Case Summary

William Lemke petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus to retrieve his nine-year-old son, Paul Lemke, from the custody of Anna Guthmann, which was granted. The 1920 U.S. federal census indicates that William was a widower and that Paul was Anna's great-nephew (presumably, Anna was the aunt of William's late wife and Paul's late mother). After hearing the evidence, the district court awarded custody of Paul to his father. Anna successfully appealed the case to the state supreme court, which overturned the ruling of the district court and returned Paul to the custody of his great-aunt.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Interpersonal

Petition subtype(s)

• Child custody

Outcome

Writ denied

Fate of bound party

Remained in custody

Case Citation

RG207 Lancaster County Subgroup 9: Series 3 Appearance Docket M, p. 159; RG207 Lancaster County Subgroup 9: Series 4 Daily Journal #78: Oct. 1919-July 1920, pp. 427, 440, 461, 463, 605, 615; RG207 Lancaster County Subgroup 9: Series 4 Daily Journal #80: July 1920-March 1921, p. 440

Source material(s)

Docket | Journal

Repository(s)

• History Nebraska (Lincoln, Nebraska)

State

• Nebraska

Tag(s)

• Appeal
• Children

People

• Lemke, William (petitioner)
• Lemke, Paul (bound party)
• Guthmann, Anna (respondent)
• Stewart, Willard E. (judge)
• Morrissey, Andrew Marcus (judge)
• Matson, Charles E. (petitioner attorney)
• Gering, Matthew (respondent attorney)

• Additional parties

  Schultz, Agnes (witness)

  Schultz, John (witness)

  Lemke, Anna (witness)

  Finke, Fred H. (witness)

  Hornby, Mary (witness)

  Hornby, Peter (witness)

  Retzlaff, Fred (witness)

  Kempel, Henry (witness)

  Lemke, Milton (witness)

  Wachter, Ed (witness)

  Noah, Fred A. (witness)

  Kruger, John (witness)

  Nelson, Jeannette (witness)

  Schwegman, Sophie (witness)

  Booth, Minnie (witness)

  Fetzer, Margaret (witness)

  Frances, August (witness)

  Fetzer, Henry J. (witness)

  Frank, Alex F. (witness)

  Hester, J. W. (witness)

  Fetzer, Sr. Henry (witness)

  Stevens, W. J. (witness)

  Guthmann, Minnie (witness)

  Jensen, J. P. (witness)

  Miller, Ira (sheriff)

  Hensel, Claude B. (deputy sheriff)

  Lindsay, Harry C. (clerk)

  Greene, Philip F. (deputy clerk)