Ithamar

“Ithamar” (Hebrew אִיתָמָר) was the youngest son of Aaron, a Biblical high priest, and the eldest son of "Bell" (Tapscott) and Morgan Sweet. The unusual name makes Ithamar Sweet easily traceable, though one must take into account mistaken and alternative spellings. “Ithmar,” “Ithamer,” “Ithemar,” “Ithenear” are all found for Ithamar Sweet.

Born in Martinsville, Clark County, Illinois, Ithamar’s birth date is a little uncertain. The age of 30 years, 10 months on his grave marker indicates a birthdate of Dec 1887, a date that appears wildly incorrect based on the birth dates of his siblings. His brother Robert is known to have been born on 31 May 1887. A Texas death record shows a birthdate of 29 Dec 1884, a date that agrees with census data, is a reasonable nine months, three weeks following Bell and Morgan’s marriage, and fits in well with the birth dates of the other Sweet children.

On 16 Jun 1906 in Danville, Illinois, Ithamar enlisted in the Army, achieved the rank of sergeant, and was discharged 15 Jun 1909, in Walla Walla, Washington. He reenlisted the following day and was shipped off to Fort Stotsenburg, at Luzon in the Philippines. On 15 Jun 1912 Ithamar was discharged at Ft. Clark in Texas, but he apparently reenlisted since he spent the rest of his life as a reserve officer in the Army.

Sometime between 1910, when he was still single in the Philippines and 1913, when his first child was born, Ithamar married Frances Isadora (“Fannie”) Baker, a Texas girl. Born 25 Dec 1889 in Brownwood, Texas, Frances was the oldest daughter of John William and Minnie (Conklin) Baker, a Texas farm family. Ithamar’s transfer by the Army to Texas, had brought with it a chance to meet Minnie.

In 1915 Minnie and Ithamar lived in Marfa, Texas, where soldiers at Camp Marfa patrolled the Rio Grande during the stormy Mexican Revolution. In 1915 the couple lived in Eagle Pass, Texas, where an unsteady Army camp was increasing in strength due to WW I.. In 1917 Ithamar, who was then a first lieutenant, submitted his resignation as a reserve officer, but he was still serving at the Army Post at Eagle Pass on 24 Oct 1918, when he died of bronchopneumonia, probably brought on by influenza. An estimated 675,000 Americans died from the misnamed 1918 “Spanish Flu” pandemic. A much lower 116,708 Americans died from all causes during WW 1 military service.

Ithamar was returned to Clark County, where he rests in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. He left a single child, Eugene Madison Sweet (15 Jul 1915-30 Oct 1989). His and Minnie’s other child, Ithamar Jr., born 5 Dec 1913, died by 1915.

Frances remarried, to George M. Doney, on 27 Sep 1919 in San Antonio, Texas, and Eugene adopted his stepfather’s last name, going by “Eugene Madison Doney” or “Eugene Sweet Doney.” The family settled in Lynwood, California, where George became the Chief of Police. But things did not go well for George. In 1930 the police department was under investigation for misappropriation of funds, and on 31 May 2016 when George was interviewed by members of the district attorney’s office, he named names and implicated colleagues. The following day, Police Chief Doney was found dead in his car with a bullet wound in his chest, and clutching a revolver. He left a note fit for a B-grade gangster movie:

To the District Attorney's office: I told you a pack of lies. The men of this police force are all OK. I was the crook, so drop that statement your man got out of me, because they are square guys and never take a nickel from anybody that I know. This is the truth, so help me God. ____ never paid me or not one else one cent, so drop any charges you have made.

St. Louis Post Dispatch, 3 Jun 1930.

The story made newspapers nationwide. The police department concluded that George had committed suicide out of remorse for turning on his friends in the department. But was it a suicide, or a cover-up by murder? Some thought it was the latter.

Frances, who appears to have been married one more time, briefly, to a man named “Nugent,” lived for a while in Medford, Oregon, but returned to California, where she died 10 Jan 1959 in Shasta County.