside a shop window, it would make a fortune of any retain business in Holborn.”

On 24 April 1859 James D. Porter died quietly in his sleep. It is believed he suffered from heart problems. Jim’s enormous size not only caused problems in life but also in death. A special nine foot casket had to be made. The remains were placed in a vault in Cave Hill Cemetery. Visitors from all over would come to the cemetery just to look through the ornamental opening in the door to see Jim’s huge casket beside an ordinary size to show the contrast. The vault was nestled into the hillside and fell into ruin. Many dilapidated hillside vaults in this section of the cemetery were torn down before 1900. There is a marker that simply states he was 7 feet, 8 Inches tall- an inch shorter than he claimed.