In Matter of Adoption of Mary Ester Johnson

BARNS, Circuit Judge:

The petition for adoption alleged that said child was the-niece of petitioner, Ernest M. Johnson, and that its mother had died December 7, 1944; that on December 24, 1944, the father, Joseph M. Johnson, a brother of petitioner, gave the custody of the child to the petitioners; and that the father died on February 15, 1945. The petition did not allege the date of birth or age of the child, but the answer of the State Welfare Board, as the official and proper guardian of the welfare of the said minor, alleged it to be six years and nine months of age.

On June 21, 1945, the…