Windell v. Bell

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Hoch, J.:

Many important matters are brought to this court. Most of them relate to property, to the material things which we humans may possess. But here is an appeal that is freighted with a deeper value. It deals not with what we have, but with what we are. It concerns a baby.

John Criss Windell was twelve days old when his young mother died. The bereft father, Fred Windell, whose work and circumstances then made it difficult for him to care for the child, delivered him into the welcoming hands of the maternal grandparents. Of the tender, budding,…