Van Auken v. Wieman

• Decision Date: 13 July 1905
• Citation: Van Auken v. Wieman, 128 Iowa 476, 104 N.W. 464 (Iowa 1905)
• Parties: VAN AUKEN v. WIEMAN ET AL.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

128 Iowa 476

104 N.W. 464

VAN AUKEN

v.WIEMAN ET AL.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

July 13, 1905.

Appeal from District Court, Lyon County; Wm. R. Hutchinson, Judge.

Habeas corpus proceedings instituted in the name and on behalf of Anna Van Auken, a minor child, by E. Van Auken, her father and next friend, to determine the question of her custody.From a judgment in favor of defendants, plaintiff appeals.Reversed.Parsons & Riniker, for appellant.

W. D. Boies, for appellees.

BISHOP, J.

Anna Van Auken was born in December, 1896, in Lyon county.Her mother survived the ordeal of childbirth but a few hours.Her father, E. Van Auken, at once arranged with his sister, the defendantElla Wieman, and her husband and codefendant, Christ Wieman, who lived a quarter of a mile away, to take the infant child to their home for the time being and care for her.Soon after, the further arrangement was made that the child should remain with the Wiemans, and that the father should pay $50 per year as compensation for her keeping.It is agreed that payments in accordance with the agreement have been made regularly.Without doubt the defendants gave the child a good home and all proper care.So, too, it cannot be questioned but that they became and are very much attached to her.As stated, the father lived a quarter of a mile away, and with him his aged parents.He recognized that the child was better off with her aunt, and so the arrangement continued down until shortly before the commencement of this proceeding, when he remarried.In the meantime the child had been fully informed as to her parentage, and she frequently visited her father and grandparents.So, also, after the remarriage of her father, she came to his home, and was kindly and affectionately treated by her stepmother.When called upon to surrender the further custody of the child, the defendants refused, and this proceeding was instituted.

It is not seriously questioned but that the father is a man of good character, and financially able to give comfortable support to his family.His present wife is a woman of mature years, of good character and disposition, and she says she is anxious to do the best she can for her husband's child.Apparently the child has affection for her father, and she regards her stepmother with as much favor as a child could be expected to bestow upon a comparative stranger.The record makes it appear that the trial court dismissed the petition, and remanded the child to...