In 1913, an oil driller discovered a gusher that produced a reported 2,500 barrels per day. Around the same time, two children of Freedmen whose allotments had spouted oil were murdered by dynamite as they slept. She died on July 22, 1967, and she only had some oil wells working and some real estate holdings. Still, after being declared white, Sarah Rector was fully accepted into the elite circles of Oklahoma. Everyone has their own agenda (even those directly concerned) so we have to take bias into account. How Sarah Rector Became The 'Richest Black Girl In America' Sarahs luck hit in part because of her ancestry and the way in which land allotments for Native Americans- and their freedmen slaves- occurred in Oklahoma. 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. She even generated $11,567 in October 1913. Along with her businesses, she owned 2,000 acres of river bottomland and was worth over $1 million. Soon, the NAACP and W.E.B. Newspaper articles about Sarah Rector spread throughout America and were filled with the casual racism of the era. reset to default font size Of course, people never stopped trying to take advantage of Rectors fortune. In 1922, she married Kenneth Campbell, the second African American to own an auto dealership. 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. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. Through sheer chance Sarah Rector became one of the richest children in America. 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. Oil Made Pickaninny Rich blared a headline in The Washington Post, which described Rector in 1914 as an orphan, crude, Black and uneducated, yet worth more than $4,000,000.. In 1913, however, her fortunes changed when wildcat oil driller B. 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. [14], Soon after moving to Kansas City, when she was 17 or 18, she married local businessman Kenneth Campbell in 1920. Management Walker (born Sarah Breedlove; December 23, 1867 May 25, 1919) was an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political and social activist. 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 issues with disputed guardianship continued in Kansas City, Rectors spending was legendary, and she routinely drove around town in one of her expensive vehicles. Rector's parents, Rose McQueen and her husband, Joseph Rector (both born 1881),[4] were the Black grandchildren of Creek Indians before the Civil War,[5] and were descendants of the Muscogee Creek Nation after the Treaty of 1866. As a result, Rectors guardianship switched from her parents to a white man named T.J. Porter. about $11 million In researching Sarah Rector, she decided to go directly to Brown and her three sisters who are still right there in Kansas City. Her last stop in Kansas City was none other than the old Rector Mansion, now a funeral home. Did Joe and Rose Rector move the family to Kansas City to escape the violent fate that befell too many oil-rich Natives and Freedmen? The judge also approved money for Rector to attend the childrens school at Tuskegee Institute. A record 13 feet of snow accumulated in the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range by Tuesday evening - the heaviest snow fall since 1985. The fallacies kept cropping up and, worst of all, that pesky photo. By the time Sarah was 18, she was worth well over one million dollars. Whether youre a lifelong resident of D.C. or you just moved here, weve got you covered. In 1913, a speculator produced a gusher on Sarahs land. In 1913, the independent oil driller B.B. Web5 Advantages Of In-Home Therapy And Rehabilitation Best Tyre Brands for Your Car NFL COVID PROTOCOLS: OUTBREAK POSTPONES STEELERS-TITANS Whats the Sarah wound up marrying a former college football player she met in Kansas City. 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. Mansa Musa I: The Richest Man In History Was An African King, Not Jeff Bezos. Rectors lost most of her wealth during The Great Depression. WebIn the 1920s, the Rector family moved to Kansas City where Sarah graduated from Lincoln High School. When the public learned how much Rector was earning, her guardianship was transferred from her parents to a white man named T.J. Porter. Her mother, Rosa Rector, would simply say, Aunt Sister can afford to do that, Brown said. Im not going to leave them so they can sit on someones desk, Brown said. They have sat back quietly as the rumors about their family recirculate every so often, as that false photo of Sarah is placed at the top of newspaper headlines and social media posts. After finding out there was oil in the parcel, and trying to make some money out of it, Joseph decided to lease the parcel to an oil company in 1911. In 1913, an independent driller, B.B. Played by Blair Underwood opposite Octavia Spencers Walker, C.J. [4] In 1934, she married restaurant owner William Crawford. Shes Not Madeleine: Scotland Yard Refutes Julias Allegations of Being Madeleine McCann. Sarah and Kenneth had three sons, but in 1930 the marriage ended in divorce. She married him in 1906 following her first marriage to Moses McWilliams at 14 and her second to a man named John Davis. No one took the time to teach her how to spend the money or how to invest it, Brown said. 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. I was lucky that a line of the Rectors Sarahs nieces- were willing to talk to me and share their stories. B.E. Yet the possibility of riches teased the imagination as landholders throughout Oklahoma began striking oil. But things didnt work out for them In 1930, they divorced, and four years later Sarah got married for a second time. The truth was that her parents were given money monthly to take care of her, and a new five-room home was being built on land purchased. He also concluded that the men that wrote her were fine looking chaps.. She felt betrayed by her bandmate. Busting the Myth Behind Moctezumas Headdress; Did It Really Belong Him? By the time Sarah was 18, she was worth well over one million dollars. [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. At this point, her lawyers claimed that she owned $750,000 in oil properties along with other assets that pushed her worth to over $1 million. Not too long afterward, Manuel disappeared into the sunset and Joe, embarrassed, finally wired his wife for the money to get home. Some estimates place Sarah Rectors net worth at the time at $1 million, or about $28 million today. At the age of 20, she married Kansas City businessman Kenneth Campbell and the couple hosted such local royalty as Joe Louis, Duke Ellington and Count Basie in their mansion. [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. After Oklahoma earned statehood in 1907, the new state continued to draw drillers to the area hoping to get lucky. In late August 1913, B.B. [13] In October of that year, she was enrolled in the Children's School, a boarding school at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, headed by Washington. Kerford Funeral Home. Who was the real Sarah Rector, The Richest Black Girl in America?, Missing in Action: Local artists painting of Patrick Mahomes stolen, UPDATE: Shakir is safe. Last year we listed Elizabeth Holmes as the worlds youngest self-made woman billionaire, worth an estimated $4.5 billion. It became known as the Rector Mansion, Tonya Bolden said. She owned stocks, bonds, a boarding house, businesses, and a 2,000-acre (810ha) piece of prime river bottomland. Much was publicized about her extravagant spending on luxuries. Rumors even claimed that she was a white immigrant girl that was being kept in poverty. By 1920, the Rector family was living in a beautiful brick mansion at 2000 E. 12th St. that was purchased by Mama Rose for $20,000 from Henry S. Ferguson, president of the U.S. Water & Steam Supply Company. Sarah Rector wasnt living near Taft, or in Tuskegee, Bolden concluded. One of the greatest examples of this hypocrisy and nonsensical laws is the case of Sarah Rector, a young black girl deemed by the press and society as the Richest Colored Girl in the World, " and who was eventually declared white so she could be a member of society. Black newspapers at the time, like the Chicago Defender in 1914, were angered by this takeover. Sales Partnership Solutions 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. She threw lavish parties and entertained celebrities such as Count Basie and Duke Ellington. INFORMATION Assuming that, Sarahs acres seemed to be useless; little they everybody know, there was actually an oil field worth a fortune. Soon after arriving to Kansas City, the Rectors bought a sprawling stone foursquare at the corner of 2000 East 12th Street. Jerome Kerviel is the poorest person on the planet. She divorced Campbell and married restaurant owner William Crawford, who she remained with until she died. ABOUT At the time, Sarah Rectors net worth was estimated to be comprised of about $750,000 in oil revenue, and she was bringing in over $100,000 per year. Sarah Rector was born in 1902 in what is today Taft, Oklahoma. An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the name of Muskogee County. A guardian was appointed to manage young Sarahs income, and a judge oversaw the guardian. Gina Dimuro is a New York-based writer and translator. Since then, shes been contacting historical societies to urge them not to use the image. 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. Booker T. Washington even reportedly visited their home. They divorced in 1930 and Rector remarried in 1934. Later, Sarah received a phonograph, a piano and a Premier motor car, Bolden writes. 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. Her guardian, T.J. Porter, was a family friend, and although rumors spread that he was mismanaging Sarahs money, an NAACP investigation proved the claims false. She and Kenneth Campbell had three sons, Kenneth Jr., Leonard, and Clarence. Mansa Musa, who may have been the richest person ever. Ironically, this government prohibition proved to be the familys greatest blessing. LIKE US ONFACEBOOK. 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. Registry of Corporate Directors. Since he could not sell the land, Joseph Rector decided to lease it out to a Pittsburgh oil company. Do Men Still Wear Button Holes At Weddings? A typical cabin for Creek Freedmen on Muscogee (Creek) Nation land in Oklahoma, similar to where Sarah Rector would have been born. Rector wasnt living near Taft, Oklahoma youre a lifelong resident of D.C. or you just moved here weve! Felt betrayed by her bandmate declared white, Sarah received a phonograph, a speculator produced gusher. Of being Madeleine McCann with her businesses, she was worth over $ 1 million, in... 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