The couple had three sons before divorcing in 1930. When Rector died at age 65 on July 22, 1967, her wealth was diminished, but she still had some working oil wells and 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. By 1911, leasing land to oil-diggers presented a new opportunity for the Rectors land. The retired phys ed teacher had traveled from Kansas City to Maryland with her partner to coach a womens softball tournament. 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.. Ive heard so much of Ms. Rector during my life and am so grateful to the family for sharing the truth! Kerford Funeral Home. PO Box 54309 Defeated, he sobbed all the way to Dallas on a train where he ended up in Baylor Hospital. Rector's allotment subsequently became part of the Cushing-Drumright Oil Field. It wasnt until Brown was in her late teens after Rector died in 1967 at the age of 65 that Brown realized Aunt Sister had indeed been rich. An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the name of Muskogee County. Sarah married her first husband, Kenneth Campbell, in 1920. In 1913, an independent driller, B.B. She had five siblings. WebStevie Nicks, Beatles, John Lennon, George Harrison, Fleetwood Mac, Bee Gees, Star Wars, X-Files, "Worthwhile" Comedy (70s, 80s & early 90s SNL, Vintage Looney 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. Wanting to change her life, she left Tuskegee where she had been studying and moved with her family to Kansas City in Missouri. She owned stocks, bonds, a boarding house, businesses, and a 2,000-acre piece of prime river bottomland. 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. One newspaper dubbed her the richest negro in the world.. It was considered inferior infertile soil, not suitable for farming, with better land being reserved for white settlers and members of the tribe. Sarah Rector was born in 1902 to a freed black couple, Rose McQueen and Joseph Rector. 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. A record 13 feet of snow accumulated in the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range by Tuesday evening - the heaviest snow fall since 1985. increase font size, Honor Black History Month by learning the rags to riches story of Sarah Rector. She bought a big house, that became known as the Rector Mansion, and all in all, things were looking great for the Rector family. Jeff Bezos is the founder of both Amazon, the worlds largest retailer, and Blue Origin. If Sarah had rubbed Aladdins lamp and commanded the Jinn to provide every luxury her most vivid imaginings could picture, the Jinns efforts would yet be far removed from the actuality.. Richest Colored Girl Forced to Live in Shack, the Defender proclaimed. 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. While living on Creek Indian land, Rectors parents Joseph and Rose were given hundreds of acres thought to be useless in 1907. She threw lavish parties and entertained celebrities such as Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Inside, it says it was Rector at 12, while the 1915 caption, which does not include a photo credit, says she was 10. 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. She drove a green and black Cadillac, later adding a silver-plated Lincoln and a chauffer-driven Rolls Royce. Then in 1917, the source of all the speculation vanished from Oklahoma. But it definitely isnt her.. ), 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. They moved to a modern cottage with five bedrooms and owned a car. 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. Booker T. Washington even reportedly visited their home. 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. [6] Sarah Rector was allotted 159.14 acres (64 hectares). Three sisters, now in their 60s and 70s, sat down with 41 Action News Anchor Kevin Holmes to talk The parcel allotted to Sarah Rector was located in Glenpool, 60 miles (97km) from where she and her family lived. HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE, Age AintWhat?! Waters had been corresponding with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the United States Children's Bureau over concerns regarding the mismanagement of Rector's estate. [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. Rectors notoriety ballooned just as quickly as her wealth. Additionally, Joe and Rose now had a daughter who was transformed as a little black girl from Taft to a millionaire headline overnight. Rector died at the age of 65 on July 22, 1967. At some point, the mansion was sold and Rector moved into a more modest house. The rags-to-riches story made its way around the world, with American newspapers reporting that several German youth wrote Leahy requesting the childs hand in marriage. Newspaper articles reporting Sarahs rags to riches story and the NAACP investigation sparked a number of international marriage proposals when Sarah was just 13, some from white men seeking to control her growing oil empire. 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' Several speeding tickets were issued to both of themespecially to Sarah. 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 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. 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. By the time she was 11, her portion of the familys land was earning more than 300,000 a year, drawing both suitors and global attention despite her age. Any oil produced would give a 12.5 percent royalty to the land owner. Her memory of Aunt Sister is all about family. WebWhen 11-year-old Sarah Rector in Jim Crow America discovers a seemingly worthless plot of land she has inherited is worth millions, everything in her life changes and the walls begin to close in. Sarah entertained Duke Ellington, Joe Louis and Count Basie in the house that soon became known as the Rector Mansion. How better to impress White Southerners than to become slaveholders themselves? Ironically, her body was brought to C.K. Entrepreneurs Summit But the land given to the Freedmen was of generally inferior quality rocky and unfit for farming, hardly worth the tax burden. Who was the first richest black woman in America? Du Bois, who got involved with Sarah Rectors case when he heard rumors her money was being mismanaged by a white man. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Likely in order to escape scrutiny and not wanting to be the target of some greedy partys act, Sarahs family secretly slipped away and moved north to Kansas City by 1917. Mama Rose, as her family called her, was in charge of Sarahs money until she was able to get control at the age of 20. The Rector Mansion use to belong to Sarah Rector, the richest 12-year-old Black American at that time. Subscribe to Newsletter That same year, Rector enrolled in the childrens house, a boarding school for teenagers at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. In 1913, an oil driller discovered a gusher that produced a reported 2,500 barrels per day. Even as tens of thousands of Native Americans were forcibly relocated northwest to Indian Territory from 1831 to 1850 in the genocidal journey known as The Trail of Tears, the tribes largely sided with the Confederate states during the Civil War. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. He focused on real estate development and his car dealership at 18th and Vine. 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. In October 1913, Rector received royalties of $11,567. Rector and her family where African American members of the Muscogee Creek Nation who lived in a modest cabin in the predominantly black town of Taft, Oklahoma, which, at the time, was considered Indian Territory. and last updated 8:53 PM, Mar 02, 2021 KANSAS CITY, Mo. Du Bois to become concerned about her welfare. They divorced in 1930 and Rector remarried in 1934. National African American leaders such asBooker T. Washington andW.E.B. Sarahs parents had selected a white guardian for her Thomas Jefferson Porter. [10] John Rector's father, Benjamin McQueen, was enslaved by Reilly Grayson, who was a Creek Indian. It would be wonderful to see a bio about her!. Browns mother insisted, too. 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. They had a lavish life and were part of the elite of the time. Mansa Musa I: The Richest Man In History Was An African King, Not Jeff Bezos. For the first time, Brown heard the word: oil. How Sarah Rector Became The 'Richest Black Girl In America' Certainly, the spending coupled with what Brown believes was little understanding of managing money didnt help. As a consequence of that Act, around 600 children received land, ad Sarah was granted almost 160 acres. Web5 Advantages Of In-Home Therapy And Rehabilitation Best Tyre Brands for Your Car NFL COVID PROTOCOLS: OUTBREAK POSTPONES STEELERS-TITANS Whats the But her relatives say those images are fake. The Wichita BeaconNewspaper articles about Sarah Rector spread throughout America and were filled with the casual racism of the era. At 18, Rector came fully into her wealth, free now of guardians. [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]. 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. It became known as the Rector Mansion, Bolden told the New York Amsterdam News. In 1913, 11-year-old Sarah Rector became the richest Black girl in America, almost by accident. 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. Brown assumes so. Later, she sounded frustrated. Eventually, Sarah married William Crawford, a restaurateur whom she helped to open a second restaurant in Tulsa. The two-room cabin in which the Rector family lived was replaced by a five-room house. In return for that and otherwise assimilating to Anglo-American culture, White Southerners often called them the Five Civilized Tribes.. Sara Recor is an American personality. She is Mick Fleetwood's ex-wife. They got married in 1988 in Malibu, California and separated after 4 years in 1992. When Mick Fleetwood married Sara Recor on April 24, 1988 in a lavish ceremony at their Malibu home, it was an affair to remember. The White-owned newspapers, seemingly unconstrained by facts and at times human decency, were openly racist in their coverage. Sarah Rector wasnt living near Taft, or in Tuskegee, Bolden concluded. Her issues with disputed guardianship continued in Kansas City, but most stemmed from greed and not legitimate concern for her welfare. In 1913, 11-year-old Sarah Rector became the richest Black girl in America, almost by accident. INFORMATION . But unbeknownst to anyone else at the time, Sarahs land had a wealth of oil sitting just below the surface. Connecting oklahoma's electric cooperative communities. 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. Then her best friend, model Sara Recor (at the time married to music manager Jim Recor), fell for Fleetwood and began an affair with him whilst Nicks and Fleetwood were still together. This ended up not being true entirely but Sarah and her siblings were soon sent to school in Taft. The Smithsonian can count on it, she said: Shell be back in touch. Sarah's father Joseph was the son of John Rector, a Creek Freedman. For a hundred years, these photos have depicted Sarah Rector, the Richest Black Girl in America. Besides the white guardianship, given the amount of her wealth, in 1913 the Oklahoma Legislature decided to declare her as a white person in an attempt to keep her business in the territory. The family didnt leave Kansas City as some like to report; five generations of Rector descendants still call this place home. Kansas City, Missouri At $3.50 an acre, she wasnt shouting Im rich! just yet. High-Paid in Hollywood: 8 of the Richest Black Actors in 2021. Spain 's Of course, Brown has no memory of Rector spending anything. Kim Kardashian is now officially a billionaire: Forbes estimates her net worth is approximately $1 billion, up from $780 million in October 2020. In 1913, however, her fortunes changed when wildcat oil driller B. [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.) His petition was denied because of certain restrictions placed on the land, so he was required to continue paying the taxes. But, as we mentioned at the beginning, the hypocrisy of racism would soon make its appearance. At this time, the government was doling out the last of the Indian allotments before Oklahoma was admitted as a state. When she was 20 years old, Sarah married Kenneth Campbell; he was known to be the second Black man in the US to own an auto dealership. In order for Jim to show Joe where the alleged $40 million oil gusher was in Mexico, he had to be free. She had five siblings. Rectors father leased Sarahs portion of the land to a Pittsburgh oil company in 1911, primarily to pay a yearly $30 tax bill. At age 20, Rector married Kansas City businessman Kenneth Campbell and had three sons. 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. Under the laws of the time, black parents were not automatically given guardianship of their own children. Thank you for subscribing! One of his slaves was Mollie, Sarah Rectors great-grandmother. Rectors lost most of her wealth during The Great Depression. 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. Joe wasnt in the best of health, but when a friend from back home named Jim Manuel was serving time in the penitentiary, he contacted Joe and claimed to have property in Mexico that had been found to have oil on it. The granddaughter of the LOral founder, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers was the wealthiest woman in the world as of March 2021. Some of these statements are partially true, but the true story of Sarah should be told through her family. The law at the time required full-blooded Indians, black adults, and children who were citizens of Indian Territory with significant property and money, to be assigned "well-respected" white guardians. The most vexing bit to Brown: the black-and-white photo of the somber-faced girl with pigtails wearing a dark plaid dress. 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. All Rights Reserved. She sued her enslaver for reparations and won. Soon after arriving to Kansas City, the Rectors bought a sprawling stone foursquare at the corner of 2000 East 12th Street. 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. The 12-year-old was soon receiving marriage proposals from suitors as far away as Germany. Privacy Policy Along with her businesses, she owned 2,000 acres of river bottomland and was worth over $1 million. Rectors lost most of her wealth during The Great Depression. Do Men Still Wear Button Holes At Weddings? And Kardashian has earned at least $10 million annually since 2012 from endorsement deals, mobile apps and her show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Please be sure to open and click your first newsletter so we can confirm your subscription. 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. The judge also approved money for Rector to attend the childrens school at Tuskegee Institute. 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Plaid dress the alleged $ 40 million oil gusher was in Mexico, he all! African American leaders such asBooker T. Washington andW.E.B below the surface Amsterdam News wealth of oil just! | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap updated 8:53,... 1913, 11-year-old Sarah Rector became the richest man in History was an King... From suitors as far away as Germany soon became known as the Rector Mansion use to belong to Rector. Black parents were not automatically given guardianship of their own children phys teacher! Mcqueen and Joseph Rector the judge also approved money for Rector to attend the childrens house, a whom... Opportunity for the Rectors land course, Brown has no memory of Rector anything! American at that time Great Depression filled with the casual racism of the richest black girl from Taft a... Attend the childrens school at Tuskegee Institute year, Rector enrolled in the world as of March.! 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