That is a fascinating find, Willy; I've seen him before in the Guinness BOWR, but that's wild that he died in our neck of the woods. This would be a ripe topic for the upcoming historyquest coming to our town. Check out this video that came out in 1998 called "The Giant of Illinois", lyrics follow which starts off with his death at the young age of 22. Check him out on Wikipedia to see his yearly growth totals. He was still growing big time at the age of 22:
The giant of Illinois Died from a blister on his toe After walking all day through the first winter's snow
Throwing bits of stale bread to the last speckled doves He never even felt his shoe full of blood
Delirious with pain, his bedroom walls began to glow And he felt himself soaring up through falling snow And the sky was a woman's arms The sky was a woman's arms
A boy with a club foot Had sat next to him in school Once upon a summer's day they went wandering through the woods
They spotted a sleeping swan On the banks of a muddy stream And they stormed it with rocks till it collapsed in the reeds
They lay out on a green lawn full of chocolate and lemonade But under the blue bowl the giant was afraid Because the sky was a woman's arms The sky was a woman's arms
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