Gill v. Walker

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

Mr. Justice; Hydrick.

This is a proceeding in habeas corpus to determine who is entitled to the custody of Mattie Ree Meeks, the infant daughter of Mattie Meeks, deceased, who was the daughter of Neely and Mattie Walker, and the sister of Bessie Gill. After hearing the evidence, the Circuit Court awarded the custody of the child to Bessie Gill.

In 1911, Mattie, the deceased, married Sam Meeks, and they lived in the house with her parents, until she died, in 1915, leaving two children, Seretha and Mattie, the subject of this controversy, who was only five days old when her mother died. About two months after the death of its mother the child was turned over to Bessie Gill,' who kept it until October, 1918, when it was taken from her and delivered to its grandparents, under an order of the probate Court, appointing them, guardians of its person and property.

The evidence is conflicting as to the agreement under which Bessie took the child. That introduced by her tends strongly to show that her mother, Mattie Walker, asked her to take it, because it was sickly and puny and required more care and attention than she could give it on account of her advanced age, physical infirmities, and the other cares and duties incumbent upon her, especially the care and attention which she was obliged to bestow upon the older child, Seretha, and for these reasons, after obtaining the consent of her husband, she agreed to take it and raise‘it as one of her own^ — she has five of her own — and did so until it was taken from her; that she has become very much attached to it, having taught it to call her mother, and has bestowed upon it the utmost care and attention, without which it would have died; that it was carried to her house by Sam, who expressed his consent that she should have it and his delight that it had found so good a home.

On the other hand, the testimony on the part of the grandparents tends to show that the arrangement with Bessie was intended to be only temporary, and that they compensated her, at least in part, for her care and attention of the baby.

1 While the legal and moral rights of the claimants to the custody of a child may not be ignored, in disposing of its custody the paramount consideration of the Court is the welfare of the child, and as a general rule it should be placed where its best interests will be sfibserved.

2 Without going into a detailed consideration of the evidence, which would serve no useful purpose, but giving due weight to everything that has been pressed upon our attention for ánd against the contentions of the respective parties, we are of the opinion that the decision of the Circuit Court was right, and it will be affirmed, with this reservation: That the grandparents and sister of the child must have reasonable opportunity to visit it and have it visit and be with them on proper occasions and at reasonable intervals. The parties live in the same community, very near to each other, and the litigation does not seem to have disturbed the paternal and filial relations between them, and there is no reason why they should not be able to agree amongst themselves about the matter, but if they cannot they may apply to the Court for its directions.

Judgment affirmed.

Mr. Chief Justice Gary and Messrs. Justices Watts and Gage concur.