She went from dirt poor to pay dirt.

When Sarah Rector was born in 1902 in what is now eastern Oklahoma, she had two racial strikes against her. She was Black, and her family had been enslaved by an indigenous people who was also disdained by the majority.

Before the Civil War (1861-1865), Sarah’s great-grandfather was purchased by Reilly Grayson of the Muscogee Creek Nation in what was then called Indian Territory. But when the South lost the war, slaves were freed and given land allotments.

At the time, Sarah’s family lived in the all-black town of Taft. The land given to her was 64 hectares or 159 acres in Glenpool, almost 100 kilometres or 60 miles away.

Since the best land was reserved for white settlers and tribal members, Sarah’s property was little more than scrubland and no good for farming. And the annual property tax of $30 was such a burden her father asked for permission to sell the parcel.

But the county court refused because of restrictions on the land.

To cover the expense, John Rector leased his daughter’s allotment to the Standard Oil Company. In 1913, a well was drilled and it was a “gusher”, spewing up 2,500 barrels a day — enough to bring Sarah an astonishing daily income of $300, which amounted to more than $11,500 that year.

At the time, Black and indigenous people with significant money or property were required to have white guardians, and........

© Sarnia Observer