In re Baldwin's Guardianship

• Decision Date: 09 July 1929
• Parties: IN RE BALDWIN'S GUARDIANSHIP. v. BALDWIN. STATE
• Court: Oregon Supreme Court

278 P. 1078

130 Or. 206

IN RE BALDWIN'S GUARDIANSHIP.

STATE v. BALDWIN.

Supreme Court of Oregon

July 9, 1929

Department 2.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Multnomah County; James Alger Fee, Judge.

Proceedings by the State against C. A. Baldwin in the matter of the guardianship of Bertha Maxine Baldwin, an alleged dependent child. An order of the court of domestic relations adjudging the child dependent, and committing her to the Boys' and Girls' Aid Society, was reversed by the circuit court and custody awarded to defendant, and the State appeals. Decree of circuit court affirmed.

Francis T. Wade, Deputy Dist. Atty., of Wasco, and Thomas G. Ryan, of Portland (Stanley Myers, Dist. Atty., of Portland, on the brief), for the State.

Bert S Gooding, of Woodburn (Robert R. Rankin, of Portland, on the brief), for respondent.

BELT J.

This is an appeal from a decree of the circuit court reversing an order of the court of domestic relations for Multnomah county adjudging Bertha Maxine Baldwin a dependent child, and committing her to the Boys' and Girls' Aid Society of Oregon. Upon appeal to the circuit court, there was a trial de novo, but there was no court reporter present, and the testimony of the witnesses, as incorporated in the bill of exceptions, is in narrative form. From this record, which is unsatisfactory for the purpose of determining the custody of a child, we glean the following facts: C. A. Baldwin and his wife lived on a small backwoods ranch about nine miles from Knabb, Wash. The road leading to this most humble home was as said by one witness, "difficult to travel even on foot." A small one-room country school was about a mile distant. On this farm Bertha Maxine was born in March, 1922. Upon the death of the mother in April, 1923, this little girl and her sister, who was about a year older, were taken by the father's sister, Mrs. Hattie Hinson, to her home at Portland, Or. They went with the consent of Baldwin, but, as said by him, "with the express understanding that such custody was to be merely temporary." The Hinson home is in the Irvington residence district, and is strictly modern. Mr. Hinson is, and has been for 20 years, a member of the Portland police department. Both children were given good care and treatment, and they, no doubt, became much attached to Hinson and his wife.

On September 22, 1924, Mr. Hinson wrote a letter to the father requesting him to come and take Wilma, the older girl, as "it is too much work for Hattie (his wife) to care for them both." In compliance with this request, Baldwin went to Portland, and demanded that both of the girls be given to him. The Hinsons, however, refused to surrender possession of Bertha Maxine. According to the testimony of Baldwin, he was threatened with violence, if he persisted in his efforts to secure the custody of his own daughter. It is plain that ill feeling arose between Mrs. Hinson and her brother concerning the custody of this child.

On March 8, 1928, the court of domestic relations, on petition of Mrs. Hinson, adjudged Bertha Maxine a dependent child, and committed her to the Boys' and Girls' Aid Society. It was no doubt the intention of Mrs. Hinson to institute adoption proceedings after such commitment.

Was Bertha Maxine a dependent child within the meaning of the statute? Was she "destitute, homeless, or abandoned?" If she was not, the natural right of the father to his own child must prevail. This sacred relationship cannot be severed by law, unless the welfare of the...