Thaddeus Campbell Sweet (November 16, 1872 – May 1, 1928) was an American manufacturer and politician from New York. He represented

New York's 32nd congressional district The 32nd congressional district of New York was a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York. It was eliminated as a result of the 1990 Census. It was last represented by John J. LaFalce who was redistric ...

from 1923 to 1928.

Biography

He was born on November 16, 1872 in Phoenix, New York to Anthony Wayne Sweet and Sarah Elizabeth Campbell. 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

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

and was President of the Sweet Paper Manufacturing Co. He also engaged in banking. He was

town clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a Tow ...

of Phoenix from 1896 to 1899. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Oswego Co.) in

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

, 1912,

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". * January ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * J ...

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Fo ...

, 1918,

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...

and 1920; and was

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

from 1914 to 1920. As Speaker, in 1919 Sweet opposed the protective labor legislation for women and children promoted by newly enfranchised New York women, refusing to allow it to get to the Assembly floor. That fall, suffragist Marion Dickerman fought a tough race to defeat his bid for reelection, and though she lost she cut substantially into his support and, for the first time in his political career, made him work hard to win. Suffragists believed Dickerman's race quashed his gubernatorial chances. In 1920 he proposed the infamous expulsion of socialists from the New York Assembly. He was a delegate to the

and

1924 Republican National Convention Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

s. He was elected to the 68th United States Congress in 1923 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Luther W. Mott and served from November 6, 1923 until his death in office, having been re-elected to the 69th and 70th United States Congresses.

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 The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, took off in a new Army observation plane, Curtiss O-1B Falcon, serial number ''27-279'', assigned at Middletown Air Depot, Pennsylvania, from

Bolling Field The origins of the surname Bolling: English: from a nickname for someone with close-cropped hair or a large head, Middle English bolling "pollard", or for a heavy drinker, from Middle English bolling "excessive drinking". German (Bölling): from ...

to fly to Oswego, New York, where he was to make a speech. Lt. Hoppin, known as a careful pilot, flew into a storm between Binghamton, New York and

Cortland, New York Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 17,556. The city of Cortland, near the county's western bo ...

. He thought it best to land and selected a field on a stock farm near

Whitney Point, New York Whitney Point is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 964 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name comes from Thomas and William Whitney, early developers. The vill ...

. The field was knobbly, and the airplane bounced and turned a somersault. Sweet, having unbuckled his

safety belt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt redu ...

, 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, New York.

Legacy

The Sweet Memorial Building was dedicated to him in 1929. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1990.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet, Thaddeus C Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States 1872 births 1928 deaths Speakers of the New York State Assembly Accidental deaths in New York (state) Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) People from Phoenix, New York Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1928

Biography

Death

Legacy

See also

References

External links