People ex rel. Davenport v. Kling
New York Supreme Court
Certiorari, to remove proceedings before the county judge of Schoharie, upon a writ of habeas corpus, into this court. The relator was the mother of a bastard child, named Martin Klingj bom in November, 1844. The defendant was the putative father of the child.
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Certiorari, to remove proceedings before the county judge of Schoharie, upon a writ of habeas corpus, into this court. The relator was the mother of a bastard child, named Martin Klingj bom in November, 1844. The defendant was the putative father of the child. In October, 1847, the relator presented a petition to the Hon. Demosthenes Lawyer, county judge of Schoharie, stating that on the 2d day of that month, the defendant had illegally and forcibly taken the child from her custody, and carried it away, and that he still illegally detained the child. A writ of habeas corpus was thereupon…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court, Harris, J.
Were this a controversy between the mother of the child and the putative father, as to which had the better right to the custody and guardianship of the child, as the relator’s counsel seems to have supposed it to be, there could be no doubt that the decision of the county judge was erroneous. As against the mother of a bastard child, the putative father has no legal right to its custody. The mother, as its natural guardian, is bound to maintain it, and is entitled to the control of it. It is only by provision of statute, and the inter*368vention of public officers, that…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Mercein v. People ex rel. BarryNew York Supreme Court · 1840
- Bradshaw v. HeathNew York Supreme Court · 1835
3Cited by13 opinions
- State ex rel. Arkansas Industrial Co. v. NeelSupreme Court of Arkansas · 1886
- Robalina v. ArmstrongNew York Supreme Court · 1852
- In re NormanNew York Supreme Court · 1960
- Flint v. PierceNew York Supreme Court · 1912
- People ex rel. Mahoff v. MatsouiNew York Supreme Court · 1931
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