Oregon Supreme Court January 15, 1880 (Jackson v. Jackson)

By the Court,

Kelly, C. J.:

By the common law, a father has the paramount right to the care and custody of his minor children, unless it be shown that he is a man of grossly immoral principles or habits, or that he has not the ability to provide for them, or that they have been ill-used by him. (People ex rel. Nickerson, 19 Wend. 16; People ex rel. Olmstead v. Olmstead, 27 Barb. 9.