OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from district court, Kossuth county; GEORGE H. CARR, Judge.
Action to recover for medical services, care, and supplies furnished one John Finn, a poor person, whose alleged settlement is in the defendant county. The following stipulation of facts was filed in the case: “It is hereby agreed and stipulated as a part of the facts in the above-entitled cause as follows: That John Finn is now 19 years of age. That he is unmarried, and never has been married. That he is the same person to whom the medical aid, care, and attendance of Dr. Chas. McAllister was furnished which was the basis of this action, as well as the person to whom M. C. Johnson furnished care, etc., now filed herein. That up to the time said matters and things were furnished he was sick and unable to work, and had no means of support of his own. That his father had ample means with which to support said John Finn, but neither the board of supervisors of Clay county nor the trustees of Herland township had knowledge thereof. That in July, 1885, the said John Finn left the residence and home of his father with the intention of not returning to Palo Alto county, Iowa. That, prior to his leaving, he and his father, David Finn, signed articles of agreement, in which it was agreed that said John Finn should have his time until he attained his majority, and he was not to look to his father for support, and his father was not to be liable for his debts; a notice of which agreement was duly published in the Palo Alto Pilot, a weekly newspaper published in defendant's county, of which notice the board of supervisors nor trustees aforesaid had actual knowledge. Upon leaving Palo Alto county the said John Finn went to Clay county, Iowa, and hired out to work for a resident of northern Clay county, and worked for him until the spring of 1886, when he went into the southern part of the county, and hired out to John Mates as a farm hand, where he remained until he was taken sick in the spring of 1887. That the notice written by the auditor of Clay county to the county aduitor and board of supervisors of Palo Alto county, copies of which are set out in the deposition of A. D. Franklin, and filed herein, are now lost, and cannot be found. That there was never any record made of any action by the board of supervisors of Palo Alto county, Iowa, on the notices last above referred to. That David Finn is the father of John Finn, and is now, and has been, a resident of Palo Alto county, Iowa, for the past six years; and he, the said David Finn, has had during the said six years no other residence or legal settlement.” The plaintiff (by agreement of parties to thus present the question) moved to strike from the stipulation the italicized part, on the ground that it was immaterial; and the court sustained the motion. Upon the remaining facts, with others undisputed, the court instructed the jury that the legal settlement of John Finn was in the defendant county. The case on other issues was tried to a jury, that returned a verdict for the plaintiff, and from a judgment thereon the defendant appealed.Thomas O'Conner and Clark & Call, for appellant.
GRANGER, J.
1. The action of the court in striking from the stipulation, and holding that the settlement of Finn was in the defendant county, presents the first question for us to determine. Appellant's contention in this respect is that the facts stricken from the stipulation show John Finn had been emancipated from his father and, being emancipated, it was competent for him to make or create a new settlement in another county. Some provisions of our Code are important in this connection. Chapter 1 of title 11 treats “of the settlement and support of the poor.” Section 1352 is a part of chapter 1 and provides: “Legal settlements may be acquired in the counties as follows: (1) Any person having attained majority, and residing in this state one year without being warned as hereinafter provided, gains a settlement in the county of his residence. * * * (4) Legitimate minor children follow and have the settlement of their father, if he have one; but, if he have none, then that of his mother.” Other subdivisions of the section provide for the settlement of married women with their husbands, and those abandoned by them, of illegitimate minors, of minors whose parents have no settlement, and of minors bound as apprentices and servants; but there is no provision for minors who are emancipated, except that the settlement of legitimate minor children follow that of their father. It thus appears that no person can obtain a settlement under the poor-laws of the state (with the exceptions stated) unless he has attained his majority. While a minor, emancipated, may have some additional rights or privileges, he does not from that fact alone attain his majority. Code, § 2237, provides: “The period of minority extends...
