James Leary Flood was the son of James Clair Flood, owner of the Comstock Lode, and inherited the Flood fortune in 1889. The younger Flood was known for his high living and for a beautiful example of American architecture he commissioned in San Francisco for his wife, which is now known as the James Leary Flood Mansion.
James Leary Flood was also the subject of a notorious California court case immortalized in "The Strange Case of Constance Flood," which is still re-enacted in San Francisco today and is considered one of the most well known court cases in American history. James Leary Flood had married Rosina "Pete" Fritz and raised a young girl, Constance May, as a daughter in their home. After his wife's untimely death, Flood married her sister, Maude Lee Fritz, at which time young Constance was given a new surname, dispatched to a convent, and never invited to rejoin the Flood family. Following years of unsuccessful attempts to determine her true parentage, and then the death of Flood in 1926, Constance (grown and married) mounted a legal case seeking a daughter's inheritance of the Flood estate. A scandalous trial ensued in which Constance's mother was revealed as Eudora Ellen Forde Willette, while debate raged over whether her father was James Leary Flood or a late lighting man in a theater where her mother had worked. Judge George H. Buck halted the case mid-trial and demanded the jury find against Constance's claim, at which time the jury and the general public became enraged, and the case ended Judge Buck's career. Constance later settled out-of-court with the Flood estate.
At the time of his death, James Leary Flood was survived by his second wife, Maude Lee Fritz Flood, and their two children, Mary Emma Flood and James Flood. Another son, James L. Flood, Jr., had died at age 4 in 1907.
James Leary Flood was also the subject of a notorious California court case immortalized in "The Strange Case of Constance Flood," which is still re-enacted in San Francisco today and is considered one of the most well known court cases in American history. James Leary Flood had married Rosina "Pete" Fritz and raised a young girl, Constance May, as a daughter in their home. After his wife's untimely death, Flood married her sister, Maude Lee Fritz, at which time young Constance was given a new surname, dispatched to a convent, and never invited to rejoin the Flood family. Following years of unsuccessful attempts to determine her true parentage, and then the death of Flood in 1926, Constance (grown and married) mounted a legal case seeking a daughter's inheritance of the Flood estate. A scandalous trial ensued in which Constance's mother was revealed as Eudora Ellen Forde Willette, while debate raged over whether her father was James Leary Flood or a late lighting man in a theater where her mother had worked. Judge George H. Buck halted the case mid-trial and demanded the jury find against Constance's claim, at which time the jury and the general public became enraged, and the case ended Judge Buck's career. Constance later settled out-of-court with the Flood estate.
At the time of his death, James Leary Flood was survived by his second wife, Maude Lee Fritz Flood, and their two children, Mary Emma Flood and James Flood. Another son, James L. Flood, Jr., had died at age 4 in 1907.
James Leary Flood was the son of James Clair Flood, owner of the Comstock Lode, and inherited the Flood fortune in 1889. The younger Flood was known for his high living and for a beautiful example of American architecture he commissioned in San Francisco for his wife, which is now known as the James Leary Flood Mansion.
James Leary Flood was also the subject of a notorious California court case immortalized in "The Strange Case of Constance Flood," which is still re-enacted in San Francisco today and is considered one of the most well known court cases in American history. James Leary Flood had married Rosina "Pete" Fritz and raised a young girl, Constance May, as a daughter in their home. After his wife's untimely death, Flood married her sister, Maude Lee Fritz, at which time young Constance was given a new surname, dispatched to a convent, and never invited to rejoin the Flood family. Following years of unsuccessful attempts to determine her true parentage, and then the death of Flood in 1926, Constance (grown and married) mounted a legal case seeking a daughter's inheritance of the Flood estate. A scandalous trial ensued in which Constance's mother was revealed as Eudora Ellen Forde Willette, while debate raged over whether her father was James Leary Flood or a late lighting man in a theater where her mother had worked. Judge George H. Buck halted the case mid-trial and demanded the jury find against Constance's claim, at which time the jury and the general public became enraged, and the case ended Judge Buck's career. Constance later settled out-of-court with the Flood estate.
At the time of his death, James Leary Flood was survived by his second wife, Maude Lee Fritz Flood, and their two children, Mary Emma Flood and James Flood. Another son, James L. Flood, Jr., had died at age 4 in 1907.
James Leary Flood was also the subject of a notorious California court case immortalized in "The Strange Case of Constance Flood," which is still re-enacted in San Francisco today and is considered one of the most well known court cases in American history. James Leary Flood had married Rosina "Pete" Fritz and raised a young girl, Constance May, as a daughter in their home. After his wife's untimely death, Flood married her sister, Maude Lee Fritz, at which time young Constance was given a new surname, dispatched to a convent, and never invited to rejoin the Flood family. Following years of unsuccessful attempts to determine her true parentage, and then the death of Flood in 1926, Constance (grown and married) mounted a legal case seeking a daughter's inheritance of the Flood estate. A scandalous trial ensued in which Constance's mother was revealed as Eudora Ellen Forde Willette, while debate raged over whether her father was James Leary Flood or a late lighting man in a theater where her mother had worked. Judge George H. Buck halted the case mid-trial and demanded the jury find against Constance's claim, at which time the jury and the general public became enraged, and the case ended Judge Buck's career. Constance later settled out-of-court with the Flood estate.
At the time of his death, James Leary Flood was survived by his second wife, Maude Lee Fritz Flood, and their two children, Mary Emma Flood and James Flood. Another son, James L. Flood, Jr., had died at age 4 in 1907.
