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Buda Godman (née Helen Julia Godman; December 4, 1888 – January 7, 1945) was an American criminal, actress, and singer. From 1907 to 1910, she was married to the popular songwriter and music publisher Tell Taylor. Six years after Taylor divorced her, Godman was arrested and released on bail for participating in a scheme to blackmail a wealthy widower. Godman attempted a scheme known as a "badger game," which involved framing a victim in an embarrassing and illegal situation that resulted in a staged arrest by fake law enforcement officials. Godman posed as an unmarried woman being held against her will in a hotel room across state lines, which, if true, would have been a violation of the Mann Act. The ensuing fake arrest went awry when the victim reported the incident to authorities.
Buda Godman | |
|---|---|
_Godman_-1919.jpg) | |
| Born | Helen Julia Godman December 4, 1888 Chicago |
| Died | January 7, 1945 (aged 56) Queens, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Helen Strong Alice Williams Helen Smith Louise French (1921) Helen Taylor (1907–1910) Mrs. Stoneham Helen Daniels (1945) |
| Criminal status | 1916: convicted, released on bail, jumped bail, charges eventually dropped 1932: convicted, sentenced to prison in New York |
| Spouse | 1907–1910: Tell Taylor |
| Parent(s) | Otho Godman Julia Conklin |
| Accomplice(s) | Jackie French Charles A. Stoneham |
In 1932, Godman, under the name of Helen Smith, was convicted for grand larceny and sentenced to prison in New York.
Buda was the daughter of a telegrapher and race track sheet-writer, Otho Godman. According to Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer, two former Chicago newspaper journalists, to protect her from growing up under bad influences, at age fifteen Buda was sent to St. Joseph’s Academy in Adrian, Michigan, a convent school. Her beauty was described as so fascinating that before maturity she stopped traffic on the streets. She was described as "petite, a wee trifle plump, with big steel-blue eyes, a tip-tilted nose, an oval face with a dimpled chin, a peewee mouth, and tiny hands and feet." As late as 1950 she was remembered as the prettiest girl ever born and raised in Chicago.[1] Other descriptions state that she was "a beautiful woman"[i] and "a small brunette... exceeding pretty with plenty of snap."[ii]
In 1916, Godman, under the alias "Alice Williams," persuaded Edward R. West, a wealthy business executive and widower from Hyde Park, Chicago, to travel with her from Chicago to New York City. West was the Vice President of the C. D. Gregg Tea and Coffee Company of St. Louis, Chicago, and New York. While "Miss Williams" and West were in their room at the Ansonia Hotel, two men, impersonating federal law enforcement agents, entered the room and "arrested" West for violation of the Mann Act.[iii]
The men transported West and Godman back to Chicago and coerced West into paying them $15,000 to avoid prosecution, embarrassment, and damage to his and Alice's reputation. West reported the incident after becoming suspicious.
Indicted co-conspirators in the scheme were Buda Godman, Helen Evers, Homer T. French, William Butler, Doc Brady (alias James Christian), and George Irwin.[1] Several of the male blackmailers were sentenced to prison. Godman was released on $10,000 bail ($877,000.00 in 2017) provided by two friends: Mrs. Susie Summerville and Mrs. Rene Bernice Morrow, née Martin. Morrow, in 1912, had been acquitted of the charge of murdering her husband. Summerville and Morrow forfeited bail when Godman skipped town and vanished for four years. In 1921, citing lack of evidence, the charges were dropped.[2]
This particular scheme is known as badger gaming—an extortion tactic where an attractive woman lures a wealthy man into a compromising position; an associate breaks in, takes some pictures, then they all sit down to haggle over the price.[3]
Buda, under the alias of Louise French, and Jack French were arrested February 2, 1921, in Chattanooga for producing and attempting to pass raised bills, a counterfeiting technique of gluing numerals onto low-denomination bills to make them look like higher denomination bills.[iv]
Godman was a paramour of Jackie French (né John Homer French), the bookmaker for Lou Blonger.
After the 1916 scandal, up through the mid-1920s, Godman became the protege of Charles A. Stoneham, who, among other things, owned the New York Giants baseball club and, in Havana, Cuba, owned the Cuba-America Jockey Club, the Havana Casino, and the Oriental Park Racetrack. For years, Godman's Park Avenue apartment served as a stage for criminals that included Arnold Rothstein, the gambler; Owney Madden, the Bear King; race track notables, and Broadway climbers. To the other residents of the apartment house, she was known as Mrs. Stoneham; for others, she had other names; and meanwhile the 1916 blackmail charges in Chicago had been dropped.
In 1932, Godman, under the alias "Helen Smith," was arrested and charged for an attempt to serve as a fence for $305,000 worth of stolen jewels from New York businessman Harry C. Glemby.[4][v] On November 10, 1932, Godman was convicted for grand larceny and sentenced to prison in New York for four to eight years.[vi] She began her sentence on November 17, 1932, as prisoner number 1652 at the Auburn Prison and,[vii] with other inmates, was transferred on June 30, 1933, to the Bedford Hills Prison.
Godman was the daughter of Otho James Godman (1863–1910) and Julia Conklin (1866–1930) of Chicago.[a] Otho had been a well-known telegraph operator[xi] and, in 1903, the first to operate a wireless telegraph on August 28, 1903, from a ship on Lake Michigan — the ship being the SS Milwaukee.[xii] Otho was also a horse race-sheet reporter, according to several sources.[1]
Godman had two older siblings: Hester Ann (1886–1923) and James Arthur (1887–1945). Hester accompanied her sister and Charles A. Stoneham on the trip to Cuba and its return. James followed his father in becoming a telegrapher.
From 1907 to 1910, Godman was married to Chicago music publisher and composer Tell Taylor. They married November 4, 1907, in Chicago. Godman had met Taylor about two years prior when Taylor had been a dinner guest at the St. Joseph's Convent and Academy in Adrian, Michigan, where Helen had been attending school. Taylor had just started his songwriting career and was appearing with a traveling stage company in Adrian. Godman and Taylor had become good friends before dinner was over but did not correspond afterward. Two years later, while attending the performance of "The Girl Question," by Howard, Adams, and Hough at the La Salle Theater in Chicago, Godman recognized Taylor and sent a note to him backstage, and they became reacquainted. After spending much of their time together lunching and dining during the following week, they met once again for dinner at a downtown Chicago hotel, and sent for a judge to marry them in the hotel's parlor.[xiii]
In 1910, Tell filed for divorce from Buda in Chicago. In late September of that year, the divorce was granted. In the proceedings, Tell accused Buda of having "affinities" with other vaudevillians[7] and stated, "I married Buda when we both were drunk and I found out she was quite incapable of loyalty to anyone."[xiv]
Under the name Helen Daniels, widow of Charles Daniels, Godman died January 7, 1945, in Queens, New York. At the time of her death, she lived at 38-19 50th Street in Sunnyside, Queens. She was buried Sunday, January 7, 1945, at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York,[5] her grave-site marked by a simple and unassuming granite headstone.
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