In October 1916, Franceska Neuhaus placed a small 2×2 inch display advertisement in the Lassen Advocate that for sale was the Commercial Hotel on the corner of Main and Union Streets, Susanville. She also offered 80 acres of timberland two miles from Susanville. Innocent enough? The hotel that she offered was named the St. Francis Hotel., after all there was the Commercial Hotel a block away on South Weatherlow Street. As to the timber property she did not own any.
This alarmed Leona Jackson, a granddaughter of Franceska. She went to court to file guardianship papers for her grandmother. Of course, a notice is required to be sent to all relatives. It turned into one of those proverbial “all hell broke loose.” Other relatives filed their own petitions seeking to be Franceska’a guardian. Most of 1917 was tied up in litigation over Franceska’a guardianship, until finally the court appointed, Franceska’s son, W.H. “Bill” Neuhaus her guardian. The following year, 1918, Franceska passed away, a victim of the Spanish Influenza.