Krakow v. Department of Public Welfare

This is a petition, filed October 20, 1948, by the petitioners, husband and wife, residents of Brooklyn, New York, for the adoption of Stephen Walter Harrington of Gloucester, who, it was alleged, was born at Malden in this Commonwealth, the child of Clarence B. Harrington of parts unknown and of his wife, Annie M. Harrington. The judge of probate made no report of the facts. The decree dismissing the petition contained a recital that the court had no authority to grant the petition. The petitioners appealed.

The judge at the close of the evidence suggested, as shown by the transcript of the…