Sarah Rector, a black citizen of Muskogee(Creek) Nation, was born on March 3, 1902, and is popularly recognised as the “Richest coloured Girl in the world”.
Sarah Rector was born to the family of Joseph Rector and his wife Rose McQueen in the year 1902 near the town of Taft in the eastern part of Oklahoma, it was also an all-black settlement in an Indian area. Her parents fortunately were born in the same year,1881 and were blessed with six children. They were also the grandchildren of slaves whose masters were the creek Indians which went on to change to the Muscogee Creek Nation after the Treaty of 1866.
As the war came to an end, Rector’s parents who were former slaves to the Creek Tribe members were permitted and granted freedom to the allocation of lands under the Treaty of 1866 issued by the United States alongside the five civilized tribes.
Following the treaty, hundreds of black children or Muscogee Freedmen minors as they were often called, were granted land allocations. Sarah Rector, who was fortunately among the freed black children, was apportioned 159.14 acres (64 hectares) of land.
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The allocation of these lands was an extremely required step in the unification of the Indian territory alongside the Oklahoma territory to create what is now known as the state of Oklahoma in 1907.
These lands which were allocated to the former slaves were often rocky in nature and infertile for use. The area allocated to Rector from the Creek Indian Nation was in the middle of the Glenn Pool oil field and was originally estimated at $556.50.
Rector’s father needed cash in order to be able to make his payment of $30 on a yearly property tax. He then proceeded to rent out his daughter’s land to the then-prime oil company in February 1911. As fortune would smile on them, two years later after an independent oil driller known as B.B Jones produced a “gusher” on Sarah Rector’s land, this resulted in the creation of 2,500 barrels or 105,000 gallons daily and she soon began generating more than $300 a day in 1913. This equalled $7,000 – $8,000 in the present time and she even generated $11,567 in October 1913.
Almost immediately, the news of Rector’s wealth spread through the city and in September 1913, The Kansas City Star local newspaper published with 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.
In January 1914, the newspaper wrote, “Oil Made Pickaninny Rich – Oklahoma Girl With $15,000 A Month gets Many Proposals – Four White Men in Germany Want to Marry the Negro Child That They Might Share Her Fortune.” Meanwhile, the Savannah Tribune wrote, “Oil Well Produces Neat Income – Negro Girl’s $112,000 A Year”. Another newspaper dubbed her “the richest negro in the world.” Her fame became widespread and soon enough she began getting numerous requests for loans, money gifts, and four marriage proposals.
During that period, a law mandated that Native also Americans, black adults and children who were citizens of Indian Territory with significant property and money were to be given “well-respected” white guardians. Following this law, Rector’s guardianship changed from her parents to a white man named T.J. Porter.
Bothered about her care and safety with her white financial guardian, early NAACP leaders fought to protect her and her fortune.
An article released in 1914 by The Chicago Defender maintained that her estate was not properly managed by grafters and her “ignorant” parents and that she was uneducated, dressed in rags, and lived in an unsanitary shanty, this prompted the National African American leaders such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois became more concerned about her welfare, however not any of these claims were true.
On turning 18, Sarah Rector was said to be worth about $ 1 million which equalled $11 million at the present time. She also had ownership in stocks and bonds alongside various properties including a bakery, boarding house, restaurant and thousands of acres of land. Amassing such wealth, she desired a better living, this saw her leaving Tuskegee with her family to move to Kansas City, Missouri where she acquired an astonishing home which stands till the present day.
Sarah Rector 1922 got married to Kenneth Campbell. He was the second African American to own an auto dealership, during the time of their marriage, they were regarded as the local aristocrats moving in top-notch vehicles and entertaining the top elite such as Joe Luis, Duke Ellington and much more at their palatial residence. However, in 1939 they got divorced and during the course of their marriage, they had three sons and after which Rector remarried in 1934.
On July 22, 1967, Sarah Rector died at the age of 65.
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