FATHER. He by whom a child is be gotten.
2. By law the father is bound to support his children, if of sufficient ability, even though they have property of their own, 1 'Brown, Ch. 387 ; 4 id. 224; 2 Cox, N. J. 223 ; 4 Mass. 97 ; 5 Rawle, Penn. 323 ; 6 Ind. 67 ; but if the father he without means to main tain and educate his children according to their future expectations in life, courts of equity will make an allowance for these pur poses out of the income of their estates, and, in an urgent case, will even break into the principal. 19 Ala. N. s. 650 ; 1 Ves. Ch. 160; I P Will. Ch. 493 ; 2 id. 22 ; 4 Sandf. N. Y.
568 ; 4 Johns. Ch. N. Y. 100 ; 2 Ired. No. C. 354 ; 2 Ashm. Penn. 332 ; 6 R. I. 269 ; 1 Coop. Eq. 52. The father is not bound, how ever, without some agreement, to pay another for maintaining them, 9 Carr. & P. 497 ; nor is he bound by their contracts, even for neces saries, unless an actual authority be proved, or a clear omission of his duty to furnish such necessaries, 2 Stark. 601 ; 20 Eng. L. & Eq. 281; 10 Barb. N. Y. 483 ; 24 id. 634; 15 Ark. 137; 3 N. H. 270 ; 2 Bradf. Surr. N. Y. 287 ; 18 (la. 457, or unless he suffers them to re main abroad with their mother, or forces them from home by hard usage. 3 Day, Conn. 37. See PARENT; MOTHER. The obligation of the father to maintain the child ceases as soon as the child becomes of age, however wealthy the father may be, unless the child becomes chargeable to the public as a pauper. 1 Ld. Raym. 699. The obligation also ceases dur ing the minority of the child, if the child voluntarily abandons the home of his father, either for the purpose of seeking his fortune in the world or to avoid parental discipline and restraint. 16 Mass. 28 ; 4 Ill. 179 ; 14 Ala. 435.
3. During the lifetime of the father, he is guardian by nature or nurture of his children. As such, however, he has charge only of the person of the ward, and no right to the con trol or possession either of his real or personal estate. 7 Cow. N. Y. 36 ; 15 Wend. N. Y. 63 ; 7 Johns. Ch. N. Y. 3; 3 Pick. Mass. 213; 14 Ala. 388. He is entitled to the custody of his children even in preference to the mother, 24 Barb. N. Y. 521 ; 6 Rich. Eq. So. C. 249, 344; 2 Serg. & R. Penn. 176; though children of very tender years will not he taken from the mother where their health requires a mother's care, 3 Binn. Penn. 320 ; 25 Wend.
N. Y. 64 ; 2 Zabr. N. J. 286 ; and the father may be deprived of the custody of his children, if morally unfit to have it. 2 Russ. Ch. 1 ; 2 Bligb, Hou. L. N. s. 124 ; 10 Ves. Ch. 62; 12 id. 492 ; 11 Eng. L. & Eq. 281. The rights of the father, while his children remain in his custody, are to have authority over them, to enforce all his lawful commands, and to correct them with moderation for disobedience, 2 Humphr. Tenn. 283 ; and these rights, the better to accomplish the purposes of their education, he may delegate to a tutor or in structor. 2 Kent, Comm. 205. He may main tain an action for the seduction of his daughter, or for any injury to the person of his child, so long as he has a right to its services. 5 East, 47; 2 Mees. & W. Exch. 539 ; 13 Gratt. Va. 726 ; 6 Ind. 262 ; Ware, Dist. Ct. 75 ; 24 Wend. N. Y. 429 7 Watts, Penn. 62. Gene rally, the father is entitled to the services or earnings of his children duringtheir minority, so long as they remain members of his family, 4 Mas. C. C. 380; 7 Mass. 145 ; 2 Gray, Mass. 257 ; 17 Ala. N. s. 14; but he may relinquish this right in favor of his children, 12 Mass. 375 ; 2 Mete. Mass. 39 ; 7 Cow. N. Y. 92 ; 14 Ala. N. s. 753 ; 11 Humphr. Tenn. 104 ; 4 Serg. & R. Penn. 207 ; 2 Vt. 290 ; 29 id. 514 ; 21 Penn. St. 222 ; and he will be presumed to have thus relinquished this right if he abandons or neg lects to support and educate hie children. Ware, Dist. Ct. 462. 3 Barb. N. Y. 115 ; 6 Ala. N. s. 501 ; 15 Maas. 272.
4. An agreement of the father, by which hie minor child is put out to service, ceases to be binding upon the child after the father's death, unless made by indentures of appren ticeship. 34 N. H. 49. Thepower of the father ceases on the arrival of his children at the age of twenty-one ; though if after that age they continue to live in the father's family, they will not he allowed to recover for their services to him upon an implied promise of payment. 3 Penn. St. 473 Ill. 33 N. H. 581; 22 Mo. 439 ; 6 Ind. 60 ; 10 Ill. 296.
A step-father is not bound to suppoit and educate his step-children, nor is he entitled to their custody, labor, or earnings, unless he assumes the relation of parent. 11 Barb. N. Y. 224; 19 Penn. St. 360; 18 Ill. 46 ; 1 Bush. No. C. 110 ; 3 N. Y. 312.