& Dev., Ltd., 469 N.W.2d 683, 686 (Iowa 1991) (tracing preference back to 1851). Today this preference is found in Iowa Code section 616.17, our general venue statute. See id. That statute provides: Personal actions, except as otherwise provided, must be brought in a county in which some of the defendants actually reside, but if neither of them have a residence in the state, they may be sued in any county in which either of them may be found. Iowa Code § 616.17 (2001). Although renumbered several times over the years, the substance of the statute has remained unchanged for over a century. Compare Iowa Code § 2586 (1873), with Iowa Code § 616.17 (2001). Clearly, the present personal-injury lawsuit is a “personal action” for purposes of the statute. See, e.g., Tull, 469 N.W.2d at 686 (<HOLDING>); Baker v. Ryan, 67 Iowa 708, 710, 25 N.W. 890,
holding a limitation on damages arising out of bodily injury to one person involved in an accident applies to all claims arising from the death of that person holding a negligence action arising out of an allterrain vehicle accident was a personal action holding that an action for the negligence of an architect in the performance of professional services is an action for breach of contract holding that nature of alleged bias must be personal and not arising out of litigation holding petition alleging negligence was a personal action