Sarah was born in Victorian Salem in 1870, five years after the Civil War ended in 1865. The daughter of Lydia F. DaCosta and Lemuel W. Symonds, Sarah graduated from Emerson College in Boston It was a time when only a few courageous women in America were launching careers on their own This is in accordiance with a 1976 Antiques Journal article written during America's Bicentennial. She was widely known for her figurines and brass relief plaques of historic sites throughout New England.

She opened her first studio in the John Ward House. Her second studio was located at One Brown Street. Later she use the "Colonial Model Shop" at 49 Turner Street, across from the House of the Seven Gables. A gift shop followed at the Hawthorne Hotel. After her artistic reputation was established, Sarah created a line of mementos for tourists, including incense burners, witch-stirred caldrons, door knockers, and paper weights. Sarah continued working well into her eightieth year, and enjoyed great celebrity late in her life.

Her typical signature