Barry v. Reeves
| Decision Date | 01 July 1927 |
| Docket Number | 38496 |
| Citation | 214 N.W. 519,203 Iowa 1345 |
| Parties | ROBERT BARRY, Appellee, v. MRS. F. A. REEVES, Appellant |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Appeal from Woodbury District Court.--ROBERT H. MUNGER, Judge.
Action in habeas corpus for the custody of a minor child. The court granted the relief prayed, and awarded the custody of the child to his mother. A foster mother, who had the custody of the child at the time, appeals.
Reversed.
Kindig Stewart & Hatfield, for appellant.
A. C Hatt and Jepson, Struble, Anderson & Sifford, for appellee.
FAVILLE J. EVANS, C. J., and STEVENS, DE GRAFF, VERMILION, ALBERT, and MORLING, JJ., concur. KINDIG, J., takes no part.
This action is brought in habeas corpus, to determine the question of the custody of a minor child. For convenience, we refer to the mother of the child as the appellee. The boy, Robert, whose custody is involved in this action, was born on the 8th day of January, 1914. At that time, the appellee was about sixteen years of age. The child was illegitimate, and the record fails to disclose who his father was. The child was born at the home of the appellee's parents. It appears that, about four or five o'clock in the afternoon of the day the child was born, a nurse called upon the appellant, and inquired of the latter if she could take care of a baby. The nurse received an affirmative reply, and early that evening, she appeared at the home of the appellant, with a newly born babe, wrapped in a bath towel and carried in a closed traveling bag. The child had not been washed, and was unconscious. The skin was torn from his ears, and he had a cut on his forehead and one at the base of the skull. The nurse refused to disclose the name of the mother of the child, but gave to appellant the street address from which the child had been brought. The appellant ministered to the urgent necessities of the child at that time, and revived the flickering spark of life. The boy was delicate for the first year of his life. It was about a year and a half before the appellant discovered to whom the child belonged. From the day of his birth until about the time this action was begun, Robert remained in the home of the appellant. He has been reared as a member of that family, and until shortly before this action was commenced, believed that the appellant was his mother. He calls her "mother," and the appellant's husband "father." He bears their name, and is known by that name in the school, the church, and the community. He has been educated in the public schools, and in the Sunday school, and is a member of the Presbyterian church. He is a well behaved, well trained boy. There is no voice of condemnation, or even of criticism, raised in regard to his training and care. The appellant is proven to be a woman of good character and reputation. She is about sixty years of age, and her husband about seventy. They have been the parents of three children, two of whom are deceased, and one, a daughter, is married, and lives in Omaha. They also have an adopted boy, by the name of Richard, who is about 13 years of age.
The appellee was married on December 15, 1914, to one Davey. She gave birth to another son on June 12, 1915. The appellee has two other children, one of whom is 8, and the other 10 years of age. The children are all children of Davey. Appellee and Davey were divorced. All three of these children reside with the appellee and her present husband, to whom she was married in September, 1923.
The appellee has resided in Sioux City ever since before Robert was born. There is some conflict in the evidence as to when the appellee first saw Robert after his birth. According to her testimony, it was possibly a year, or a year and a half; according to other testimony, it was three years. It appears without conflict, however, that the appellee made no attempt to see Robert or to inquire in regard to him until shortly before this action was brought. Although residing in the same city, the appellee made little, if any, effort during these years to keep track of Robert or to come in personal contact with him. She says, "I never went up to see Robert at his home." It appears that, shortly before this action was instituted, a picture of Robert appeared in the Sioux City Journal, in connection with a school entertainment. The appellee says that about that time she "just decided to take him and raise him and keep him." The husband of the appellee is engaged in the coal business, and he and his wife own property which is estimated as being worth about $ 25,000, practically all of which was inherited by the wife from her father. It also appears that the appellant and her husband own a home in a good neighborhood, and are financially able to care for, maintain, and educate Robert.
The undisputed evidence shows that the mother of the appellee has contributed to the support of the minor by frequent cash remittances to the appellant. There does not appear to have been any contract or agreement in regard to said matter, but the contributions have been substantial, and have been voluntarily made on the part of the grandmother. That they have been inadequate to fully compensate for the expense, care, and maintenance of the minor is evident.
The evidence in the case is quite voluminous. We have attempted to set out only a very brief outline of the salient facts. At the best, an action of this character must be distressing to all parties concerned, and the task imposed upon the court is one that necessarily invites profound solicitude.
The rules of law governing habeas corpus actions that involve the custody of minor children have materially changed within the last few years. This has been true of the decisions of this court, as well as the trend of the authorities generally. In Risting v. Sparboe, 179 Iowa 1133, 162 N.W. 592, we said:
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