Case Summary

Mary Brabec filed for a writ of habeas corpus in order to gain custody of her children, Annie, Lillie, Willie, Emma, and Arthur Brabec, from their father, Joseph Brabec. She alleged that while Joseph is her husband and father to her children, he was prone to “extreme and repeated cruelty” as well as “habitual drunkenness,” and that she “had been many times threatened by him” leading her to flee their farm and to seek a divorce and sole custody of the children from the Gage County District Court. She claimed to fear that Joseph would hurt the children in the time it would take the divorce and accompanying custody arrangement to process, and that between his drunkenness and refusal to allow the children to attend school except when forced by school authorities that he is unfit to have custody of them. Judge Pemberton agreed to hear the petition, and had Joseph, the children, and additional witnesses all summoned to court, but the outcome of the proceedings is unknown.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Interpersonal

Petition subtype(s)

• Child custody

Outcome

Unknown

Fate of bound party

Unknown

Case Citation

Gage County District Court, Appearance Dockets, Vol. 27, p. 214

Source material(s)

Docket

Length of case file

Between 11 and 20 pages

Repository(s)

• Gage County District Court (Beatrice, Nebraska)

State

• Nebraska

Tag(s)

• Children
• Domestic violence

People

• Brabec, Mary (petitioner)
• Brabec, Annie (bound party)
• Brabec, Lillie (bound party)
• Brabec, Emma (bound party)
• Brabec, Arthur (bound party)
• Brabec, Willie (bound party)
• Brabec, Joseph (respondent)
• Brabec, Joseph (holding party)
• Pemberton, Leander M. (judge)
• Richards, W. H. (petitioner attorney)
• Prout, F. N. (petitioner attorney)

• Additional parties

  A. J. Trude (sheriff), F. H. Bauke (deputy), John R. Quein (clerk), F. E. Bourne (deputy), Chas S. Chandler (notary), G. W. Straugh (summoned witness), E. Eckert (summoned witness), Harry Hauseman (summoned witness).