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Charles Gahres and Martha J. Gahres v. Isabella Sutton and W. H. Barrett

August 1, 1868 - September 3, 1873

Petitioned on June 7, 1871

Filed before the First Judicial District of Washington District Court (Walla Walla, Washington)

Case ID: hc.case.wa.0004

Case Summary

On June 7th, 1871, a writ of habeas corpus was filed by Charles and Martha J. Gahres on behalf of Martha's daughter, Etty Dora Cravens, who was in the custody of Isabella Barrett and W. H. Barrett. The Barretts claimed that they had custody of Etty for the past three years, had spent a significant amount of money taking care of her because she had been sickly, and that Martha had no home and could not provide for Etty. On June 27th, 1871, Judge Kennedy awarded custody of Etty to the Barretts. On August 30th, 1873, the Gahres brought the same writ of habeas corpus to court again. On September 2nd, 1873, Judge Lewis dismissed the writ and awarded custody of Etty to the Barretts.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

  • Interpersonal

Petition subtype(s)

  • Child custody

Outcome

Writ dismissed

Fate of bound party

Remained in custody

Case Citation

Walla Walla County Government, Clerk, Territorial Court Civil/Criminal Case Files, 1860-1889, No. 1564 and No. 1814

Source material(s)

Case File

Case document transcriptions

Length of case file

Between 51 and 75 pages

Repository(s)

State

  • Washington

Point(s) of law cited

Territory of Washington Statutes Sect. 617 Territory of Washington Statutes Sect. 628

Tag(s)

  • Children

People

Citation

Katrina Jagodinsky, Cory Young, Andrew Varsanyi, Laura Weakly, Karin Dalziel, William Dewey, Erin Chambers, Greg Tunink. “Charles Gahres and Martha J. Gahres v. Isabella Sutton and W. H. Barrett.” Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West, 1812-1924, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Accessed November 21, 2024. https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.wa.0004

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