Case Summary

Nineteen-year-old Chester Deles Dernier, a student at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in the fall of 1902 while traveling in Washington State with some friends. He eventually made is way back to Nebraska, where he was arrested in Cass County for desertion. His parents, William and Gertrude Deles Dernier, petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus on his behalf, arguing that they had not given Chester, who was a minor, permission to enlist. After hearing the evidence, Chester was remanded to the custody of his jailer. William and Gertrude appealed this decision to the the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Chester's fate is unknown.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Carceral
• Institutional

Petition subtype(s)

• Desertion
• Underage military enlistment

Sites of significance

• Battleship "New York" (Puget Sound, Washington)
• Cass County Common Jail (, Nebraska)

Outcome

Unknown

Fate of bound party

Unknown

Case Citation

Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009, U.S. District Court for the Omaha Division of the District of Nebraska, Series: Criminal Dockets, 1867-1959, Vol. N, p. 386; Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009, U.S. District Court for the Omaha Division of the District of Nebraska. (2/27/1907- ), Series: Criminal Case Files, 1867-1983, Box 7, No. N-386

Source material(s)

Docket | Case File

Length of case file

Between 41 and 50 pages

Repository(s)

• National Archives and Records Administration, Kansas City (Kansas City, Kansas)

State

• Nebraska

Point(s) of law cited

In re McNulty, 2 Lowell 270|Commonwealth v. Downer, 24 Peck 227|Section 1418 of the 1878 Revised Statutes of the United States|Section 1419 of the 1878 Revised Statutes of the United States|Commonwealth v. Cushing, 11 Mass. 67|Section 1624 of the 1878 Revised Statutes of the United States|In re Doyle, 18 Fed. Rep. 369|In re Hope, 15 Fed. Rep. 259|U.S. v. Stuart, Crabbe 265|In re Sheegre, 3 Mackey 323|In re Webb, 24 How. Pr. 247|In re Collin, 25 How. Pr. 157|Ex parte Schnied, 1 Dill. 587|In re Baker, 23 Fed. Rep. 30|In re Chapman, 37 Fed. Rep. 327|Commonwealth v. Fox, 7 Pa. St. 336|U.S. ex rel Wagner, Nebraska|unnamed case, 24 Fed. Rep. 13|Section 751 of the 1878 Revised Statutes of the United States|Section 752 of the 1878 Revised Statutes of the United States|Section 753 of the 1878 Revised Statutes of the United States|Vance v. Vance, 108 U.S. 514|Hartman v. Hartman, 59 Ill. 57|In re Morrissey, 137 Ill. 57|Kelley v. Sprout, 97 Mass. 169|unnamed case, 87 Fed. Rep. 319|unnamed case, 89 Fed. Rep. 150|unnamed case, 90 Fed. Rep. 717|In re Grimby, 187 U.S. 147|S.E. H US Reporter 54

Tag(s)

• Children
• Appeal

People

• Deles Dernier, Chester (bound party)
• Deles Dernier, William (petitioner)
• Deles Dernier, Gertrude I. (petitioner)
• McBride, John D. (respondent)
• McBride, John D. (responding party)
• McBride, John D. (holding party)
• Chapman, Samuel M. (petitioner attorney)
• Travis, Harvey D. (petitioner attorney)
• Root, Jesse L. (petitioner attorney)
• Summers, William S. (respondent attorney)
• Clark, Byron (respondent attorney)
• Munger, William H. (judge)

• Additional parties

  Hoyt, R. C. (clerk)

  Burkett, E. J. (U.S. congressman)

  Millard, Joseph Hopkins (U.S. senator)

  Moore, F. A. (notary public)

  Sharp, (lieutenant commander of the U.S. navy)

  Murphy, Josephine (notary public)

  Mathews, T. L. (U.S. marshal)

  Jordan, John D. (clerk)

  Stark, John Geny (notary public)

  Dickson, A. B. (surety)

  Clapp, Charles S. (surety)