James Flood   Bonanza King

James Clair Flood was born Oct. 25, 1826 on Staten Island, N.Y. He was attended public schools in New York City, worked in a shipyard, and in 1849 went to California to find his fortune in the gold fields. In the mining camp at Yerba he accumulated $3000 in gold and returned to New York City. He then moved with his parents to Illinois, where he purchased them a farm and again went to California.

With William S. O'Brien, a fellow traveler on his first trip, he set up a liquor Saloon in San Francisco in 1856, which became a headquarters for miners and dealers in mining claims. This led the partners to speculate in mining claims and they soon established a regular brokerage office. In 1862 they invested heavily in mining stocks of the Comstock Lode which proved exceedingly profitable. Flood and O'Brien joined J. M. Walker, James G. Fair and John W. Mackay, forming what became known as the Bonanza firm, in purchasing all the mines and claims in the Comstock Lode for a reported sum of $75,000. They immediately offered  $5,000,000 of stock of the Consolidated Virginia and the California mines on the market, developed those mines and in 1875 announced an astonishing discovery of silver. In six years the two properties yielded silver $172,275,270 in gold and, and the stock paid in dividends between 1875 and 1879. Speculation ran the price of shares up to $800 and the partners were reported to have divided $100,000,000 in profits.

Walker had sold out his interest to Mackay. This division gave Flood, Fair and O'Brien $20,000,000 each and J. W. Mackay $40,000,000. The production of the mines then fell off and the price of shares declined to $8. The partners then organized the Nevada Bank as a rival to the Bank of California in San Francisco.  Mr. Flood was appointed president of Nevada Bank.  W. C. Ralston was president of the Bank of California. The Bank of California was forced to suspend business on Aug. 26, 1875.  This calamity brought down with it two other San Francisco banks and reportedly was the cause of the suicide of Mr. Ralston.

Mr. Flood owned a house on Nob Hill (San Francisco) and an estate in San Matco. He died at Heidelberg, Germany, Feb. 21, 1889 at the age of 63.
 

For more see The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans: Volume IV