Benville, Illinois -
Grave of Robert Earl Hughes, World's Heaviest Man

Readers of the Guinness Book of World Records know who Robert Earl Hughes was - the World's Heaviest Man! He weighed 1041 lb at death, and was buried in a piano case. But far fewer people know WHERE he is buried - Benville, Illinois, a town of 2 houses and a church in the middle of nowhere. He is buried in the church graveyard beneath a modest grey granite headstone labelled with his name and 'World's Heaviest Man'. Nothing flashy - a very peaceful resting place for an extraordinary man. [dave, 06/26/2001]

[RA: There's also a small, modern black slab monument to Hughes, about two miles west of the turnoff for Wildwood. Turn south off of Hwy 104 onto Hwy 6 and you'll quickly see a feed store to the right. On the left, across the highway, is the monument, at the corner of Hwy 6 and Perry Fishhook Rd. Hughes grew up in Fishhook.]