Bula Croker | |
|---|---|
 Croker in 1919 | |
| Born | Beulah Benton Edmondson February 17, 1884 |
| Died | March 16, 1957 (aged 73) |
| Other names | Bula Benton Edmondson, Beulah D. Edmondson, Bula E. Croker, Ketaw Kaluntuchy, Ketaw Kaluntchy Sequoi |
| Occupation(s) | Teacher, entertainer, treasure hunter |
| Years active | 1902–1955 |
Bula Croker, birth name Beulah Benton Edmondson, (February 17, 1884 – March 16, 1957) was a Native American teacher and women's suffrage activist. She rode a horse while dressed in Native attire in the 1913 suffrage parades in Washington, D. C. and along New York City's Fifth Avenue. While entertaining socialites with tales of her Cherokee ancestry, she met Richard Croker, a former Tammany Hall political boss and the two quickly became engaged. They married in 1914, despite a forty-year age difference, causing three of Richard's children from his first marriage to begin a series of lawsuits that would last for over fifteen years. The children claimed that Croker was not of Cherokee ancestry and accused her of fraud, but evidence proved that she was registered on the rolls of the Cherokee Nation. They also attempted to prove, unsuccessfully, that their father was incompetent. When Richard died in 1922, he disinherited all but one of his children and left his multi-million dollar estate to Croker. The three children attempted to break the will by claiming that Croker was a bigamist. They then tried to use a Florida statute to bar her from disposing of their Palm Beach properties because the sale would violate her right to dower and their right to inherit. In each claim, Croker eventually prevailed; however, the string of lawsuits, costs associated with her defense, and delays on being able to sell the properties, led her to file bankruptcy in 1937.
Croker became involved in politics in the 1930s. She supported Franklin Roosevelt and progressive policies. She was reported to be the first Palm Beach resident to allow Black beach-goers to use her beach. She was appointed to Governor David Sholtz's staff in 1932, becoming one of the first women to serve as staff to a governor in Florida. Because of a dispute with the federal agency which had oversight over the Palm Beach County Emergency Relief and Civil Works Council, which she chaired, Croker and the entire civil works council were dismissed from their posts in 1933. The following year she ran unsuccessfully as a Florida representative for the United States House. In 1945, she began searching for pirate treasure and launched thirteen unsuccessful ventures over the next decade. She was often covered in the international press before her death in 1957.