Thanks for that fascinating article -- Benoni was quite a character. As to children, per the "Genealogies of the Potter Families and Their Descendants in America," by Charles Edward Potter (1888), Benoni and Julia Elizabeth (Potter) Sweet had a couple of children who died in infancy -- Freddie (d. 1866) and Ada Maria (d. 1865). This source has many errors, however. Julia (Potter) Sweet later married Benoni Fish (again, if this source is correct) with whom she had a son and a daughter, Edith, both of whom also died in infancy, the infant son in 1880 and Edith in 1884. Julia (Potter) Sweet Fish died in 1922 and is buried in the Levalley Family Cemetery (CY066) in Coventry, RI. This source, of course, does not deal with Benoni's other wives. At 02:56 PM 9/26/2008, you wrote: >I also found this on the net: >BENONI SWEET DOES IT AGAIN >It was May, 1860 in the village of Phenix which was then the principal >community of Warwick and the chief trading center of central Rhode Island. >Business had been lagging the past few months. Merchants, banding together, >sought ways and means to promote business. Somebody suggested that they get >Benoni Sweet to put on a show. A committee was named to contact Sweet, an >artist on the slack wire. >As he had often done a few years past, would Sweet walk a wire stretched >from one side of the Pawtuxet to the other? Of course he would oblige. Now >the wire was there. Crowds filling the village square had come from all the >surrounding villages. Benoni Sweet appeared in a barouche driven by William >Snell, and emerged dressed in purple silks, his face shining, his moustache >waxed, and he bowed. >Cheers went up from the crowd. Sweet climbed the ladder and ascended the >wire. Now he called to the men to take up the slack, and the bolt was >loosened and the wire drawn up more until, Ben, watching, finally gave the >nod which was in approval. >And now he started across. The crowd held its breath. Ben made off he >couldn't do it. Backed up, went forward, backed up again. Some turned their >heads thinking the figure in the silk tights would fall. But Ben picked up >again, and now he fairly danced across the wire, reaching the other side >amidst a wave of hand clapping that crashed against the river banks. >When the event was over, the old timer agreed this had been the biggest >promotion the village had ever seen. And all the merchants were happy. This >wasn't the first time Benoni Sweet had distinguished himself on a rope in >the air. In October of 1859 he had gone across Silver Lake near Olneyville. >He even stopped halfway and on an improvised stove cooked eggs. Who was this >man? Well, he was Phenix-born, the son of Benjamin Sweet and grandson of the > > celebrated "Mum" Rice, herself a rope walker of renown. By trade he was a > > printer, having learned to set type on the old Kent County Atlas which > > later moved to East Greenwich and became the present East Greenwich > > Pendulum. he had learned the rope walking art from his grandmother and had > > gone with a circus as a boy. >His grandmother had been a most remarkable woman, having walked on tight >wires around the Pawtuxet Valley. It was from her, it was claimed, that >Benoni Sweet inherited his extraordinary sense of balance. >When the Civil War broke out, Sweet enlisted. He was wounded in action, but >he re-enlisted and when the war was over he was honorable discharged with >the rank of Sergeant Major. >During the war he entertained the citizens of the Union with his feats, >especially an exhibit on Pennsylvania Avenue where a rope had been stretched >from the Nation's Capitol to the Clarendon Hotel. It was a wonder he got a >chance to fight, so many were the invitations to put on shows for the >war-weary troops. Even Governor William Sprague came out to praise him. >"Professor" Sweet, they called him now. >After the war the Professor came back to Phenix and worked here for awhile, >then he opened a store. And not too many years afterwards he went to >Providence where he remained until his death. >On 4 Jul 1875 he gave up walking on the rope following an appearance at >George's Park near Wreatham, Mass. He was getting too old. Some said he had >lost his nerve. Blondin, the famous aerialist, who walked across Niagara >Falls on a rope, was one of Benoni Sweet's personal friends. Some fifty >years after that remarkable crossing to the Pawtuxet at Phenix, John H. >Campbell, editor the Pawtuxet Valley Gleaner at Phenix, inserted a piece in >the Gleaner challenging the professor to come back to Phenix and repeat his >performance. >Would the professor come back or was he too old? Sweet wrote a long letter >to the Gleaner pointing out that he was very much alive, that he hadn't lost >his nerve, that just because he was getting along in years people needn't >think he was dead. Sure he'd walk that rope again. >"Therefore, if necessary arrangement can be made, I will withdraw all prior >excuses and make the attempt at Phenix, R. I. 4 Jul 1894, at the same >location." Phenix put on another big celebration. Store fronts were >decorated with flags and bunting. Professor Sweet gave a discourse on old >age, and made claim to more youth than his years allowed. >As he predicted he would, the professor did it again, walked across that >rope. Again the crowd roared. It was like the good old days. This was good >for him. It would add month to his life, At this moment the old timers >adored him. >It wasn't only for this particular event that the people of Phenix >remembered the professor. Once he made pontoons of metal and strapped them >to his feet and started across the river, only to fall over. He would have >drowned too if someone had not pulled him out of the water. >This crossing of 1894 was the last Benoni Sweet performed. As the years >piled up he suffered greatly from diabetes, and the illness finally got the >best of him. He died 18 Feb 1913, at 72. >His death record shows the date as Feb 16, and the age as 72 years 11 >months. His parents were Benjamin Sweet (1815-1876) and Susan Rice >(1797-1865). He married three times, but seems not to have had any children. >Married first Susan Colwell, 1860 Jan 19 at Cranston, second Julia Potter, >1864 Mar 6 at Cranston, and third Harriet (Williams) Corp, 1875 Dec 23 at >Providence. I don't know what happened to the first two wives, as I have >found no record of their deaths in R.I., but he was still married to Harriet >when he died, and she survived him by only 5 years. >He & Harriet are buried in CY059, Greenwood Cemetery, Fairview Ave., >Coventry, RI >SWEET BENONI, PROF 1840 -16 FEB 1913 CY059 >SWEET HARRIET M 1827 - 6 DEC 1914 >CY059 >----- Original Message ----- >From: "M. E. Potter" <potter@inch.com> >To: <rigenweb@rootsweb.com> >Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 2:48 PM >Subject: Re: [RI] Printers and Printing -- Benoni Sweet > > > >A further interesting item referring to Benoni Sweet (see below). In > > the book, "All For the Union: The Civil War Diary and Letters of > > Elisha Hunt Rhodes," edited by Robert Hunt Rhodes (Vintage Civil War > > Library, Vintage Books, a division of Random House, New York, 1985), > > page 237, Elisha Hunt Rhodes mentions in an entry for July 4th, 1865 > > (the war having ended) that the Sergeant Major Benoni Sweet amused > > the party (during Fourth of July celebrations) by a tight rope > > walking exhibition. [Elisha Hunt Rhodes enlisted as a private at the > > start of the Civil War at age 19 and rose through the ranks to > > Colonel and commander of the 2d RI Volunteer Regiment.] > > > > Many thanks to Beth Hurd for the hours and hours she has devoted to > > transcribing the "Printers and Printing" source. > > > > Margaret > > > > > > > > At 09:33 PM 9/25/2008, you wrote: > >>from "Printers and Printing in Providence, 1762 - 1907" > >>prepared by a committee of Providence Typographical Union #33 as a > >>souvenir of the 50th anniversary of its institution > >>printed in 1907 > >> > >>"The Journeymen" (part 179) > >>p. LXXXII. > >> > >>"JEREMIAH P. SULLIVAN - Born Providence, R. I., Nov. 2, 1868; learned > >>printing with Whittemore & Thompson, beginning in 1883; initiated > >>into Providence Union Feb. 27, 1887; worked for a brief period with > >>J. A. & R. A. Reid; since July, 1888, has been with E. L. Freeman & > >>Sons, Central Falls. > >> > >>JOHN H. SULLIVAN - Born Providence June 11, 1869; learned printing on > >>the Evening Bulletin, beginning Sept. 6, 1887; initiated into > >>Providence Union Aug. 31, 1890; has been a linotype operator on the > >>Journal and Evening Bulletin since completing his apprenticeship. > >> > >>ROBERT EMMET SULLIVAN - Born Providence Jan. 23, 1881; served part of > >>apprenticeship in office of Evening Bulletin; initiated into > >>Providence Union June 28, 1903. > >> > >>EDWARD A. SUTCLIFFE - Born Central Falls, R. I.; died Pawtucket, R. > >>I., Nov. 1, 1903, aged 37 years; initiated into Providence Union June > >>24, 1888. His father was also a printer. > >> > >>BENONI SWEET - Born Coventry, R. I., March 16, 1840; learned printing > >>in Phenix, R. I., on the Kent County Atlas, the first newspaper > >>published in that county, beginning in 1852; John B. Lincoln was > >>editor and proprietor; worked in Providence since 1866; initiated > >>into No. 33 Dec. 11, 1869. Mr. Sweet has been famous as a tight rope > >>walker. He is at present 'Sweet, the Printer, 862 Broad street.' > >> > >>EVERETT H. SWEET - Born Worcester, Mass., August, 1858; died San > >>Pedro, Cal., August, 1893; learned printing in Providence, beginning 1879. > >> > >>J. W. SWEET - Admitted to Providence Union by card in 1877 and > >>withdrew it the same year. He had travelled extensively and spent > >>several years in California. > >> > >>NEWTON J. SWEET - Born Attleboro, Mass., June 21, 1860; learned > >>printing in Attleboro, beginning in 1877; worked in Providence in > >>1880; bought Attleboro Advocate January, 1881, as E. H. Sweet & Co.; > >>started Attleboro Daily Sun September, 1889; now with L. Sweet & Co., > >>lumber dealers, Providence. > >> > >>ARTHUR H. SWIFT - Born 1874; learned printing with Lee & Upham, > >>Pawtucket, beginning 1891; admitted to Providence Union by card May > >>31, 1896; worked on Evening Telegram and as foreman at Pentecostal > >>Printing Co. and Franklin Press; also on Moosup (Conn.) Journal; now > >>foreman Bristol Phoenix." > >> > >>continued in part 180. > >> > >>------------------------------- > >> > >>RIGENWEB MAILING LIST > >> > >>LIST TOPIC: The discussion, exchange, and research of genealogy and > >>history information pertaining to Rhode Island. 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