Leo Whitton Claims to Be the Fattest Man

1896

Weighs 715 Pounds

"The fattest man in America" is the way in which Leo Whitton announces himself. Up to a year ago Leo had been growing broader, rounder and more uncomfortable for the past thirty-seven years. He weighs 715 pounds. Daniel Lambert, the Norfolk giant, tipped the beam at 729 pounds, scoring the world's record.

Whitton's tremendous girth is not so apparent when he stands, but when he sits he is startling. His measurements are: height, 5 feet 10 inches; neck, 26 inches; biceps, 28 inches; chest, 6 feet; waist, 7 feet; thigh, 49 inches; calf, 26 inches. He comes of stock noted for fleshiness. He was born in Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada, of English parents. Up till the age of twenty-one years he worked on the farm at home. Then he went into the butcher business at Brighton, Ont., which he attended to up to three years ago, when his extraordinary girth rendered it impossible for him to handle the chopper.

When asked if he had endeavored to avoid growing so fat Mr. Whitton replied that he had tried all remedies. He has never tasted alcoholic drinks in his life. He loses from ten to fifteen pounds during the summer, but does not feel much relief from the loss. In winter he regains the amount that was missing. He is married to an average-sized woman, and has five children, the eldest of whom is seventeen years old. None of them shows any signs of abnormal stoutness. — New York Recorder.