Agnew v. Agnew

248 N.W. 241, 216 Iowa 1
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMay 2, 1933
DocketNo. 41583.
StatusPublished

This text of 248 N.W. 241 (Agnew v. Agnew) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Agnew v. Agnew, 248 N.W. 241, 216 Iowa 1 (iowa 1933).

Opinion

Donegan, J.

The plaintiff and defendant were married on the 31st day of December, 1929. At the time of their marriage, the de-

*2 fendant was a widower 51 years of age, and the plaintiff, who had not previously been married, was 48 years of age. The defendant’s former wife had died in 1926, and he had two sons, Grif and Jack, who were, respectively, 27 and 14 years of age at the time of the trial. Prior to her marriage the plaintiff had been the principal of a commercial school in the city of Des Moines. The defendant was engaged in the elevator business at Dunkerton in Black Hawk county, Iowa. Following their marriage they lived in the city of Waterloo until some time during the month of March, 1930, when they moved to Dunkerton. The defendant had purchased a home there in order that he might be near his elevator business, and they continued to live in this home until the 8th day of December, 1930, when the plaintiff returned to the home of her parents in Des Moines. Defendant’s younger son, Jack, lived in the home with plaintiff and defendant from the time of their marriage until they separated, and his elder son, Grif, lived with them in Dunkerton from September until they separated in December. About a week after returning to Des Moines the plaintiff instituted an action against defendant in the district court of Polk county, Iowa. This action was later withdrawn, and on the 7th day of February, 1931, the plaintiff filed her petition in this case in the district court of Black Hawk county, Iowa. In her petition plaintiff asked for a separate maintenance on the ground that the defendant had been guilty of cruel and inhuman treatment endangering the health and life of plaintiff, that he had failed and neglected to support the plaintiff, and that he ordered the plaintiff to leave their home at Dunkerton, Iowa. It appears that no answer was filed to this petition until the case was reached for trial on the 26th day of August, 1931. On that day the plaintiff filed an amendment to her petition charging the defendant with adultery. To this' petition and amendment the defendant filed an answer admitting the marriage, but denying all charges of cruel and inhuman treatment and of adultery. The case was tried and the testimony of a great many witnesses introduced on both sides. On the 26th day of December, 1931, the court entered a decree finding that the plaintiff was not entitled to the relief demanded by her, and dismissing her petition. From this decree the plaintiff appeals. In support of her appeal plaintiff-appellant claims that, under the evidence introduced, she was entitled to a decree of separate maintenance on both the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment and the ground of adultery. We will consider the two grounds upon which plaintiff *3 claims she is entitled to the relief asked in the order as set out by her.

I. In support of her claim that the defendant was guilty of cruel and inhuman treatment endangering her life, the appellant introduced evidence tending to show that the appellee spent some of his evenings away from home while they lived in Waterloo; that he failed to bring the plaintiff from Dunkerton to Waterloo for chiropractic treatments; that he made numerous trips to Waterloo and was out late at night; that he neglected to take the plaintiff to places of amusement or to provide her with entertainment; that he would not talk to plaintiff socially and would answer in a sullen, cross manner; that he was guilty of various acts of incivility such as leaving plaintiff and some company at the luncheon table and going with another man to Waterloo, refusing to help appellant wash dishes, refusing t'o allow appellant to drive his automobile, and going on fishing trips without inviting the appellant to go along; and, finally, that he ordered the appellant to leave his home on the day that the parties finally separated.

In regard to the appellee’s absence from home in the evening while living in Waterloo, appellant testified: “He was out a good many evenings. I never recall he was out later than 11 o’clock. He would say some man had been at the elevator but he couldn’t go into details. He was going to meet him down town in the evening and go over the matter.” In answer to these charges the appellee testified that his absence from home in the evenings was due to the fact that he was operating an elevator at Dunkerton and was installing some new grinding machinery which took him away from home during some of the evenings. In connection with her complaint that appellee failed to take her to Waterloo for chiropractic treatments, she testified: “I had neuritis during a portion of the time that I lived in Dunkerton that I was hardly able to cut bread with my right hand. I came to Waterloo and took some electric and chiropractic treatments from Dr. R. D. Thompson. He said my husband ought to bring me in twice a week for treatment. I told him (appellee) about this neuritis and that I had a very bad cold, but he made no reply. He made no provision for my being brought over, nor did he make any excuse for not doing so. I came with my neighbors. My physician said that I did not come often enough to get results. I transmitted this information to my husband, but he said nothing, and he made no provision for me.” The appellee meets this with a denial of the charges and says that he never knew that *4 his wife was taking medical treatments while they lived at Dunkerton; that she never informed him of the treatments taken from Dr. Thompson and never asked him for. money to pay doctor bills. To appellant’s charge that appellee did not take her to places of amusement or to' Waterloo when he went there, appellee responded by denying the appellant’s charges and stating that there was hardly a Sunday but what they were some place until he got sick; that he went to church nearly every Sunday; that he visited her relatives with her; that after they moved to Dunkerton he came to Waterloo about twice a week to visit his doctor; and that she came with him most of the time. The charge that the appellee made numerous trips to Waterloo and was out late at night was met by the appellee by stating that he was under treatment by Dr. Butts, that he had about two treatments a week on Wednesday and Saturday, that he came at nights because he looked after the elevator during the daytime, and that he usually got there about 8 o’clock because the doctor did not get to his office until that time. Appellant herself testified that on an occasion when he was out late and claimed to have been attending a Masonic meeting, she talked to her husband about going over to Waterloo and about the lateness of the hours he was keeping, and he said that he had been to a Masonic lodge and that by the time he got refreshments and got out to ‘Dunkerton it was pretty late. She also said that on the occasion of an American Legion convention at Dunkerton, when he was out until about 11 to 12 o’clock, and she was alone and had to hunt up company among strangers, before he went hack downtown he agreed to meet one Elmer Gallup, and appellee testified that he had a transaction which he closed up with Mr. Gallup that night and that he got home at 11 o’clock. As to the appellant’s charge that the appellee did not talk to her socially and when spoken to by her answered in a sullen manner, we have searched the record and do not find that the appellee was questioned in regard to this matter either on direct or cross examination. However, appellee’s son Grif Agnew stated that he never saw any trouble between his father and Mrs.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hummel v. Hummel
206 N.W. 115 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1925)
Perry v. Perry
202 N.W. 572 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1925)
Inskeep v. Inskeep
5 Iowa 204 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1857)
Aitchison v. Aitchison
68 N.W. 573 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1896)
Wells v. Wells
89 N.W. 98 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1902)
Anderson v. Anderson
197 Iowa 383 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1924)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
248 N.W. 241, 216 Iowa 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/agnew-v-agnew-iowa-1933.