Matter of Schwartz

SHAW, J.

Adolph Schwartz appeals from an order denying his petition for the revocation of letters of guardianship of Rosa Gertrude Schwartz, his minor child, issued to Amalia Schwartz on March 16, 1911, and for the termination of said guardianship.

The child has no property of any description. The said guardian was appointed solely upon the ground that the father had abandoned the child and that it needed the care and attention of some fit and proper person. In denying the petition of the father for revocation the court made findings to the effect that the father had abandoned the child prior to the appointment of Amalia Schwartz as guardian, and that he was not a fit or proper person to have its custody. We are of the opinion that the evidence does not justify either finding. The following is a statement of the facts shown by the evidence, relating to abandonment:

Amalia Schwartz is the aunt of the child’s father and mother, who were cousins. She was the sister of the father of Adolph Schwartz and of the mother of Sophie Schwartz, his wife, who was the daughter of Adam Stern. The wife of Stern was for many years in delicate health and Amalia Schwartz lived as a member of the family of Stern and was the housekeeper. She had raised Sophie Schwartz, the wife of the appellant. Schwartz and his wife at the time of her confinement were living at the house of Adam Stern in Los Angeles. The child was born on December 4, 1906. Its mother died on December 18, 1906. Schwartz and Stern were both'barbers by occupation. Upon the death of the child’s mother, Schwartz, having no home or place to keep it, asked his aunt, Amalia Schwartz, to take the child and raise it, which she then agreed to do. Thereupon he left the child with her. Shortly after making this arrangement Schwartz left the house of his father-in-law and never afterward lived there as a member of the family, although he visited the family several times a year. From 1906 to 1911 Schwartz lived in various places. He went first to Jamestown, Virginia, and then to Europe on a visit to his relatives. He also worked in Los Angeles and in Nevada, and in the beginning of 1910

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he settled in Seattle and there married his present wife, by whom he has a child which was about two years old at the time of the making of the order appealed from. About the 1st of January, 1911, Mrs. Stem, Schwartz’ mother-in-law, died. Upon learning of her death, Schwartz wrote to Adam Stern suggesting that he would take the child to his own home and away from the home of Stern. Up to that period the relations between the parties appear to have been entirely harmonious. His suggestion that he wanted to take the child himself was met with objections, and from that time forward all of his relatives manifested a disposition to resist his purpose. Stern wrote to Schwartz advising him not to attempt to take the child away, that it would make trouble. Thereupon, Schwartz went to Los Angeles to get the child, and failing to find it, caused a writ of