The image used most often of a young Sarah, but is it? Some members of her family don’t believe it is. Maybe Sarah, circa 1912, public domain
Once upon a time, an eleven-year-old girl named Sarah Rector struck it rich with a discovery that was perfectly timed for the rise of the automobile and the expansion of American manufacturing. After hitting the jackpot, she had to escape the minefields of greed, racism, politics, and public opinion to build a satisfying life for herself at last.
Sarah Rector was born on March 3, 1902, in what is now Taft, Oklahoma, but back in 1902, it was part of the “Indian Territory,” land designated by the United States government for Native Americans. Sarah’s descendants had been enslaved by members of the Muscogee Creek Nation, however, after the Civil War, they became Freedmen and Creek members. This entitled them to land as part of a treaty between the US govenment and five Indigenous Tribes, including the Creek. The land allotted to Sarah was not near their home, nor farmable; it was considered worthless (which is probably one reason it was given to a child.) Sarah’s parents were taxed on the land, a price they were unable to pay, and leased it to an oil company who did what oil companies do: find oil. A LOT of oil. Sarah was soon wealthy beyond her family’s imagination, and what began as a windfall quickly turned into a dark legal, racial, and government issue.
With the help of members of the NAACP, and honorable people in her life, Sarah was able to maintain her wealth and go to boarding school, and then college at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. She moved her family to Kansas City, and lived quite comfortably. She was married twice, had three children, and lost a great deal of her money in the Depression (not so much that she was impoverished, she basically had to cut back a bit.) Sarah died at the age of 65. Despite living the majority of her life in Kansas City, she is buried in her hometown of Taft, Oklahoma.
This episode is kind of a two-fer: Beckett gives you a small biography of a politician (before women had the vote!) named Kate Barnard who was elected Oklahoma Charities and Corrections Commissioner when Sarah was a child.
Kate Barnard around the time that oil was discovered on Sarah’s land. Photo: public domain
Shownotes are under construction, please come back later for more things Beckett discussed in the episode!
In early October, 55 History Chicks travelers embarked on a joyful, 10-day romp through Italy! We began in Rome, traveled to Florence, and finally on to Venice. Along the way, we had private tours and delicious meals; we tasted cheese and balsamic, saw art and touched ancient history while we learned so much about the places some of our former subjects had lived.
One wrote of her experiences during the American Revolutionary era, and the other is helping tell that story as co-director of Ken Burns’ The American Revolution documentary on PBS, starting November 16, 2025.
Elizabeth Ware Packard’s life’s work went beyond the typical “womanly” sphere of raising her children and keeping a clean house. After a horrific experience of being legally imprisoned by her husband in a mental hospital, she spent the rest of her life bringing awareness and legal change to the rights of married women, and the treatment of women with mental illness by their husbands, society, and the medical establishments that were intended to protect them.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Parsons Ware Packard was born in Ware, Massachusetts, on December 28, 1816. Papa was a gregarious minister, Mama was an extraordinary homemaker, and Elizabeth was raised in a home that prioritized education, conversation, and curiosity for all.
At 19, Elizabeth contracted a mysterious illness that left her father with few options and he had her admitted to a mental hospital. Her stay was several months of traumatic treatments for her diagnosis of “brain fever,” a name for any number of physical or mental illnesses, from depression to meningitis.
At 22, she married Theophilus Packard Jr., a minister 15 years her senior. Elizabeth was a phenomenal preacher’s wife: she perfectly managed the house, made all her family’s clothes, raised their six children, and was creative and curious. When her husband wanted to move from Massachusetts to the Midwest, she was game for the adventure.
The family settled down in Manteno, Illinois, where Theo was a minister at a Calvinist church, but here is where the couple and their church both had a schism. The old school of Calvinist thought was very strict- our way or the highway to hell; the new school of thought was more tolerant of other beliefs and progressive. Theo was of the old school, and Elizabeth was not only in agreement with the new school of thought, but her brain kept going and learning about the thoughts of all kinds of other religions, too.
Elizabeth and Theopolis, Jr.We are pacifists and think violence is never the answer… but dang, does he not have a punchable face?
Leo wanted his wife to obey him and his teachings without question; Elizabeth didn’t want to obey this man alone. She loved questioning, debating, and learning of things outside of church doctrine. She was also engaging and likable, and he was…not. Because of the laws of the time, he was able to have her committed to the Jacksonville Insane Asylum in Illinois. Obviously, there is more to the story. Give a listen to the podcast to hear all the scheming of her husband to have her sent away, the horrible treatment that Elizabeth saw and experienced in the hospital, and her utter lack of freedom and control over her life when she was demonstratively not mentally ill.
All this for the “crime” of speaking her mind.
Illustration from one of her books, 1870Illustration of her kidnapping.
For over three years, Elizabeth was held in the mental hospital, away from her children. Theo even found ways to “punish” her from his home, where he was allowed to raise their children and tell them that their mom was “insane.” It will make your blood boil with anger, we promise.
Elizabeth made good use of her time in the hospital. She helped other women, and she wrote down everything. She wanted to be able to support herself once she was released and not have to rely on Theo for anything, and thought writing about her experience would be a way to do that.
While her doctor insisted that she was “incurable,” she was released in 1863 when she was 47. When she arrived home, Theo hadn’t changed at all, he still wanted to oppress his wife. Neither wanted a divorce, but they did land in court where she successfully sued him to have herself declared legally sane.
Elizabeth didn’t stop there; she had come out of the asylum with a ream of paper filled with her experiences. While her no-good husband absconded with the minor kids, she started writing. And writing. And writing. She sold so much of what she wrote, and gave talks about her experience, that she was able to not only support herself, but her kids, too. She spoke to groups, legislatures, even a meeting with the President himself. She was able to help change state and local laws, and brought awareness to the plight of the mentally ill and the lack of legal rights for married women.
Elizabeth died on July 28, 1897 at the age of 80.
Time Travel With The History Chicks
Books!
By Kate Mooreby Linda Carlisleby Barbara SapinskleyTechnically, this is a play but you can get the script in book form. By Emily Mann
You can read some of her books online, including this one with a very long title: MARITAL POWER EXEMPLIFIED IN MRS. PACKARD’S TRIAL AND SELF-DEFENCE FROM THE CHARGE OF INSANITY; OR THREE YEARS’ IMPRISONMENT FOR RELIGIOUS BELIEF BY THE ARBITRARY WILL OF A HUSBAND WITH AN APPEAL TO THE GOVERNMENT TO SO CHANGE THE LAWS AS TO AFFORD LEGAL PROTECTION TO MARRIED WOMEN. ( The title seems impressive enough to shout.)
Journalist Nellie Bly wrote about the conditions at a mental “hospital” and you can learn more about that, and her, on our Nellie Bly episode #20 (in the way, way back machine!)
End music: Drag Me Down by Conditional, used with permission by Epidemic Sound
