Stone Gardens: From Beatties Prairie to a castle in Dublin, Ireland Bula Croker lived a notorious and prosperous life
- Dennis McCaslin
- Apr 8
- 3 min read
Bula Croker, born Beulah Benton Edmondson on February 17, 1884, in Beatties Prairie, Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation, emerged from humble beginnings to become a figure entwined with one of America’s most notorious political machines.
Her life spanned the Cherokee plains, New York’s elite circles, and Ireland’s Glencairn Castle, marked by a high-profile marriage and prolonged legal battles.
Bula was the youngest of three daughters born to Michael Smith Edmondson and Florence Eugenia Williams. Her father, a cattleman and rancher, had migrated from Georgia and Texas after the Civil War, settling on a 750-acre ranch in Indian Territory.
Her mother, part Cherokee through her lineage tracing back to Susannah Emory and John Martin, enrolled Bula as a 1/16th Cherokee tribal member.
Bula grew up alongside sisters Cherokee Vashti (born 1879) and Gonia (born 1882) in a family tied to Cherokee prominence--her uncle, William Wirt Hastings, served as a U.S. Congressman and Attorney General for the Cherokee Nation.
Raised in Tahlequah, Bula attended Cherokee public schools and graduated from the Cherokee Female Seminary on May 29, 1902. She pursued further education, taking a course at the University of Chicago in 1906 to earn a teaching certificate, and later studied dramatic expression in Boston, New York City, and Paris between 1908 and 1913.
After graduating, Bula taught mathematics at the Cherokee Female Seminary and Cedar Bluff School. By 1908, she became principal of Sequoyah Public School in Tahlequah, overseeing eight teachers. In
In 1911, she opened a school for dramatic expression in Muskogee, giving readings over summers in New York and abroad. Her trajectory shifted in 1913 when she joined the women’s suffrage movement, riding horseback in Native attire during parades in Washington, D.C., on March 3, and New York City’s Fifth Avenue on May 3.
In 1914, while in New York, Bula met Richard Croker, the former Tammany Hall boss, through Andrew Freedman, a mutual acquaintance. Despite a 40-year age gap--Richard was 73, Bula 30--they married on November 25, 1914, at Nathan Straus’s home, with her uncle William Hastings giving her away.
The couple honeymooned at Croker’s Palm Beach property, the Wigwam, before settling primarily at Glencairn Castle near Dublin, Ireland, where Richard raised racehorses. They wintered in Florida, where Bula hosted social events.
Richard’s death on April 29, 1922, triggered over 15 years of legal battles with his children from his first marriage--Richard Jr., Howard, and Ethel. The siblings contested Bula’s inheritance, alleging she married their father for his wealth and questioning her Cherokee heritage.
Court records confirmed her tribal enrollment, refuting fraud claims, and attempts to prove Richard incompetent failed. The disputes centered on properties like the Wigwam, originally purchased in 1909 and later deeded to Bula and Richard jointly in 1917. Litigation began in 1923 and persisted until 1943.
Financial strain mounted for Bula. By 1937, she filed for involuntary bankruptcy, with debts exceeding $1 million against $400 in assets, having mortgaged both the Wigwam and Glencairn heavily.
The Wigwam was demolished in 1948 after falling into disrepair.
Post-marriage, Bula engaged in politics, supporting Franklin Roosevelt and progressive
causes. In 1932, she joined Florida Governor David Sholtz’s staff, one of the first women in such a role, and chaired the Palm Beach County Emergency Relief and Civil Works Council until her dismissal in 1933 amid a federal dispute.
She ran unsuccessfully for U.S. House representative in 1934. From 1945 to 1955, she pursued 13 failed treasure-hunting ventures, gaining international press coverage.
Bula Croker died on March 16, 1957 in West Palm Beach, Florida after living in the Sunshine state for 43 years, leaving a life that bridged Cherokee roots and Tammany Hall’s legacy.
Her body was returned to the Oklahoma of her youth, and she was interred at the Woodlawn Cemetery n Tahlequah.
