Each member of the Rector family received a 160-acre allotment of rocky, unproductive land deemed unsuitable for farming. Had the U.S. government known at the time what flowed beneath Sarahs rocky acres, they likely would have reconsidered. 5 Factors Why You Should Be Selecting the Right Web Hosting Company. Jones produced a gusher on her land that brought in 2,500 barrels or 105,000 gallons per day. While living on Creek Indian land, Rectors parents Joseph and Rose were given hundreds of acres thought to be useless in 1907. At the height of her wealth, Sarah owned Rector Mansion, a large stone house on East 12th Street in Kansas City, and the entire block surrounding it. Along with the oil, the checks began flowing, as if by magic, to the Rectors, who, illiterate and barely scraping by, knew little about managing money. Although the image can be traced to the 1915 issue of the The American magazine, a now-defunct White-owned publication, Brown insists it is not her aunt. Sarah Rector became an extremely famous personality all over the country and some places in the world. Sarah and Kenneth had three sons, but in 1930 the marriage ended in divorce. Nicks herself had an affair with Mick Fleetwood in early 1978 while he was married to Jenny Boyd. Like most other dealings the government had with Indigenous Americans, it was not entirely honest. Her grandparents had been enslaved by Creek Indians and freed after the Civil War. Her fortune took a hit during the Great Depression, but she still owned properties in Kansas City and Oklahoma until her death from a stroke in 1967. Muscogee Judge Leahy wrote back and confirmed that Porter received less than two percent of Sarahs total income, that the Rectors lived in a new, fully-furnished five-room cottage, and that Sarah and her sister were set to attend a boarding school run by Booker T. Washington. Her sudden wealth became the object of racist news coverage. Privacy Policy We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. While lands granted to former slaves were usually rocky and infertile, Rectors allotment from the Creek Indian Nation was located in the middle of the Glenn Pool oil field and was initially valued at $556.50. Sarah Rector was 11 when oil was discovered on her land in Oklahoma in 1913. In 1887, the state declared the Dawes Allotment Act, which established that all Creek Freedmen minors had to be granted land. They drive by the abandoned Rector Mansion, boarded up and falling into disrepair, wishing that they could find a way to buy it back and bring it to its former glory. Rector died at the age of 65 on July 22, 1967. When Rector died at age 65 on July 22, 1967, her wealth was diminished, but she still had some working oil wells and real estate holdings. According to Tonya Bolden, author of Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America (Harry N. Abrams; $21.95), Rector began earning more than $300 a day in 1913. W.E.B. Du Bois, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and its magazine, the Crisis, became involved in Sarah Rectors case when Du Bois received a memo from James C. Waters, Jr., an attorney and agent affiliated with the NAACP, on June 18, 1914. Editors Note: This story was originally published on February 11, 2019, EVENTS Her last stop in Kansas City was none other than the old Rector Mansion, now a funeral home. The town belonged to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and was one of several all-Black towns set up specifically for descendants of Africans enslaved by the Nation prior to the Civil War. By the time she turned 18, Rector was worth an estimated $1 million, or about $11 million today. They divorced in 1930 and Rector remarried in 1934. Sarah Rector died in 1967 from a stroke at the age of 65. Upon graduation, she attended the Institute. The Rector family actually lived far better than advertised. Du Bois is said to have written directly to the county judge who oversaw Rectors affairs for more information. Her maternal great-great-grandmother had been enslaved by Creek Chief Opothle Yoholo in Alabama during the first half of the 19th century, according to Tonya Bolden, author of Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America published in 2014. A horse and buggy were purchased to spare the children the two-mile trek to school. In 1913, a speculator produced a gusher on Sarahs land. Later, Sarah received a phonograph, a piano and a Premier motor car, Bolden writes. For the first time, Brown heard the word: oil. The NAACP was able to convince the Rectors to send Sarah to the Tuskegee Institutes elementary school called the Childrens Home. Kim Kardashian is now officially a billionaire: Forbes estimates her net worth is approximately $1 billion, up from $780 million in October 2020. As a result, hundreds of black children, or Creek Freedmen minors, were each granted 160 acres of land as Indian Territory integrated with Oklahoma Territory to form the State of Oklahoma in 1907. DuBois. (Bolden said she found the disputed book cover photo in The American magazine. It has appeared on the cover of an award-winning book about Rector, on the Facebook page of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, and elsewhere. He focused on real estate development and his car dealership at 18th and Vine. Aboriginal American member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, "Remembering Sarah Rector, Creek Freedwoman", "The African-Native American Genealogy Blog", "Sarah Rector The Richest Black Girl In The World", "The Unlikely Baroness | This Land Press - Made by You and Me", "United Inner City Services Hope Murals Bring Attention to the Rector House", "Black History Month From the Archives Sarah Rector: The Richest Colored Girl in the World", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sarah_Rector&oldid=1142217379, American businesspeople in the oil industry, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 04:11. In a role not unfamiliar to descendants of historical figures, Brown said she finds herself constantly playing whack-a-mole as journalists and academics replicate earlier errors. [11], To help cover this expense, in February 1911, Joseph Rector leased Sarah's parcel to the Standard Oil Company. WebIn the 1920s, the Rector family moved to Kansas City where Sarah graduated from Lincoln High School. There, the Rectors eventually moved into a home that was a far cry from that weather-whipped two-room cabin in which Sarah began life. Along with her businesses, she owned 2,000 acres of river bottomland and was worth over $1 million. Last year we listed Elizabeth Holmes as the worlds youngest self-made woman billionaire, worth an estimated $4.5 billion. Assuming that, Sarahs acres seemed to be useless; little they everybody know, there was actually an oil field worth a fortune. Now, Forbes has released its 2021 list of the top 10 richest women in the world and in first place is LOreal heiress Franoise Bettencourt Meyers, with a staggering net worth of US$92.9 billion. But as Self Made shows, their marriage deteriorated as she grew successful, and they divorced in 1910. Management By Sydney Trent Although historical accounts clash, Sarah Rector is believed to be Americas second black millionaire after Madam C.J. Connecting oklahoma's electric cooperative communities. FOLLOW US ONTWITTERANDINSTAGRAM. The parcel allotted to Sarah Rector was located in Glenpool, 60 miles (97km) from where she and her family lived. Despite the wealth and businesses Sarah and her family ran, the Great Depression would take a toll on her fortune making her lose almost all her wealth. In 1922, she married Kenneth Campbell, the second African American to own an auto dealership. By the time Sarah was 18, she was worth well over one million dollars. Great greed followed great wealth, however, and the hunger for oil money sometimes led to murder, a phenomenon that played out notoriously in the decades-long killings of the Osage Indians for their oil rights beginning just a few years before Sarah struck it rich. The couple had three children and though over a decade of marriage enjoyed the status of being local royalty. We have things we would like to share with everyone., Today, their history is kept alive by relentless Rector women making sure their story from now on is told right.. reduce font size This is Sarah Rector, she said. Defeated, he sobbed all the way to Dallas on a train where he ended up in Baylor Hospital. . While her fortune had diminished over time, at her death, she still held considerable investments. Headlines such as Girls $112,000 a Year, Negro Girl Will Pay Largest Tax, and Negro Girl Rich From Oil- Has Income of $475 Daily More Soon sensationalized the story of a small girl and her familys reality. John Rector's mother Mollie McQueen was the Muscogee Opothleyahola, who fought in the Seminole Wars and split with the tribe, moving his followers to Kansas. In 1887, the state declared the Dawes Allotment Act, which established that all Creek Freedmen minors had to be granted land. When Sarahs popularity grew, her parents were forced to give up their guardianship status to a white man named T.J. Porter. Not in a position to pay for all of the acreage, Joe was able to get rid of Beckys land but was having trouble finding anyone to buy the rest. Sarah Rector was fortunate in that her guardian did not take advantage of her wealth and that the local law protected her (many other black children wound up being scammed out of their wealth or far worse). With Dave Stewart, Hall produced one of his albums titled 'Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine,' which has a #5 solo single named 'Dreamtime. Although Joseph Rector had selected Porter as Sarahs guardian before oil was discovered on her land, newspapers soon picked up the story that the Rector family was still living in relative poverty while Sarahs white guardian was making a killing off her oil. HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE, Age AintWhat?! Two years later, Rectors fortune took a major turn when independent oil driller B.B. BE 100s She married him in 1906 following her first marriage to Moses McWilliams at 14 and her second to a man named John Davis. At 18, Rector came fully into her wealth, free now of guardians. Sarah and her mother were known for their fancy Cadillacs, Lincolns and a Rolls Royce limo they raced around town. Yet the possibility of riches teased the imagination as landholders throughout Oklahoma began striking oil. Many Freedmen eked out a living raising corn, cotton and other common crops. This ended up not being true entirely but Sarah and her siblings were soon sent to school in Taft. Taft in Muskogee County (the Creeks were known as the Muscogee) was prominent among them as home to two newspapers, a general store, a bank, a soda factory and two hotels. Women of Power TECH, PODCASTS In late August 1913, B.B. When Sarah was 18 years old, she had a fortune estimated at $1 million, the equivalent of $11 million today. Part of the trick also included an annual payment of property tax of about 30 dollars; money Sarahs family didnt have to spare. Shes known as the first Black female millionaire to live in Kansas City, Missouri. Soon after arriving to Kansas City, the Rectors bought a sprawling stone foursquare at the corner of 2000 East 12th Street. The judge also approved money for Rector to attend the childrens school at Tuskegee Institute. When she died at age 65 on July 22, 1967, she only While Oprahs massive fortune wasnt built on acting, alone, she deserves to make the list. Mama Rose died in 1957, and Sarah passed in 1967 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Likely in order to escape scrutiny and not wanting to be the target of some greedy partys act, 1. Who is the poorest person in the world? In response to DuBoiss inquiry, Judge Leahy wrote a letter to the famous Black intellectual with a frank accounting of spending on Rectors behalf: $54,490 in eight months. Sarah Rector became a millionaire at the age of 11. Claim #2: China is a Good Faith Peacemaker . By the time she turned 18, Rector was worth an estimated $1 million, or about $11 million today. In fact, Sarahs parents had selected Porter as guardian of their daughters wealth, and he received only 2% of her total income. Her issues with disputed guardianship continued in Kansas City, She married her second husband, William Crawford, and lived a relatively quiet life. Thats the way she would put it. What changed Sarah and the Rectors life overall was a stroke of luck if you may say. She was in Kansas City, Mo., where her family had relocated a few years earlier. None of the allegations were true. She and Kenneth Campbell had three sons, Kenneth Jr., Leonard, and Clarence. PO Box 54309 and last updated 8:53 PM, Mar 02, 2021 KANSAS CITY, Mo. WebBorn as the daughter of freedmen in 1902, Sarah Rector rose from humble beginnings to reportedly become the wealthiest black girl in America. EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Limited Or Anthology Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie, EMMY NOMINATIONS 2022: Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. Another newspaper dubbed her the richest negro in the world. Her fame became widespread and she received numerous requests for loans, money gifts, and four marriage proposals. Historically, racism has managed to create a well-functioning system to perpetuate ideas of race superiority and oppression towards those considered inferior to them. This version has been corrected. Deborah Brown grew up calling her Aunt Sister, and she remembers her storied life through the haze of childhood in segregated Kansas City, Mo., more than a half a century ago. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Booker T. Washington even reportedly visited their home. The paper allegedly embellished details about the Rectors, saying that they lived in a shack, which generated concern from Black leaders like W.E.B. Browns mother insisted, too. WebShe recalls once during the Hotel California tour when Henley flew her in a cranberry-colored jet to the Omni in Atlanta to watch the show. Beckys land was in Okfuskee County, and Sarah and Joe, Jr. ended up with parcels 50 miles northwest of Taft.