Sarah Rector was born into a modest family descended from slaves. But by the time she was 18 years old, she was a millionaire.

Image: via Wikimedia Commons / via Wikimedia Commons

The 1920s are just beginning in Kansas City, Missouri, and Sarah Rector is enjoying everything that the new decade has to offer. In her fast cars and stylish European dresses, she soon becomes something of a local celebrity. But Sarah is no ordinary debutante. No, as an African-American descendant of slaves, this young woman is enjoying a rise to riches that is one of a kind.

Sarah was born on March 3, 1902, close to the settlement of Taft in what is now Muskogee County, Oklahoma. Her father, Joseph, and her mother, Rose, were both descended from Creek Indians, and their fathers had fought in the Civil War. But although the family had once been slaves, they were freed under the Treaty of 1866.

Now when 1907 came along, the United States government was making preparations to create the state of Oklahoma. And as part of that agreement, the administration was obliged to integrate Indian lands into the new territory. As a result, Joseph, Rose and their three children were each allocated a plot of land.

The deal was not quite as generous as it might have first seemed, though. In fact, the land allocated to African-American families like the Rectors was typically of poor quality and unsuitable for farming. The more fertile plots, meanwhile, were reserved for Native Americans and white settlers.

So even though Sarah’s plot covered some 160 acres and was valued at just over $550, it was of little use to the Rector family. Moreover, the parcel of land was situated around 60 miles from their home, making it impractical to maintain. And although the Rectors were not overly poor, they struggled to afford the yearly $30 tax that was levied on the land.

By way of a solution to this financial burden, Joseph sought to sell off his daughter’s land. The Muskogee County Court denied him the required permissions, however. So instead, Joseph decided to lease out the plot, and in 1911 he reached an agreement with the Devonian Oil Company – a venture based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Then, two years after the deal had been agreed, something happened that would change Sarah’s fortunes for good. In 1913 an oiler called B.B. Jones constructed a well on the leased land – and amazingly, he struck gold. Yes, Jones hit upon what was known as a gusher – a bountiful source of crude oil. Suddenly, then, Sarah’s plot was filling barrels at a rate of 2,500 every day.

Having previously gained nothing from her faraway piece of land, Sarah now found herself making $300 a day – ten times the property tax that her family had previously struggled to pay over the course of a year. Unhappily, however, the law was still prejudiced against African-Americans, and Sarah was not permitted to manage her newfound fortune alone.

Sarah was therefore allocated a white guardian – a local man known as T.J. Porter – to jointly oversee her wealth. Back at the site, meanwhile, a number of new wells were drilled, producing even more oil and adding to the girl’s fortune. So, eventually, Sarah’s plot went on to form part of the renowned Cushing-Drumright Oil Field – a ten-mile-long site that is still in use to this day.

With the land continuing to produce barrel after barrel, Sarah began to really reap the rewards. In October 1913, when she was just 11 years old, she received a payment of $11,567 – a staggering amount for an African-American girl from a modest background. And soon word of her fortune proceeded to spread around the world. In fact, she started to receive begging letters and, despite her young years, even proposals of marriage.

As her wealth grew, Sarah found herself being treated differently. The society of the day still viewed black people as an underclass, but Sarah received special dispensation from the Oklahoma authorities. Indeed, she was able to enjoy first-class travel and other luxuries normally limited to the affluent white community.

Newspapers tied up with string and ready for recycling — Image: tacojim

Unfortunately, Sarah’s fame also brought speculation from the sensationalist press. One newspaper, for example, called her parents ignorant and claimed that they were mismanaging their daughter’s wealth. The publication even went so far as to state that the girl was living in poverty despite her great fortune. Rumors that she was really a white child who was being forced to live a lie also began circulating.

Prominent members of the black community expressed their concerns, too. In particular, they were troubled by the fact that Sarah had been forced to take on a white guardian. “Is it not possible to have her cared for in a decent manner and by people of her own race, instead of by a member of a race which would deny her and her kind the treatment accorded to a good yard dog,” wrote James C. Waters Jr., of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

But while the argument over her wealth raged in the public domain, Sarah and her family appeared to be enjoying their newly affluent lifestyle. In Taft, they resided in a spacious cottage and even kept an automobile – a rare luxury for the time. In 1914, meanwhile, Sarah enrolled at the Tuskegee Institute, a boarding school in Alabama.

What’s more, by the time her 18th birthday arrived, Sarah was already a millionaire – the youngest African-American to achieve such a status at the time. Now, she owned 2,000 acres of land, a restaurant, a bakery and a boarding house. She’d purchased a number of bonds and stocks, too, as well as a mansion in Kansas City for herself and her family.

In Missouri, Sarah met and married a man named Kenneth Campbell. And with the legal battles for control of her estate now over, she was free to enjoy the fruits of her success – and enjoy them she did. Apparently, the young millionaire developed a love of expensive clothes and vehicles, often landing herself in trouble for driving too fast.

Soon, Sarah and her exploits were known throughout Kansas City. At one point, for example, she reportedly arrived at the local police station to bail out her brother. “You don’t know who I am, do you?” she is alleged to have announced. “I’m Sarah Rector.” Then, she supposedly threw the guards a wad of bills to secure her sibling’s release.

Meanwhile, Sarah and Kenneth produced three sons together. And away from family life, the young millionaire played an active role in the local community, too. For instance, Sarah tasked her chauffeur with taking the local children to school, while in her spare time she hosted events for notable African-American figures.

Then, in 1930, Sarah and Kenneth divorced – although her conjugal life wasn’t over. Four years later, she remarried, to a man named William Crawford. And together, the pair established a restaurant that went on to serve some of the age’s leading jazz musicians. Sadly, however, a combination of gambling and the Great Depression left a dent in Sarah’s fortune, and her wealth slowly began to disappear.

By the time that Sarah died in 1967, she was living back in Oklahoma, her estate greatly reduced. She still retained some property, though, as well as the oil wells that had started it all. Yet ultimately, she was laid to rest in Taft Cemetery – her grave a lasting reminder of the success that can be built from the humblest of beginnings.