Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-17
PARENTS SUE TO
RECOVER INFANT
GIVEN TOOTHERS
MOTHER ASKS COURT TO RE-
TURN SON TO HER
BABY's GRANDMOTHER INDUCED
WOMAN TO PART WITH 1T
Legal Guardians of Child Eager to Re-
tain Possession of Tot-Keat-
ing Estate May Be Affected
ed by Outcome

One of the most difficult decisions
in superior court annals is that facing
Judge Moss in the suit of Mr.. and Mrs
Joseph N. Murphy to recover from
Mr.. and Mrs owen w. Rodgers their
baby son, born August 10, 1908, and
which they believed to have died more
than a year ago. Mr. and Mrs. Rod
gers adopted the infant from the Chill
dren's Home Society of California a
short time after it was born.
The case was threshed out all day
yesterday and Judge Moss continued it
until next Tuesday to secure the pres
ence of Mrs. Isaac Smith, mother of
Mrs. Murphy, as a witness. An inter-
esting feature of the case is that this
is the same Mrs. Smith who claims
to be the wife of Isaac Smith, hus-
band of the late Mrs. Isabel Keating
Smith, former wife of Andrew j..
Keating, who left a vast estate which
has been the subject of much conten-
tion in the probate court recently.
1t is understood that Mrs. Smith
will begin suit for divorce from Isaac
Smith next Monday, and in the event
that she proves she was married to
him, it will be shown that Mrs. Keat-
ing Smith was never his wife, in which
case a further contest may be insti-
tuted by the Heating heirs to recover
any money he may have secured from
the estate.
In the absence of Mrs. Smith from
Judge Moss court yesterday all the
other witnesses in the suit to recover
the child were examined. Mrs. Muir
ply stated that she had not known of
the child's being alive until last
Christmas, when she was so informed
by the mother of her husband.
According to the witness, the child
was born out of wedlock, and for sew
eral weeks afterward the mother was
very ill., Her mother, Mrs. Smith, al
ways had been opposed to her having
anything to do with Murphy, she said,
and ten days after her child was born
the mother told her it would be best
to place it in a home. Being i'll and
hardly knowing what she was doing,
she agreed, and in company with her
mother they took the baby to the Chill
dren's Home Society of California.
Signs Baby Away
After few days she had a relapse
and was very i'll again, she said, and
when her mother presented relinquish-
ment papers giving up her baby she
signed them without reading what
they meant She had not noticed to
what place the baby had been taken
and asked her mother about it, Her
mother, she said, refused to tell her
anything of her child, and they went
together to San Diego for four months.
While there her mother informed her
the baby had died.
During her visit in San Diego she
communicated with Murphy against
her mothers wishes, and finally came
to Los Angeles to see him. He then
for the first time heard of the child,
and they were married.
In what manner her mother-in-law
heard of the existence of the baby
which was supposed to be dead, Mrs.
Murphy did not, know When her hus
band Joseph n. Murphy. a musician,
went on the stand he corroborated her
story.
Asked why they waited until a few
days ago to call upon Mrs. Rodgers
to see the baby when they knew Of
its existence last Christmas Murphy
stated that he had never seen the
child as yet, for his wife had been i'll
since the first of the year up TO a few
weeks ago, when another baby was
born to her.
owen w. Rodgers, in whose family
the baby had been adopted, was called
to the stand. He stated that his oc
cupation was that of a teamster at
salary of SIS a week, which he had
been earning for the last three years.
He told of the adoption of the baby
in the regular way at the children's
home, and declared he had never even
heard the names of its parents.
For a year and half we have had
the baby in our home, and we have
come to love him as much as the real
parents of any child COULD When we