Who Tops the "Bates Bunch"...?

[Private Watkins]

"Here's the story,
Of a man named Bates,
Who was busy with...." what, wait a second...
SEVENTEEN kids!!??
And all by the same wife...!!!???

So here's my question for all of you Civil War EXPERTS out there... did any other well known Civil War leader, general, politician, persona-at-large, etc. exceed Mr. & Mrs. Bates in the reproduction department...???

 

[tdftdf]

What lady would want to ????

 

[Private Watkins]

What lady would want to ????

After looking at the Honorable Mr. Bates, one would wonder why Mrs. Bates would want to... but that's not the question. The question is did any other CW personality exceed Seventeen...?

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

I guess he wasn't the master of his domain

 

[Private Watkins]

I guess he wasn't the master of his domain

Hahaha... only a Seinfeld fan will get that one...!!!

 

[Private Watkins]

With so many children perhaps it was inevitable, but Mr. and Mrs. Bates had sons who fought on both sides, brother against brother; John C. Bates fought for Union, and later went on to become the U.S Army Chief of Staff, while Fleming Bates fought for Southern Independence, under General Sterling Price. While I'm sure there were many joys that came with a large family, that had to have been one of the more painful periods this Familia Grande had to go through...

So my question remains... do you know of a Civil War leader, politician, general, persona-at-large, etc. who had a family larger than Mr. & Mrs. Bates...?

 

[Patrick H]

I can't answer the question, but I'm just curious enough to have a question of my own: Were these individual children or were there several sets of twins in the mix?

 

[Nathanb1]

Wow. That's larger than my dad's family of 15...and to sort of answer Patrick's suggestion, my grandparents had three sets of twins!

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

I don't see any twins mentioned. This book has many pages and all the names (though not birth dates for many)

https://books.google.com/books?id=p...Qvn#v=onepage&q=edward bates children&f=false

Here's 11 of 'em in 1850

 

[Aussie Billy Sherman]

I hear those children were breathtaking

 

[kholland]

I hear those children were breathtaking

You gotta' see the baby! And watch out for dingoes.

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

I just noticed that there are two children aged 3/12 and 5/12??? The inaptly named "Onward" (is that what I'm reading?) and Catharine, is it? I'm wondering about that last one... why separated from the other Bates brats?

 

[Sbc]

After looking at the Honorable Mr. Bates, one would wonder why Mrs. Bates would want to... but that's not the question. The question is did any other CW personality exceed Seventeen...?

Uhmmmm were they all off spring of Mr Bates?