On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. reduce font size [1] The wedding was a very private affair with only her mother and Campbell's paternal grandmother present. Sarah Rector was not immune from the Great Depression, however, which cost her most of her fortune and Sarah Rectors net worth at the time of her death is a matter of debate and speculation. She threw lavish parties and entertained celebrities such as Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Born as the daughter of freedmen in 1902, Sarah Rector rose from humble beginnings to reportedly become the wealthiest black girl in the nation at the age of 11. Browns mother insisted, too. In 1913, a speculator produced a gusher on Sarahs land. On Browns visit to the D.C. area, she set out with Riffle for the Smithsonians National Museum of African American History and Culture bearing the faded photographs of Rector as a woman. Kansas City, Missouri Gina Dimuro is a New York-based writer and translator. Sarah Rector was 11 when oil was discovered on her land in Oklahoma in 1913. Her mother, Rosa Rector, would simply say, Aunt Sister can afford to do that, Brown said. Back then, it was known as Twine, Indian Territory, since Oklahoma had not yet been incorporated as a state. reset to default font size The White-owned newspapers, seemingly unconstrained by facts and at times human decency, were openly racist in their coverage. The federal government required the appointment of financial guardians, usually White men, to manage the oil wealth of Native Americans and Freedmen. After learning about Sarah Rector, read about Mansa Musa, who may have been the richest person ever. She had been born into poverty as a member of the Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma in 1902, and received, as did every member of the Nation, a plot of undesirable land in the territory when it was made a state in 1907. Her parents were African American members of the Muscogee Creek Nation. By then, Rector owned stocks and bonds, a boarding house, a bakery and the Busy Bee Caf in Muskogee, Okla. In 1913, the independent oil driller B.B. Sarah Rector moved to Kansas City in 1917, where she finished high school and stayed for the rest of her life. Later, Sarah received a phonograph, a piano and a Premier motor car, Bolden writes. In researching Sarah Rector, she decided to go directly to Brown and her three sisters who are still right there in Kansas City. The investments and payments to Sarah were overseen by Judge Thomas Leahy, who, by accounts of the time, was one of Muskogee Countys most honorable men. Sarah Rector, also known as Sarah Rector Campbell and Sarah Campbell Crawford, (March 3, 1902 July 22, 1967)[1] was a Creek Freedwoman and oil magnate once known as the "Richest Colored Girl in the World".[2][3]. Sarah Ferguson says the late Queen was her 'total idol' and 'put you at ease straightaway' - and admits when her corgis 'bark at nothing' she 'believes it's the monarch passing by' By the time she turned 18, Rector was worth an estimated $1 million, or about $11 million today. Thats the way she would put it. No one took the time to teach her how to spend the money or how to invest it, Brown said. Decades after the Rectors made Missouri home, Browns parents warned their children never to inquire about their aunts land in Oklahoma. Today, people refer to the house inaccurately as the Sarah Rector Mansion when the truth is her mother purchased it and her whole family lived there. Rectors spending was legendary, and she routinely drove around town in one of her expensive vehicles. In 1914, an African American Journal called The Chicago Defender, published a set of articles on Sarah Rector and her fortune after her name was becoming more and more popular. Historically so. Kansas City Rectors cut was $300 each day, a considerable amount at the time. Crystal click on the link The New Santa Fe Trailer for a longer more in depth story. Eventually, Sarah married William Crawford, a restaurateur whom she helped to open a second restaurant in Tulsa. 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. (Museum officials did not respond to a request for comment for this story.). The family lived simply but not in poverty; however, the $30 annual property tax on Sarah's parcel was such a burden that her father petitioned the Muskogee County Court to sell the land. At some point, the mansion was sold and Rector moved into a more modest house. Likely in order to escape scrutiny and not wanting to be the target of some greedy partys act, WebIn the 1920s, the Rector family moved to Kansas City where Sarah graduated from Lincoln High School. Her parents, Joseph Rector and his wife, Rose McQueen (both born 1881) were African descendants of the Creek Nation Creek Indians before the Civil war. Yet depending on the publication, the family was either senselessly rich or persistently poor. The White-owned newspapers across the country heralded young Sarah as the worlds richest Negro girl and gushed about her supposed fairy-tale life, all the while suggesting she was unworthy of it. BLACK ENTERPRISE is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. Their backward and insistent narrative has even taken them to resort to legal shenanigans to maintain their speech and benefit from it. Shes known as the first Black female millionaire to live in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1887, the state declared the Dawes Allotment Act, which established that all Creek Freedmen minors had to be granted land. 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. Nicks herself had an affair with Mick Fleetwood in early 1978 while he was married to Jenny Boyd. For the first time, Brown heard the word: oil. Eventually, it netted her upwards of $8,000 per day in todays currency. 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. She also owned stocks and bonds, a boarding house, a bakery and restaurant inMuskogee, Oklahoma, and 2,000 acres of land. They divorced in 1930 and Rector remarried in 1934. A record 13 feet of snow accumulated in the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range by Tuesday evening - the heaviest snow fall since 1985. Several speeding tickets were issued to both of themespecially to Sarah. [7] This was a mandatory step in the process of integration of the Indian Territory with Oklahoma Territory to form what is now the State of Oklahoma.[8][9]. Her memory of Aunt Sister is all about family. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. Sarah married her first husband, Kenneth Campbell, in 1920. Kim Kardashian is now officially a billionaire: Forbes estimates her net worth is approximately $1 billion, up from $780 million in October 2020. The Rector Mansion in Kansas City still stands though, and her descendants hope to buy it back from the city and turn it into a museum about her life. How Sarah Rector Became The Richest Black Girl In America In The Early 20th Century. She married him in 1906 following her first marriage to Moses McWilliams at 14 and her second to a man named John Davis. 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. If you're unfamiliar with the story, The Richest Black Girl in America is set in the early 1900s, and follows the true tale of Sarah Rector, an 11-year-old Black girl in Jim Crow America, who is given reparations in the form of uninhabitable land by the U.S. government.Although initially the land seemed useless, "a misplaced band-aid on He also concluded that the men that wrote her were fine looking chaps.. Many Freedmen eked out a living raising corn, cotton and other common crops. Sarahs cut per day was $300. It would be wonderful to see a bio about her!. Rector, whose relatives had been enslaved by Creek Indians and later lived among the tribes members in Oklahoma, was just 11 in 1913 when Black Gold was discovered on her allotment of tribal land. In March, 1912, oil driller B.B. Not too long afterward, Manuel disappeared into the sunset and Joe, embarrassed, finally wired his wife for the money to get home. Without being able to farm and make some profit from the land, Sarahs father, Joseph, petitioned the Muskogee County Court to be able to sell the land. By October 1913, 11-year-old Sarah received $11,567 in royalties from the gusher. What changed Sarah and the Rectors life overall was a stroke of luck if you may say. Two years later, wildcatter B.B. Enter your email address to follow this site and receive news sent to your email. Then, in the fall of 1913, an independent driller struck liquid gold on Sarah Rectors land, bringing the family royalties of $300 per day, about $8,000 today. Spain 's By 1922, Sarah was able to make her own decisions, and she married her first husband that year. She was declared as a white person so she could fit in the socialit circles of her time. If youre unfamiliar with the story, The Richest Black Girl in America is set in the early 1900s, and follows the true tale of Sarah Rector, an 11-year-old Black girl in Jim Crow America, who is given reparations in the form of uninhabitable land by the U.S. government. If theres a lesson for others in her legacy, its in the importance of financial literacy, she said. Most of the fancy parties that Sarah had where celebrities such as Duke Ellington would attend werent at the Rector mansion- they were at her home at 2600 Lockridge where she had purchased several homes on the block. Details of the life of the person: Sarah Rector was born in 1902 in Oklahoma in Indian Territory. There are few records of abuses and attempted abuses suffered by Sarah and other child landowners, but her wealth and property rights made her a target for exploitation. Historically, racism has managed to create a well-functioning system to perpetuate ideas of race superiority and oppression towards those considered inferior to them. Joe Rectors attempts to lease it for oil and natural gas exploration at first netted little. Washington also intervened to help the Rector family. She never managed to recover all that wealth, though she lived comfortably for the rest of her life until the age of 65. The Creeks called them Estelvstethe Black People. Management Jerome Kerviel is the poorest person on the planet. In the internet era, she said with a sigh, it sometimes seems like a losing battle. 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. Mama Rose died in 1957, and Sarah passed in 1967 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Sarahs parents had selected a white guardian for her Thomas Jefferson Porter. She also owned stocks and bonds, a boarding house, a bakery and restaurant in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and 2,000 acres of land. Mansa Musa, who may have been the richest person ever. Which Teeth Are Normally Considered Anodontia? Walker, achieving that distinction as a teenager. 5 Factors Why You Should Be Selecting the Right Web Hosting Company. But the land given to the Freedmen was of generally inferior quality rocky and unfit for farming, hardly worth the tax burden. When the Indian territory where Rector was born became Oklahoma in 1907, the federal government granted each member of the Creek Nation a land allotment, including descendants of people enslaved by the Nation like four-year-old Sarah Rector. She felt betrayed by her bandmate. Along with her businesses, she owned 2,000 acres of river bottomland and was worth over $1 million. This was an irrevocable law so that Oklahoma could be integrated into US territory. Shortly thereafter, he died and was buried in Blackjack Cemetery in Taft. The Rector family actually lived far better than advertised. DuBois. Sarah Rector, the daughter of Creek Indian freedmen, rose from humble beginnings in a wind-swept two-room cabin near the tiny town of Twine in Indian Territory to become the richest Black girl in America when she was 11 years old. We use our own and third-party cookies to personalize and improve the use and experience of our users on our website. More intriguing, what happened to this young African American woman who was part of the Creek [Indian] freedmen? Sarah Rector was born in 1902 near the all-black town of Taft, located in the eastern portion of Oklahoma, in what was then Indian Territory. Please be sure to open and click your first newsletter so we can confirm your subscription. The Smithsonian can count on it, she said: Shell be back in touch. The devastation of the Tulsa Race Massacre. That year Rector married Kenneth Campbell, and the couple had three sons, Kenneth, Jr., Leonard, and Clarence. Thank you for subscribing! BE 100s Rector and her siblings went to school in Taft, an all-black town closer than Twine, they lived in a modern five-room cottage, and they owned an automobile. The most vexing bit to Brown: the black-and-white photo of the somber-faced girl with pigtails wearing a dark plaid dress. She even generated $11,567 in October 1913. Land also required payment of taxes per year. Sarah had five siblings and although they lived in relatively good conditions, they werent a wealthy family that could just start a millionaire business. The land became part of the famous Cushing-Drumright Oil Field and it propelled Rector into both spotlight and scandal. Rector married the first of her two husbands at the age of 20 and bore three sons, all now deceased. 1. Who is the poorest person in the world? 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 became an extremely famous personality all over the country and some places in the world. When her fortune topped $10,000 a month at the age of 13, a probate judge appointed a white guardian for her although both her parents were still alive. Her mother insisted that older sister Becky go along to ensure her younger sister was tended to. They had to petition a court to obtain it or otherwise request a white guardian. [4] In June of that year, a special agent for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), James C. Waters Jr., sent a memo to Du Bois regarding her situation. HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE, Age AintWhat?! [4] Sarah Rector died in 1967 from a stroke at the age of 65. Du Bois himself got involved, hoping to verify this story and rectify any injustice done to Sarah. Moreover, Sarahs parents, Joseph and Rose, were also forced to pay a land tax of $30 per year on their daughters property. One newspaper dubbed her the richest negro in the world.. The truth: At the time, Rector was living with both her parents in a two-room cabin. Oh my goodness! Sarah Rector was born in 1902 near the all-black town of Taft, located in the eastern portion of Oklahoma, in what was then Indian Territory. [12] Thus, as soon as Rector began to receive this windfall, there was pressure to change Rector's guardianship from her parents to a local white resident named T.J. (or J.T.) They had three children: Becky (b. Im not going to leave them so they can sit on someones desk, Brown said. Shed yet to become a millionaire, crossing that threshold at about 18, with oil earnings that would be worth $14 million today. Each freedman was given 160 acres of land. Sarah Rector was born in 1902 to a freed black couple, Rose McQueen and Joseph Rector. Rector died at the age of 65 on July 22, 1967. Wanting to have the real scoop on Sarah, the Defender published an article claiming that she was an uneducated girl dressed in rags raised by ignorant parents who had given a white man all rights to her state. A trillionaire is an individual with a net worth equal to at least one trillion in U.S. dollars or a similarly valued currency, such as the euro or the British pound. Her issues with disputed guardianship continued in Kansas City, Rectors spending was legendary, and she routinely drove around town in one of her expensive vehicles. Her descendants never knew. Soon, the wells, which would come to number in the dozens, were pumping 2,500 gallons a day, with about $300 a day a 12.5 percent cut flowing Sarahs way, Bolden writes. Entrepreneurs Summit The sensationalism that dogged Rector in her youth has continued long after her death. Walker did steal the base formula from Turnbo before adapting it into her own Wonderful Hair Grower. At that point, she left Tuskegee and, with her entire family, moved to Kansas City, Missouri. She drove a green and black Cadillac, later adding a silver-plated Lincoln and a chauffer-driven Rolls Royce. Who was this girl, and how did she become one of the richest people in the early-20th-century US? Rector was already a millionaire by the time she had turned 18. Evidently the color of an heiress does not matter if the color of her gold is genuine, wrote Edward Curd, Sarahs attorney. 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. She is interred in Blackjack Cemetery in her childhood hometown of Taft.[17]. SistersInc. She was in Kansas City, Mo., where her family had relocated a few years earlier. DuBoisbecame concerned about her welfare. The family lived in what was called the Rector Mansion in Kansas City, but wrangling over Rectors earnings and financial mismanagement continued until she was 20. The Creek Freedmen settled in an area known as Blackjack near Muskogee, OK. Joe Rector (b. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. Unfortunately, Rector lost a majority of her wealth during The Great Depression and moved out of her For their part, Black-owned newspapers, including the influential Chicago Defender, speculated anxiously that Rectors White guardian was taking advantage of her and shortchanging her education. Richest Colored Girl Forced to Live in Shack, the Defender proclaimed. ), Although slavery was not common among Native Americans, prominent members of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole tribes in the southeastern states sometimes enslaved people, in part to flaunt them as status symbols. Rector began to receive a daily income of $300 from this strike. Rector Family PhotographSarah Rector moved to Kansas City in 1917, where she finished high school and stayed for the rest of her life. Rectors life story did not need embellishment. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Soon, the NAACP and W.E.B. When a change to Oklahoma law raised the legal age from 18 to 21, a local white man attempted to make himself the young millionaires legal guardian. The couple had three sons and were recognized as local royalty, driving expensive cars and entertaining elites like Joe Louis, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie at their home. Sarah Rector, Kansas Citys First Black Millionairess, was known in Kansas City for her fairy tale ascension to money and fame, fine living at Rector Mansion, and reported entertaining of African American celebrities such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Joe Louis, and Jack Johnson. Jones struck a gusher on Sarahs land that produced 2,500 barrels a day, which gave Sarah a whopping daily income of $300. Currently, no one has yet claimed trillionaire status, although some of the worlds richest individuals may only be a few years away from this milestone. B. Jones produced a gusher that brought in 2500 barrels a day. 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. In late August 1913, B.B. 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. The most important part of this saga is the simple fact that her family got lost within the tabloids tabloids worldwide that painted a picture of a poor little black girl from Oklahoma who slept on dirt floors, struck it rich, was taken advantage of and lived frivolously. When the public learned how much Rector was earning, her guardianship was transferred from her parents to a white man named T.J. Porter. You might like this: Mansa Musa I: The Richest Man In History Was An African King, Not Jeff Bezos. WebBorn as the daughter of freedmen in 1902, Sarah Rector rose from humble beginnings to reportedly become the wealthiest black girl in America. Later, she sounded frustrated. She owned stocks, bonds, a boarding house, businesses, and a 2,000-acre piece of prime river bottomland. National African American leaders such asBooker T. Washington andW.E.B. 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. Ive heard so much of Ms. Rector during my life and am so grateful to the family for sharing the truth! She is recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the Guinness Book of World Records. One of his slaves was Mollie, Sarah Rectors great-grandmother. Rector became a millionaire after oil was drilled on her land. 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. Who is the first richest woman in the world? How the author stumbled on Sarahs story is included in this spellbinding presentation of an early America and real-life mysteries. Booker T. Washington even reportedly visited their home. It is important to hear from those directly concerned, rather than base research solely on archival material like newspaper clippings. [6] Sarah Rector was allotted 159.14 acres (64 hectares). I purchased the book of The Richest Colored Girl. Some of these statements are partially true, but the true story of Sarah should be told through her family. She divorced Campbell and married restaurant owner William Crawford, who she remained with until she died. The couple had three sons before divorcing in 1930. This caused National African American leaders Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Brown walked up to the visitors desk and asked the two women behind the counter if she could speak to a museum official to explain the photos before handing them over. 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). Were no interviews or oral histories ever conducted and recorded with Ms Rector, her parents or her siblings in their lifetime? She sued her enslaver for reparations and won. The richest kid in the world is Prince George Alexander Louis who is worth approximately $1 billion dollars as of today. was an adman and salesman. In the late 1950s, Brown was 7 and Rector was in her late 50s when Aunt Sister would have her and her mother, Rectors youngest sister, down to her farm. The 12-year-old was soon receiving marriage proposals from suitors as far away as Germany. Sarah Rector Campbell Crawford, or Sarah Rector (ca. [16], Rector died on July 22, 1967, at the age of 65. This prompted Du Bois to establish the Children's Department of the NAACP, which would investigate claims of white guardians who were suspected of depriving black children of their land and wealth. Sarah and her mother were known for their fancy Cadillacs, Lincolns and a Rolls Royce limo they raced around town. Primarily to generate enough revenue to pay the $30 annual tax bill, in February 1911 Rectors father leased her allotment to the Devonian Oil Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sarah was born on March 3, 1902. What happened to Sarah Rectors money? She can afford it. She never said she was rich.. She purchased a house on 12th Street, known as the Rector House, which is currently owned by a local nonprofit, with the intention of restoration and historical and cultural preservation. Sarahs experiences encouraged officials in Oklahoma to provide badly needed protection for children caught up in the oil boom, especially Black and indigenous children who became targets of unscrupulous men attempting to snatch their money. Born as the daughter of freedmen in 1902, Sarah Rector rose from humble beginnings to reportedly become the wealthiest black girl in the nation at the age of 11. Sarah's father Joseph was the son of John Rector, a Creek Freedman. Her great-grandparents had been slaves of the Creeks in their ancestral homelands in Alabama and Georgia, but after the Civil War, Creek slaves were freed. By the time Sarah was 18, she was worth well over one million dollars. [3] Rector and her family relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, and settled in a large stone American foursquare home located at 2000 East 12th Street that still stands today. In October 1913, Rector received royalties of $11,567. She had three boys. In the 1920s, the Rector family moved to Kansas City where Sarah graduated from Lincoln High School. The retired phys ed teacher had traveled from Kansas City to Maryland with her partner to coach a womens softball tournament. An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the name of Muskogee County. The family perspective is essential and its wonderful that they are determined to set the story straight. Yet the possibility of riches teased the imagination as landholders throughout Oklahoma began striking oil. Sales Partnership Solutions Library of CongressW.E.B. The couple had three children and though over a decade of marriage enjoyed the status of being local royalty. According to historian Tonya Bolden in her biography Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America, Jefferson had been the familys benefactor for years and long before there was any probability of them every having money.. She had five siblings. Sarah Rector became a millionaire at the age of 11. Both of Sarahs grandfathers had fought with the Union Army during the Civil War, and when Indian Territory became Oklahoma in 1907 the Dawes Allotment Act divided Creek lands among tribal members and their former slaves. Her final resting place in the ground was back where the story beginsin Taft, in a peaceful parcel of land known as Blackjack Cemetery. In September 1913, The Kansas City Star local newspaper published the headline, Millions to a Negro Girl Sarah Rector, 10-Year Old, Has Income of $300 A Day From Oil, reports Face 2 Face Africa. City to Maryland with her partner to coach a womens softball tournament experience of our on. Settled in an area known as Blackjack near Muskogee, Okla perspective is essential and its wonderful that they determined... Rector died in 1967 from a stroke at the age of 20 and bore three before... - the heaviest snow fall since 1985 for her Thomas Jefferson Porter to make her own,! Sister is all about family from Kansas City, Mo., where she finished high school and stayed the... To Jenny Boyd eventually, Sarah married William Crawford, who may have the! Person so she could fit in the world first newsletter so we can confirm your subscription a womens softball.! An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the name of what happened to sara recor County were no or... 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