Jean de Saint Cyr

rdf:langString Jean de Saint Cyr

rdf:langString Jean Harold Edward de Saint Cyr

rdf:langString Jean Harold (Harald) Edward de Saint Cyr (April 9, 1875 – November 3, 1966) was the alias of John (Jack) Henry Edward Thompson of Waco, Texas. He was a fortune-hunting playboy who married three older wealthy widows. His first wife Caroline Redfield was 34 years older than he was. After her husband Henry Redfield died in 1907, she began to rely on Bob Swem (aka Robert von Schwemm), a mutual acquaintance of her husband's. Swem made himself indispensable to the widow Redfield, and was believed to be a fortune hunter. The two of them were in turn befriended by Saint Cyr, reportedly a hotel clerk who convinced both Swem and Redfield that he was affiliated with the entertainment business. When Saint Cyr became Caroline's live-in companion and escort, Swen was nudged out of the picture. Saint Cyr and Caroline married in 1909, and upon her January 1915 death, he inherited the bulk of her $1,000,000 estate. He married second wife Annie Armstrong Stewart Smith in April 1915. She was the widow of one of the world's wealthiest men, and 11 years older than Saint Cyr. They belonged to the international social set of wealthy people whose entire lifestyle consisted of attending parties. During this marriage, Saint Cyr affected fake non-American accents to suit whichever nationality he was pretending to be. The couple lived on her estate in San Mateo, California. Upon her 1925 death, Saint Cyr received one-third of the estate, and was also named as an executor of the will, and trustee over two of the estate's funds. The Eugene J. de Sabla, Jr., Teahouse and Tea Garden portion of the estate is currently on the National Register of Historic Places for San Mateo County, California. His third wife Helen Strong Carter was only nine years older than he was. Heiress to the Eastman Kodak fortune, and the widow of Hawaii governor George R. Carter, she and Saint Cyr married in April 1939, and she filed for divorce in December 1939.