JUNE 5th, 1923:RICHARD "BOSS" Croker ran Tammany Hall, the political machine in New York allied to the Democratic Party and synonymous with corruption, at the turn of the 20th century. Born in Ireland, he returned in old age, buying Glencairn in Sandyford, Co Dublin (later the home of the British ambassador), breeding racehorses, and bringing with him his second wife, Bula or Beulah, a Cherokee some 40 years his junior.
After his death in Dublin (where the city council made him a freeman) in 1922 – Arthur Griffith was among the pallbearers – his eldest son, Richard jnr, challenged his will, which had left everything to Bula. Croker and Richard jnr had been involved in a series of law suits against each other over trust funds. Richard jnr challenged his father’s will along with his sister, who claimed that Bula was already married to someone else in Massachusetts and thus was not her father’s lawful wife.
In the course of a 12-day hearing in the High Court in Dublin, Bula gave lengthy evidence and was cross-examined by Serjeant Sullivan, the barrister for Richard jnr, as today’s paper in 1923 reported.
CROSS-EXAMINED ON the subject of her husband’s property, the witness said that people said he was a millionaire, but she had not discovered it yet.
Some time after they were married her husband told her that he had spent all on his first family and that they had robbed him. He had not any great wealth at the time they were married.
Serjeant Sullivan – How much had he? – I could not tell you.
How much did you get from him? – Well, I am hoping to get what little he had left.
How much of the remainder of the robbery did you get? – He told me he wanted me to have every remainder that he had.
Was it worth $1,000? – I could not say.
The witness, when further questioned, said her husband had given her property over $1,000.
Serjeant Sullivan – Was it worth over $10,000?
Witness (after a pause) – I will say the property at Palm Beach at present is worth over $10,000 – yes, sir.
Did he give you property worth over $100,000? – Yes, sir, he did.
Did he give you property worth over $500,000 – No, sir; I do not say he did.
Did he give you bonds and shares, scrip, besides real estate? – Yes, sir; he did.
In or about, was it in excess of $500,000? – Yes.
How much was it in excess of $500,000? – I think it would be about $700,000.
That was apart from the real estate? – Yes . . .
Replying to further questions, the witness said she knew the traditions of Tammany, and the history of the period in which Richard Croker was Chief of the “Wigwam”. The terms of the Indian people were used in connection with Tammany. They called their officers “Sachems”, and Mr Croker was called Chief, and he was a beautiful one. In the beginning Tammany was a charitable organisation. Some people did not understand what Tammany stood for; it was to give men from different nations, including Ireland, a chance of locating themselves in America, and making an honest living.
It afterwards became political, and was known as the Democratic Party. There never was a finer organisation in the world than Tammany Hall.
You may sneer, the witness said, at Tammany Hall, but if you were in New York you would not sneer. Her husband, she said, loved and admired the Indian people, and her people were people who came from the soil and had worked for a living.
At the end of the case the jury found in her favour and she inherited a further £3 million from Croker’s estate.
