Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-01-12

| Inc 06DeAS corpus CASE hlluutu W III OuE
report of the proceedings Of the Supreme
Court on tho 5th inst, as having been
| heard by judges Royce ard Ross. was of
| been deferred, in the expectation that the
| decision OF the judges would be announced
| before the court adjourned. The facts are
| as follows:
The petition was brought by X. Ii. Start,
counsel for Mrs. Celia Treau, formerly Of
Ferrisburgh. in this State, to recover the
custody OF her son. Moses, boy now eleven
wears Of age, who has been living with
Mr.. o. Ii. Dickinson, Of Williamst0wn. YER
mont, for the past two years In 1872. the
petitioner and her three children were de-
serted by her husband. who is now serving
out sentence in the States Prison at
Windsor. Soon after Mrs. Trean and her.
family, in consequence Of sickness and
poverty, became chargeabo to tho town
of Ferrisburgh. Tho overseer of the poor
of that town. acting. as he considered, for
the best interests of the-children, bound
them to the Home for Destitute Children in
this city. to which act the father gave his
consen, and the mother did not apparently
object. In 1874, the petitioner having re-
covered from her illness and being encour-
aged to expect assistance, as she alleged,
ceedin gs to regain tho custody of her chill
dren, who had meanwhile been bound out
into respectable families in different towns,
to the several members Of which they had
become greatly attached. and where they
were being well cared for. Mrs. Trean
first made claim for her youngest child,
Nicholas. The petition was heard before
Judge Pierpaint, in August. 1874. The
Judge decided that the child should BIO
restored to the mother for the reason that
under provision of the Charter OF the
Home, as it then was, children whose pa
rents were living could not be bound to
the Home without the formal consent of
their parents. Mrs. Trean next brought. a
writ of habeas corpus TO regain possession
of her daughter Celia, who was living with
a family in Pittsiord. Vt. She failed, how
ever, as the man to whom the girl had been
given, learning that he could not hold her
by virtue of any authority derived from the
Home, had temporarily thrown her upon
tho town OF Pittsiord. as a pauper, ana
thereupon the Overseer Of the Poor Of that
town bound her back to him, as the law
provided. The facts in the present case, as
developed by the bearing. show that Mr..
Dickinson had adopted similar course.
lie made the boy charge upon the town
of Williamstown, as transient pauper and
the 0verseer of the Poor executed an indent-
ure of the lad to him and the precedent
adopted in the case of his sister Celia would
unquestionably have governed in his case,
were it not for the fact that the indenture
which was executed by tho Overseer OF the
Poor to Mr.. Dickinson did not in all re-
spects follow the statute. By its terms. the
boy was only bound until he was Gig hteeu
years of age instead Of twenty-one years. rs
the statute appears to require also, the in
denture did not contain an express stipuls-
ton in regard TO the instruction OF the
child.
Hon. William q. Shaw. counsel for Mr..
Dickinson, claimed that the departure from
the statute requirement did not invalidato
the indenture of apprenticeship moreover.
that. Independently of such binding out,
the mother had acQuiesced tor such length
of time In the surrender of the child to the
Home by the Overseer of the Poor at Fer
risburgh. that it was equivalent to her con-
sent; and still further that in cases OF this
kind, the judges had q discretion in regard to
the disposition of the child, which would be
to great extent controlled by cOnsidera-
ton as to what would DO for his undoubted
welfare Mr.. Dickinson's home, of which
the boy is an inmate, is one Of comfort and
re fnement. and the boy has all the advan
tages of education and moral training,
while the mother. being entirely dep endent
upon her own exertions for her support, is
compelled to find temporary home wher-
ever she can find employment. The lad
also expresses strong attachment for his
foster-psrents and decided aversion to
leaving them for his mother. The decision
of the judges is awaited with great interest.
especially by the family who have had
Al .ssI~ I'll aoI
who have become greatly attached to him.
Pending the decision, the custody OF the
boy has been granted to Mr.. Dickinson.
In November 1874, the Charter of the Homo
was amended by the Legislature so that the
corporation sss all the legal powers of
guardianship yer any child "relinqnished
to it BY its pafSnt or guardian. or by the
overseer of the town or city of which such
child is an inhabitant, in cases where such
oyerseer would have" the statute right Ito
bind such child as an apprentice or ser
want" thus giving the Home the same
legal rights to indcnture children as were
granted to individuals under the general
statutes 50 that.now when a child il surren-
dered to the Home, and the Home. in the
proper discharge Of its responsibility, hndS
Tor it new home where 1t receives ali the
caro- and affection Of member OF tho
family. neither parent is allowed sub
sequently to regain its custody.
and destroy, it may be. tho advantages
which surround the children in families to
which the Home is accustomed to entrust
them. We're it not for this provision. few
families could be persuaded to take. care
for and bestow affection upon child
which tho parents could at any moment
claim. whether they were able to properly
maintain it or not.