When William and Rebecca Clegg brought their family to Sedgwick County from Iowa in 1873, the average man in America was about 5' 7" tall and weighed around 150 pounds. The average woman was roughly 5' 3" and 100 pounds. William and Rebecca were barely more than average height…who would have guessed that their children would grow up to be nearly "giant" sized.
The Cleggs settled on a quarter-section of prairie about 6 miles northeast of El Paso, in Gypsum Township. By today's reference, that would be on 55th Street at 127th East. They had two boys and two girls at the time and a third boy was born into the family about a year after they arrived here. All the children grew to be much taller than the average. Albert, the oldest, was said to be significantly taller than his brother, Edgar, who was nearly four years younger. Unfortunately, Albert died at age 23 in 1886 in a hunting accident, crawling through a barbed-wire fence with a loaded shotgun.
Edgar (Ed) grew to giant size in adulthood, reaching a height of 6' 10" in stocking feet. George, the youngest brother, topped out at 6' 7" when full-grown, a foot taller than the average man. The two Clegg sisters also grew to above-average height, both described as "nearly six feet." The oldest girl, Anna, married Reze Morrison and their son, Lee Morrison, grew to over 6' but not quite as tall as his Clegg cousins. Lee Morrison married Deva Brown of Derby and they lived on a farm on Webb Road, just north of 55th Street. Sarah Clegg, the youngest girl, married Robert Purdy and they lived in Derby.
The tallest man
When he was a young man, Ed Clegg joined the circus, traveling with Ringling Brothers as "the tall man" in their sideshow. The money was good…nearly $80 a week, at a time when $30 a month was about average income. But Ed soon decided that he didn't care for the life of an entertainer, so he returned to his family home in Gypsum Township and settled into farming with his father and brother. Friendly and congenial, Ed Clegg became an active member of the community, joining the Derby Oddfellows, the Mulvane Masonic Lodge, and the Wichita Consistory.
Wherever he went, Ed was always the tallest man in the group. At a state-wide Oddfellows gathering in Topeka, Ed was obligated to bend low enough to whisper the password into the ear of the guardian at the door but lost his balance and nearly fell. He was admitted without the code. Ed was generally regarded as "the tallest Oddfellow in the world."
At home in Gypsum Township, Ed Clegg was active in the township's government and also was responsible for maintaining Gypsum's roads in the early 1900s. Ed and his brother, George, also developed carpentry skills and worked at that to supplement their farming income.
About 1920, the Cleggs moved into Derby where Ed and George plied their carpentry skills and Ed was elected as the town's marshal. Derby bragged about having the tallest marshal in the state. William Clegg, whose wife had died in 1912, also lived with his two sons in town.
Neither Ed nor George Clegg ever married. When asked by a Wichita Eagle reporter why they remained single, Ed skirted the question without answering, but George murmured, "I reckon it's because nobody'd have us."
William Clegg died in 1929, George in 1930, and Edgar, the tallest man in Derby, lived to the age of 83, dying in 1949. All are buried in El Paso Cemetery.
The Cleggs settled on a quarter-section of prairie about 6 miles northeast of El Paso, in Gypsum Township. By today's reference, that would be on 55th Street at 127th East. They had two boys and two girls at the time and a third boy was born into the family about a year after they arrived here. All the children grew to be much taller than the average. Albert, the oldest, was said to be significantly taller than his brother, Edgar, who was nearly four years younger. Unfortunately, Albert died at age 23 in 1886 in a hunting accident, crawling through a barbed-wire fence with a loaded shotgun.
Edgar (Ed) grew to giant size in adulthood, reaching a height of 6' 10" in stocking feet. George, the youngest brother, topped out at 6' 7" when full-grown, a foot taller than the average man. The two Clegg sisters also grew to above-average height, both described as "nearly six feet." The oldest girl, Anna, married Reze Morrison and their son, Lee Morrison, grew to over 6' but not quite as tall as his Clegg cousins. Lee Morrison married Deva Brown of Derby and they lived on a farm on Webb Road, just north of 55th Street. Sarah Clegg, the youngest girl, married Robert Purdy and they lived in Derby.
The tallest man
When he was a young man, Ed Clegg joined the circus, traveling with Ringling Brothers as "the tall man" in their sideshow. The money was good…nearly $80 a week, at a time when $30 a month was about average income. But Ed soon decided that he didn't care for the life of an entertainer, so he returned to his family home in Gypsum Township and settled into farming with his father and brother. Friendly and congenial, Ed Clegg became an active member of the community, joining the Derby Oddfellows, the Mulvane Masonic Lodge, and the Wichita Consistory.
Wherever he went, Ed was always the tallest man in the group. At a state-wide Oddfellows gathering in Topeka, Ed was obligated to bend low enough to whisper the password into the ear of the guardian at the door but lost his balance and nearly fell. He was admitted without the code. Ed was generally regarded as "the tallest Oddfellow in the world."
At home in Gypsum Township, Ed Clegg was active in the township's government and also was responsible for maintaining Gypsum's roads in the early 1900s. Ed and his brother, George, also developed carpentry skills and worked at that to supplement their farming income.
About 1920, the Cleggs moved into Derby where Ed and George plied their carpentry skills and Ed was elected as the town's marshal. Derby bragged about having the tallest marshal in the state. William Clegg, whose wife had died in 1912, also lived with his two sons in town.
Neither Ed nor George Clegg ever married. When asked by a Wichita Eagle reporter why they remained single, Ed skirted the question without answering, but George murmured, "I reckon it's because nobody'd have us."
William Clegg died in 1929, George in 1930, and Edgar, the tallest man in Derby, lived to the age of 83, dying in 1949. All are buried in El Paso Cemetery.
When William and Rebecca Clegg brought their family to Sedgwick County from Iowa in 1873, the average man in America was about 5' 7" tall and weighed around 150 pounds. The average woman was roughly 5' 3" and 100 pounds. William and Rebecca were barely more than average height…who would have guessed that their children would grow up to be nearly "giant" sized.
The Cleggs settled on a quarter-section of prairie about 6 miles northeast of El Paso, in Gypsum Township. By today's reference, that would be on 55th Street at 127th East. They had two boys and two girls at the time and a third boy was born into the family about a year after they arrived here. All the children grew to be much taller than the average. Albert, the oldest, was said to be significantly taller than his brother, Edgar, who was nearly four years younger. Unfortunately, Albert died at age 23 in 1886 in a hunting accident, crawling through a barbed-wire fence with a loaded shotgun.
Edgar (Ed) grew to giant size in adulthood, reaching a height of 6' 10" in stocking feet. George, the youngest brother, topped out at 6' 7" when full-grown, a foot taller than the average man. The two Clegg sisters also grew to above-average height, both described as "nearly six feet." The oldest girl, Anna, married Reze Morrison and their son, Lee Morrison, grew to over 6' but not quite as tall as his Clegg cousins. Lee Morrison married Deva Brown of Derby and they lived on a farm on Webb Road, just north of 55th Street. Sarah Clegg, the youngest girl, married Robert Purdy and they lived in Derby.
The tallest man
When he was a young man, Ed Clegg joined the circus, traveling with Ringling Brothers as "the tall man" in their sideshow. The money was good…nearly $80 a week, at a time when $30 a month was about average income. But Ed soon decided that he didn't care for the life of an entertainer, so he returned to his family home in Gypsum Township and settled into farming with his father and brother. Friendly and congenial, Ed Clegg became an active member of the community, joining the Derby Oddfellows, the Mulvane Masonic Lodge, and the Wichita Consistory.
Wherever he went, Ed was always the tallest man in the group. At a state-wide Oddfellows gathering in Topeka, Ed was obligated to bend low enough to whisper the password into the ear of the guardian at the door but lost his balance and nearly fell. He was admitted without the code. Ed was generally regarded as "the tallest Oddfellow in the world."
At home in Gypsum Township, Ed Clegg was active in the township's government and also was responsible for maintaining Gypsum's roads in the early 1900s. Ed and his brother, George, also developed carpentry skills and worked at that to supplement their farming income.
About 1920, the Cleggs moved into Derby where Ed and George plied their carpentry skills and Ed was elected as the town's marshal. Derby bragged about having the tallest marshal in the state. William Clegg, whose wife had died in 1912, also lived with his two sons in town.
Neither Ed nor George Clegg ever married. When asked by a Wichita Eagle reporter why they remained single, Ed skirted the question without answering, but George murmured, "I reckon it's because nobody'd have us."
William Clegg died in 1929, George in 1930, and Edgar, the tallest man in Derby, lived to the age of 83, dying in 1949. All are buried in El Paso Cemetery.
The Cleggs settled on a quarter-section of prairie about 6 miles northeast of El Paso, in Gypsum Township. By today's reference, that would be on 55th Street at 127th East. They had two boys and two girls at the time and a third boy was born into the family about a year after they arrived here. All the children grew to be much taller than the average. Albert, the oldest, was said to be significantly taller than his brother, Edgar, who was nearly four years younger. Unfortunately, Albert died at age 23 in 1886 in a hunting accident, crawling through a barbed-wire fence with a loaded shotgun.
Edgar (Ed) grew to giant size in adulthood, reaching a height of 6' 10" in stocking feet. George, the youngest brother, topped out at 6' 7" when full-grown, a foot taller than the average man. The two Clegg sisters also grew to above-average height, both described as "nearly six feet." The oldest girl, Anna, married Reze Morrison and their son, Lee Morrison, grew to over 6' but not quite as tall as his Clegg cousins. Lee Morrison married Deva Brown of Derby and they lived on a farm on Webb Road, just north of 55th Street. Sarah Clegg, the youngest girl, married Robert Purdy and they lived in Derby.
The tallest man
When he was a young man, Ed Clegg joined the circus, traveling with Ringling Brothers as "the tall man" in their sideshow. The money was good…nearly $80 a week, at a time when $30 a month was about average income. But Ed soon decided that he didn't care for the life of an entertainer, so he returned to his family home in Gypsum Township and settled into farming with his father and brother. Friendly and congenial, Ed Clegg became an active member of the community, joining the Derby Oddfellows, the Mulvane Masonic Lodge, and the Wichita Consistory.
Wherever he went, Ed was always the tallest man in the group. At a state-wide Oddfellows gathering in Topeka, Ed was obligated to bend low enough to whisper the password into the ear of the guardian at the door but lost his balance and nearly fell. He was admitted without the code. Ed was generally regarded as "the tallest Oddfellow in the world."
At home in Gypsum Township, Ed Clegg was active in the township's government and also was responsible for maintaining Gypsum's roads in the early 1900s. Ed and his brother, George, also developed carpentry skills and worked at that to supplement their farming income.
About 1920, the Cleggs moved into Derby where Ed and George plied their carpentry skills and Ed was elected as the town's marshal. Derby bragged about having the tallest marshal in the state. William Clegg, whose wife had died in 1912, also lived with his two sons in town.
Neither Ed nor George Clegg ever married. When asked by a Wichita Eagle reporter why they remained single, Ed skirted the question without answering, but George murmured, "I reckon it's because nobody'd have us."
William Clegg died in 1929, George in 1930, and Edgar, the tallest man in Derby, lived to the age of 83, dying in 1949. All are buried in El Paso Cemetery.
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