Dalton v. State

Joseph Griffith and Elizabeth his wife petitioned the Circuit Court for a writ of habeas corpus directed to Ealton, requiring him to bring before the Court the body of a certain child aged fifteen months, and show the cause of its detention. The petition stated that said Elizabeth was the mother of the child, and that, since its birth, she had married the said Joseph Griffith.

A writ of habeas corpus was accordingly issued.

The defendant made the following return to the writ: 1, That the said Elizabeth being unmarried, and alleging the .defendant to be the father of the child, gave it to him…