A Custody Ruling in Adams County
A Superior Court judge mandates visitation rights in a local divorce settlement.
Superior court convened in special session last Monday. The first case taken up was that of Bowers vs. Bowers, in which the contention was for the custody of the only child of the principals in the controversy. The whole of Monday was spent in trying the case, several witnesses being called on both sides. After listening to all the testimony and the arguments of counsel, Judge Neal decided that the child should remain with the mother, and that the father should visit it at the times fixed and stated by the court: Once every ten days; and that once every thirty days he should have possession of the child for a reasonable time.
“After listening to all the testimony and the arguments of counsel, Judge Neal decided that the child should remain with the mother.”
Custody battles in the 1890s often followed rigid patriarchal or traditional social standards. While legal language has evolved, the core tension of defining 'reasonable time' remains a central feature of family court proceedings in Ritzville and beyond today.
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