The number of children a woman may bring forth is therefore not to be accurately stated; there seems to be almost no limit to it, and even when we exclude those cases in which remarkable multiplicity at each birth augments the number, there are still some almost incredible cases on record. The statistics of the St. Pancras Royal Dispensary, 1853, estimated the number of children one woman may bear as from 25 to 69. Eisenmenger relates the history of a case of a woman in the last century bearing 51 children, and there is another case in which a woman bore 44 children, all boys. Atkinson speaks of a lady married at sixteen, dying when she was sixty-four, who had borne 39 children, all at single births, by one husband, whom she survived.

The children, 32 daughters and 7 sons, all attained their majority. There was a case of a woman in America who in twenty-six years gave birth to 22 children, all at single births. Thoresby in his "History of Leeds," 1715, mentions three remarkable cases - one the wife of Dr. Phineas Hudson, Chancellor of York, as having died in her thirty-ninth year of her twenty-fourth child; another of Mrs. Joseph Cooper, as dying of her twenty-sixth child, and, lastly, of Mrs. William Greenhill, of a village in Hertford, England, who gave birth to 39 children during her life. Brand, a writer of great repute, in his "History of Newcastle," quoted by Walford, mentions as a well attested fact the wife of a Scotch weaver who bore 62 children by one husband, all of whom lived to be baptized.

A curious epitaph is to be seen at Conway, Carnarvonshire -

"Here lieth the body of Nicholas Hookes, of Conway, gentleman, who was one-and-fortieth child of his father, William Hookes, Esq., by Alice, his wife, and the father of 27 children. He died 20th of March, 1637."

On November 21, 1768, Mrs. Shury, the wife of a cooper, in Vine Street, Westminster, was delivered of 2 boys, making 26 by the same husband. She had previously been confined with twins during the year.

It would be the task of a mathematician to figure the possibilities of paternity in a man of extra long life who had married several prolific women during his prolonged period of virility. A man by the name of Pearsons of Lexton, Nottingham, at the time of the report had been married 4 times. 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. In 1896, just seven years after the experiment commenced, the reports say he is the father of 370 children.

The following is a report from Raleigh, N.C., on July 28, 1893, to the New York Evening Post: -

"The fecundity of the negro race has been the subject of much comment and discussion. A case has come to light in this State that is one of the most remarkable on record. Moses Williams, a negro farmer, lives in the eastern section of this State. He is sixty-five years old (as nearly as he can make out), but does not appear to be over fifty. He has been married twice, and by the two wives has had born to him 45 children. By the first wife he had 23 children, 20 of whom were girls and 3 were boys. By the second wife he had 22 children - 20 girls and 2 boys. He also has about 50 grand-children. The case is well authenticated."

We also quote the following, accredited to the "Annals of Hygiene:" -

"Were it not part of the records of the Berks County courts, we could hardly credit the history of John Heffner, who was accidentally killed some years ago at the age of sixty-nine. He was married first in 1840. In eight years his wife bore him 17 children. The first and second years of their marriage she gave birth to twins. For four successive years afterward she gave birth to triplets. In the seventh year she gave birth to one child and died soon afterward. Heffner engaged a young woman to look after his large brood of babies, and three months later she became the second Mrs. Heffner. She presented her husband with 2 children in the first two years of her wedded life.

Tags: Pregnancy & Childbirth