Home› Welcome to the FamilySearch Community!› FamilySearch Help› Search

1847 OH Bastardy Suit Terminology

D Warmuth
D Warmuth ✭
May 19, 2022 edited May 19, 2022 in Search

In a bastardy suit, what does the term "by next friend" mean? Does this mean the person is not related? The term is used several times in reference to Henry Terk within the bastardy suit and in six weeks of newspaper announcements as well. The suit was against the person she divorced.

Full statement: Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Hocking County Ohio ___

Chancery setting, your petitioner Polly Hiest by her next friend Henry

Terk your said petitioner being a bonafide resident of the County of 

Hocking and who has for more than one year prior to this her appli-

cation for Divorce and Alimony resided in the state of Ohio. 

0

Best Answer

  • CHold
    CHold mod
    May 20, 2022 Answer ✓

    @D Warmuth

    I did send your question to the legalgenealogist URL indicated above. Judy Russell responded as follows:

    "Down and dirty answer to a question I'll snag for the future for the blog: Ohio didn't pass its first married women's property act until 1860, so any married woman -- even one suing for divorce -- was legally disqualified from acting on her own behalf. Like a child or an incompetent, she had to be represented by a next friend. That was usually a male relative but could be any man of her acquaintance. Only after the MWPAs began to be adopted by the state's did married women get the right to sue and be sued in their own right."


    That is an interesting answer but it make sense. Since your question was about the year 1847 in Ohio, it appears from the above information from Judy Russell that Polly Hiest would need her next friend Henry to represent her in this situation and act in her behalf.

    We are always learning new things. I hope that helps.

    2

Answers

  • CHold
    CHold mod
    May 19, 2022 edited May 19, 2022

    @D Warmuth

    Your question will be forwarded to another specialty team that will be better able to answer your question. We will send this to the Search team as they will probably know the answer to your question.

    Another idea is to do a google search for what does "by next friend" mean in a legal context in the state of Ohio. Here is something that may help. Please note that there may different definitions by State.

    next friend.jpg

    Hopefully this will assist you.

    0
  • D Warmuth
    D Warmuth ✭
    May 19, 2022

    If the mother was of age, she would not be able to act on behalf of the child so needed a 'friend'? Would the mom, who was competent not be considered for legal representation of her own child.

    Is the 'friend' typically a relative or can they just be a close acquaintance?

    Thank you! I had Googled it but was still unclear about relationships. Was just hoping for more detailed info.

    0
  • A van Helsdingen
    A van Helsdingen ✭✭✭✭✭
    May 19, 2022

    Have you asked Judy Russell, aka The Legal Genealogist ? This is just the sort of thing she is knowledgeable about. See her blog: https://www.legalgenealogist.com/ and note the 'Ask TLG" page at the top right.

    2
  • D Warmuth
    D Warmuth ✭
    May 22, 2022

    Awesome! Thank you so much!

    0
Clear
No Groups Found

Categories

  • 24.7K All Categories
  • 25.9K FamilySearch Help
  • 130 Get Involved
  • 2.8K General Questions
  • 458 FamilySearch Center
  • 485 FamilySearch Account
  • 4.8K Family Tree
  • 3.7K Search
  • 4.9K Indexing
  • 688 Memories
  • 340 Other Languages
  • 34 Community News
  • 6.9K Suggest an Idea
  • Groups