Property, 1804

"Every right that can be made the subject of an action for the recovery of damages is a right of property, including the right to the comfort and society of a wife or minor child." Boescher v. Boescher, 5 Ohio Dec. 144 (Ohio Com. Pl. 1804) (reporter's syllabus).

I came across this case while doing research for a paper, and the summary of the holding in the syllabus jumped out at me. The court does not actually articulate this rule, it merely finds that the parental right in raising a child and having him in one's home was in the case at bar a property right protected by due process requirements. I wonder whether the reporter's summary of the general rule is accurate. If so, it would seem to represent an earlier shift away from a strict application of numerus clausus than is sometimes supposed (or at least sometimes suggested by professors).