Joel West Flood

Who was Joel West Flood?

Joel West Flood, was a lawyer, the brother of Henry De La Warr Flood, and uncle of Harry Flood Byrd, a Representative from Virginia. He was born near Appomattox, Appomattox County, Virginia, August 2, 1894. He attended Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va., the University of Virginia, and Oxford University.

After studying law he was admitted to the bar in 1917 and commenced practice in Appomattox, Virginia. He also engaged in agricultural pursuits; served from March 29, 1918, until his discharge July 18, 1919, as a private in Company A, Three Hundred and Fifth Engineers, Eightieth Division; served as colonel on the staff of Gov. E. Lee Trinkle of Virginia 1922-1926; elected Commonwealth attorney of Appomattox County in 1919 and served until November 8, 1932, having been elected to Congress; special assistant to the Attorney General of Virginia from April 1, 1928, to July 1, 1932; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry St. George Tucker and served from November 8, 1932, to March 3, 1933; was not a candidate for election to the Seventy-third Congress; resumed the practice of law and agricultural pursuits; delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1936; appointed assistant United States attorney for the Western District of Virginia and served from June 1, 1939, to January 28, 1940; elected as a judge of the fifth judicial circuit of Virginia in January 1940, in which capacity he served until his death in Richmond, Va., April 27, 1964; interment in the Flood Mausoleum, Appomattox Courthouse Square.