that is heck of a misconception! There were not many boys. Mainly men - and they were short in height! Mostly between 4 and 5 feet tal back in those days. in 1607, Jamestown Colony - the ship had lower ceilings and smaller bed - because the men were between 3.5 and 4.5 feet tall. Reviewing of Civil War records, show the average height of soldiers and sailors were less than 5.5 feet tall. We're growing taller than before. David S. On 6/17/2012 4:09 PM, Billie Walsh wrote: > Boys were able to scramble around these smaller > spaces more quickly than grown adults.