O'leary

The sole question on this appeal is whether the District Court erred in sustaining the determination of the Deputy Commissioner that Hilda O’Brien was the'“surviving wife” of John C. O’Brien, within the meaning of Section 909 of the Longshoremen’s and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, 44 Stat. 1424 (1927), 33 U.S.C.A. §§ 901-950 .

The meaning of the statute is, of course, a question of federal law. However, since the statute does not define the term “surviving wife,” 1 and since marital status is ordinarily determined by local law, it has been assumed that Congress intended the term to have the meaning which it is given by local law. 2 The parties agree that the law of two states may be pertinent: Oregon, in which injury and death occurred, in which Hilda and John were domiciled at the time of ■ these events, and in which the Deputy Commissioner and the District Court sat; and Idaho, in which Hilda contends she and John contracted a nonceremonial marriage. We think Hilda occupied the required status under the law of either state, and since there was concededly “a conjugal nexus between the claimant and the decedent subsisting at the time of the latter’s death * * recognition of…