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In the matter of the application of Hazel B. Dillon, mother and legal custodian of Emily McCarty, Earnest McCarty and Mabel McCarty, minor children under the age of eighteen years, Plaintiff, vs. Child Saving Institute, Defendant

August 21, 1923 - September 29, 1923

Petitioned on August 21, 1923

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

Case ID: hc.case.ne.1402

Case Summary

On August 21, 1923, Hazel Dillon filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against the Child Saving Institute for detaining her three children: Emily, Earnest, and Mabel McCarty. She explained that she left her children under the care of the Child Saving Institute on June 30, 1923, while recovering from a serious illness and operation. On July 12, 1923, H. A. Collins filed a petition alleging that Hazel was “incompetent, without means of support, and not a proper person” to care for her children. She argued that this person swore under oath that they were a Douglas County resident, but they were actually a Sarpy County resident. Additionally, she argued that the Child Saving Institute did not make her aware of any petition asking for custody of her children. Lastly, she explained that she signed documents consenting to the adoption of her children because they were misrepresented as documents that would prevent the adoption. The President of the Child Saving Institute, Howard Sexton, denied these allegations. After the court hearing on September 12, 1923, her writ was denied and the fate of her children is unknown.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

  • Institutional

Petition subtype(s)

  • Child custody

Sites of significance

Outcome

Writ denied

Fate of bound party

Unknown

Case Citation

Douglas County District Court, Omaha, NE, RG230: Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series: Criminal Appearance Docket Books, Vol. 26: ca. 1923 - Jan. 1924, p. 285; Douglas County District Court, Omaha, NE, RG230: Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series 7: Criminal Case Files, 1897-1920, Reel 115: 26-202 to 26-327, Jul. 19, 1923 - Sep. 14, 1923, No. 26-285

Source material(s)

Docket | Case File

Length of case file

Between 11 and 20 pages

Repository(s)

State

  • Nebraska

Tag(s)

  • Corporate respondent
  • Children

People

Citation

Katrina Jagodinsky, Cory Young, Andrew Varsanyi, Laura Weakly, Karin Dalziel, William Dewey, Erin Chambers, Greg Tunink. “In the matter of the application of Hazel B. Dillon, mother and legal custodian of Emily McCarty, Earnest McCarty and Mabel McCarty, minor children under the age of eighteen years, Plaintiff, vs. Child Saving Institute, Defendant.” Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West, 1812-1924, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Accessed November 23, 2024. https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.ne.1402

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