In the matter of the application of L. Griffith for a writ of Habeas Corpus

December 1, 1894 - March 29, 1895

Petitioned on December 1, 1894

Filed before the Douglas County District Court (Omaha, Nebraska)

Case ID: hc.case.ne.0888

Case Summary

L. Griffith was the father of Mary Griffith (1 yr. 6 mos. old). Her mother died on October 24, 1894, only about a month before this case. Abigail St. John secured the posession of his daughter without his consent and against his wishes. L. Griffith alleged he was competent, ready and willing to provide support of his daughter. He also said that St. John refused to return his daughter back to him. The writ of Habeas Corpus was issued, but nobody showed up for the case, so the cause was dismissed.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

Interpersonal

Petition subtype(s)

Child custody

Outcome

Writ dismissed

Fate of bound party

Unknown

State

Nebraska

Tag(s)

Children

People

Scott, Cunningham R. (judge)
Griffith, L. (petitioner)
Griffith, Mary (bound party)
Myers, Hugh A. P. (petitioner attorney)
St. John, Abigail (holding party)
St. John, Abigail (respondent)
St. John, Abigail (responding party)
Additional parties

Moore, Frank E. (clerk)

Sturn Jr., A. (deputy)

Drexel, John C. (sheriff)

Furseau, L. B. (notary public)

Roseuwriq, H. (deputy)

Source Materials

To acquire the complete case file, contact the repository via email and provide the case citation to request a print copy or digital scan of the original file. Reproduction service fees vary by repository. Tribal members, descendants of enslaved petitioners, and community constituents without professional or academic affiliation may contact Katrina Jagodinsky for assistance in securing case file scans.

Repository(s)

Case citation

History Nebraska, RG230 Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series 2: General Index Books & Court Journals, Vol. 36: Oct. 23, 1894 - Mar. 7, 1895, p. 284, 479; History Nebraska, RG230 Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series 2: General Index Books & Court Journals, Vol. 38: Mar. 7, 1895 - Aug. 23, 1895, p. 112; Douglas County District Court, Civil Appearance Docket Files, Project No. 45, Roll 631: Doc. 47-341 to 47-385, No. 47-383

If you are teaching, publishing, or presenting from this work, please cite this page.

Type of source(s)

Case File | Journal

Length of case file

Between 6 and 10 pages

Cite this page

If you are teaching, publishing, or presenting from this work, please cite this page as:

Katrina Jagodinsky, Cory Young, Andrew Varsanyi, Laura Weakly, Karin Dalziel, William Dewey, Erin Chambers, Greg Tunink. “In the matter of the application of L. Griffith for a writ of Habeas Corpus.” Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West, 1812-1924, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Accessed April 5, 2025. https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.ne.0888