As one of those weird kids that would read the Guinness Book of World Records from cover to cover I was well aware of the legend of Robert Earl Hughes. This trip gave me a chance to pay my respects to him.
When he was six years old Robert Earl Hughes weighed 200 pounds. His peak weight was estimated to be 1069 pounds but the heaviest he ever weighed on a scale was 1041. Hughes made a living by appearing at events, signing autographed photos of himself and hitting the carnival show circuit as a sideshow attraction. By all accounts he loved the work. He got to travel and talk to lots more people there than he ever would have in the nearly non-existent town of Fishhook. At 32 Hughes contracted measles and died from complications from that disease. He is buried next to his parents in the Benville Cemetery, a couple miles north of his hometown of Fishhook.
The Washington Times-Reporter has a great four-part (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) biography of Hughes.
As a special bonus, while looking for information about Hughes I was pleased to find the AOL Benville Traffic Report. All you really need to know about traffic conditions in Benville is on this map.
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