right
Thaddeus Campbell Sweet (November 16, 1872
PhoenixPhoenix is a village in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 2,251 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from Alexander Phoenix. The village of Phoenix lies in the Lake Ontario lake-effect snow belt...
,
Oswego County, New YorkOswego County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of 2005, the estimated population was 118,560. The City of Oswego serves as the county seat...
- May 1, 1928
Whitney PointWhitney Point is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 965 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area...
,
Broome County, New YorkBroome County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2000 census, the population was 200,536. It was named in honor of John Broome, who was lieutenant governor in 1806 when Broome County was established. Its county seat is Binghamton, which is also its major city. The current...
) was an American businessman and politician.
He was the son of Anthony Wayne Sweet and Sarah Elizabeth Campbell Sweet. He attended the public schools, and graduated from Phoenix Academy and High School. Then he entered business and for two years served as a traveling salesman. In 1895, he began the manufacture of
paperPaper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
and was President of the Sweet Paper Manufacturing Co.
right
Thaddeus Campbell Sweet (November 16, 1872
PhoenixPhoenix is a village in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 2,251 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from Alexander Phoenix. The village of Phoenix lies in the Lake Ontario lake-effect snow belt...
,
Oswego County, New YorkOswego County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of 2005, the estimated population was 118,560. The City of Oswego serves as the county seat...
- May 1, 1928
Whitney PointWhitney Point is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 965 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area...
,
Broome County, New YorkBroome County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2000 census, the population was 200,536. It was named in honor of John Broome, who was lieutenant governor in 1806 when Broome County was established. Its county seat is Binghamton, which is also its major city. The current...
) was an American businessman and politician.
Life
He was the son of Anthony Wayne Sweet and Sarah Elizabeth Campbell Sweet. He attended the public schools, and graduated from Phoenix Academy and High School. Then he entered business and for two years served as a traveling salesman. In 1895, he began the manufacture of
paperPaper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
and was President of the Sweet Paper Manufacturing Co. He also engaged in banking. He was town clerk of Phoenix from 1896 to 1899.
right
He was a
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
member of the
New York State AssemblyThe New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
from 1910 to 1920, and was
SpeakerThe Speaker of the New York State Assembly is the highest official in the New York State Assembly, customarily elected from the ranks of the majority party....
from 1914 to 1920.
He was a delegate from
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to the
Republican National ConventionThe Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
s in 1916 and 1924.
He was elected to the
68th United States CongressThe Sixty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1923 to March 4, 1925, during the last months of...
in 1923 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
Luther W. MottLuther Wright Mott was a United States Representative from New York. Born in Oswego, he attended the public schools and graduated from Harvard University in 1896. He engaged in banking in Oswego and was appointed State superintendent of banks in 1907, but resigned after five days' service...
and served from November 6, 1923 until his death in office, having been re-elected to the
69thThe Sixty-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1925 to March 4, 1927, during the third and fourth...
and
70th United States CongressThe Seventieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1927 to March 3, 1929, during the last two years of...
.
Death
Thaddeus Sweet was the first sitting member of Congress to die in an airplane accident. Shortly after breakfast on May 1, 1928, he and the pilot Lt. Bushrod Hoppin, U.S. Army, took of in a new Army observation plane from
Bolling FieldBolling Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Southwest Washington, D.C., between the Potomac River and Interstate 295 and is conjoined with Naval Support Facility Anacostia. The base was named in honor of Colonel Raynal C...
to fly to
Oswego, New YorkOswego is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 18,096 at the 2000 census. The 2005 population estimate for the city of Oswego is 17,705. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in north-central New York and promotes itself as "The Port City of Central New York"...
, where he was to make a speech. Lt. Hoppin, known as a careful pilot, met a nasty-looking rain squall between
Binghamton, New YorkBinghamton is a city located in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. "The Parlor City" and the "Home of the Square Deal," it is the county seat of Broome County and the principal city and cultural center of the Greater Binghamton region...
and
Cortland, New YorkCortland is a city in Cortland County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 18,740. It is the county seat of Cortland County.The City of Cortland, near the west border of the county, is surrounded by the Town of Cortlandville....
. He thought it best to land and selected a field on a stock farm. The field was knobbly, and the airplane bounced and turned a somersault. Sweet, having unbuckled his safety belt, was pitched against the cockpit wall, and killed by a head injury. Lt. Hoppin, belted in his seat, was unbruised. Sweet was buried at the Rural Cemetery at Phoenix, N.Y.
Sources
His death, in Time Magazine on May 14, 1928
External links