By his first 3
wives he had 39 children and by his last 14, making a total of
53. He was 6 feet tall and lived to his ninety-sixth year. We
have already mentioned the two Russian cases in which the
paternity was 72 and 87 children respectively, and in "Notes and
Queries," June 21, 1856, there is an account of David Wilson of
Madison, Ind., who had died a few years previously at the age of
one hundred and seven. He had been 5 times married and was the
father of 47 children, 35 of whom were living at the time of his
death.
On a tomb in Ely, Cambridgeshire, there is an inscription saying
that Richard Worster, buried there, died on May 11, 1856, the
tomb being in memory of his 22 sons and 5 daughters.
Artaxerxes was supposed to have had 106 children; Conrad, Duke of
Moscow, 80; and in the polygamous countries the number seems
incredible. Herotinus was said to have had 600; and Jonston also
quotes instances of 225 and even of 650 in the Eastern countries.
Recently there have been published accounts of the alleged
experiments of Luigi Erba, an Italian gentleman of Perugia, whose
results have been announced. About forty years of age and being
quite wealthy, this bizarre philanthropist visited various
quarters of the world, securing women of different races; having
secured a number sufficient for his purposes, he retired with
them to Polynesia, where he is accredited with maintaining a
unique establishment with his household of females.
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