Charles Carroll Sutherland

Other Events and Attributes:

• AFN: 21BQ-GQ5

Notes:

Naomi Cooley's father, Col. Benjamin Cooley, died in Pittsford, Vermont 27 Feb 1810. Fletcher and Naomi returned to Pittsford early in 1816 to settle her father's estate and it was while they were there that Fletcher was born. Thus, the apparent anomaly of having Fletcher's younger brother, Carroll, and the rest of his elder siblings born in Cambria, New York while he was born in Vermont.
In the Cooley Genealogy p493-4 "m. Mary, dau George Brink of Lyons NY. He was a Methodist minister at Geneva, Lyons, and elsewhere in NY; later became an Episcopalian clergyman".
Death Notice; the New York Times, Wednesday, September 7, 1888, Page 3 SUTHERLAND.--Fletcher Sutherland, the father of the Seven Sutherland Sisters, died at his country home near Lockport, New York, yesterday of paralysis. He was 73 years of age. He was a prominent Methodist minister at one time, but left the pulpit as soon as his daughters took to the stage.
Fletcher4 [Andrew3, Peter2, John William1] was the fifth child of Andrew and Naomi and was born 1 March 1816 in Pittsford, Rutland County, Vermont where his parents were settling the estate of Naomi's father, Col. Benjamin Cooley, returning to Niagara county, NY in the fall of 1816. Fletcher died 6 September 1888 in Niagara county. Andrew Jr says of his brother, "Fletcher had more executive ability than any of us. He had also selfish tendencies that estranged him. He was not careful of the rights of the family, and as a result of those selfish tendencies was left to himself by other members of the family." Fletcher attended school at Warren's Corners which was near their farm and eventually was sent to the Genesee Wesleyan school at Lima, New York where he studied for the ministry. It was while he was serving as minister at Lyons, New York in 1844 that he met amd married Mary Brink. She was the daughter of George Brink who was considered a well-to-do farmer. Mary had been taking advanced courses in music at Lima Seminary when they met. Fletcher served as minister of Methodist churches at Genesee and Caledonia as well as at Lyons. According to a faded news paper clipping he delivered a very learned "Eulogy on Music" to an enthusiastic audience at Caledonia. Their first child was Sarah Naomi who was born at Lyons in 1844. Fletcher had joined the Masons at a time when the Methodists were very much opposed to Masonry, and Fletcher was asked to resign and leave the church at Lyons. He and Mary went back to Cambria and lived in the old log cabin his father had built so many years before. Between the years 1839 and 1847 Andrew's widow, Naomi, and her other children had all sold their shares of Andrew Sr's farm to Fletcher. It was here in this old cabin that at least three of Fletcher's children were born. According to the Cooley genealogy Sarah Naomi was born in 1844; Mary Fletcher b. 1846 and d. 1850; Victoria b. 1848 d. 1902; Isabella Cooley b. 1850; Charles Carroll b.1854; Naomi b. 1856 d. 1893; Dora b. 1858; Mary b.1860. It was not until 1867 that Fletcher built a modest frame house for his family. All of the daughters were musical as was their brother Charles who attended the Boston Conservatory of Music while Naomi II was sent to Europe to train her voice. These sisters played the piano and sang, giving concerts locally and in New York City, and in other places around the country. At one time they were signed by Barnum and Bailey Circus and while they were performing, Fletcher realized the greater attraction than their voices was their wealth of hair. All seven sisters had hair to the floor. Fletcher saw his opportunity and concocted a harmless "hair restorer" made mostly of water and some herbs which he marketed with the girls' help, [the girls were exploited by their father] realized $90,000 the first year of its sale. It became so desirable a product that they opened offices in Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Havanah, Cuba. Success went to their heads, and they spent lavishly. When women bobbed their hair after World War I, the bottom dropped out of their business, and the remaining sisters died in poverty. Charles had died in 1887 and Fletcher on 6 September 1888. The mother, Mary Brink, and had died in 1867 so she never experienced their prosperity nor the decline.
The Niagara County History Center published a new biography by local writer, Brandon Stickney, entitled The Amazing Seven Sutherland Sisters-A Biography of America's First Celebrity Models on January 1, 2012 (available from amazon.com for $25). This American success story is quickly followed by equally strange tales of mystery and living to excess. All of the twists and turns along the way are the interesting subject of Stickney's biographical narrative of this incredible Cambria family.
Another book published in January 1, 1991 was The Seven Sutherland Sisters by Clarence Lewis (available from amazon.com for $16.27). These rags-to-riches-to-rags mavens were the talk-of-the- town at the turn of the 20th century. In fact, their trademark hair tonic was known far and wide making the seven sisters millionaires at a time the rest of the country was struggling to earn a meager living. They began performing in New York City in the late 1870s at the birth of Broadway, long before the street became one of the world's most well-known entertainment districts. The long-haired sisters started singing in churches and went on to perform at new theaters, playhouses and museums. They drew large crowds and plenty of attention from the press. The Sutherland's Broadway days led them to tour with P.T. Barnum and other famous and influential circus men. This early notoriety certainly went a long way in bringing great public recognition to their hair tonic business, too.

Fletcher married Mary Brink about 1844 in Lyons, Wayne Co, New York. Mary was born about 1825 in Lyons, Wayne Co, New York; died on 24 Sep 1867 in Lockport Township, Niagara Co, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

OBITUARY for MARY BRINK wife of Fletcher Sutherland
This estimable woman died on the 24th of September last, of dropsy, aged 43 years. She was the eldest daughter of George Brink, of Lyons, and wife of Fletcher Sutherland, of Cambria, Niagara Co, NY. She was a most amiable and courteous lady, and much esteemed by all who knew her. Reared under moral and Christian influences, she became, at an early age, a member of the Episcopal Church, in which she continued an example of deep, unaffected piety, of untarnished character and purity of conversation. she commenced her education abroad, at the Lima Seminary, and by her unassuming manner and noble bearing gained the respect and favor of both students and teachers. During her early years she was much in society, but after long-continued ill health and domestic care, she came to look upon the family circle as the boundary of her usefulness and pleasure, and devoted a large portion of her time to the education and instruction of her children. She possessed, in a remarkable degree, the power of discerning human character, and a charity not less remarkable, which always led her to dwell upon the good qualities of others, and to take the most favorable view of their faults and weaknesses. For several weeks before her death, she had gained a complete triumph over the fear of death, and with unwavering faith and steadfast hope, was calmly waiting the approach of that hour when her last work would be done and her "spirit go to the God who gave it." Her last illness brought to her side many of her former acquaintances and her neighbors, anxious to bestow their sympathies, and their numerous expressions of kind regard are gratefully treasured as a memorial more enduring than any earthly monument. Her remains were taken to the Chapel at Warren's Corners, where an appropriate sermon was delivered by the Rev. L. S. Stevens, of the Episcopal Church, Lockport, with an address commendatory of the purity of her life and example.

Other Events and Attributes:

• AFN: B8XP-H8

Notes:

From the Cooley Family Genealogy: "..res in the village of Sutherland Falls, named for John Sutherland...(Col. Andrew Sutherland died Feb 27, 1836) in Cambria, Niagara County, New York to which he removed in 1810 residing near Warrens Corners on Ridge Road. He served in the Militia in the War of 1812, afterwards becoming a Colonel of Militia."
From the History of Macomb County (Michigan): "...(Andrew Sutherland) was a soldier of the war of 1812 and was promoted to the Colonelcy of a regiment and was discharged with honor; his mother [Ed: wife Naomi, not mother] died at Romeo (Michigan) in 1871" (Naomi Cooley, died in Romeo 15 Dec 1870).
There is an error on the Andrew Sutherland gravestone (formerly a stepstone) in his age at death. It reads 52 years, 5 months, 25 days but should be 59 years, 5 months, 24 days. See research analysis.

(Research):Analysis of gravestone mistakeo Given death date of 28 Feb 1836 subtracting age on gravestone of 52y5m22d gives a birth date of 6 Sep 1783. o Given a birth date of 3 Sep 1776 adding 52y5m22d gives death date of 25 Feb 1829. o Given birth date of 3 Sep 1776 and dd 27 Feb 1836, his age at death would be 59 years, 5 months, 24 days o Since the stone carver put an age at death of 52 years, 5 months, 25 days, it appears he made a mistake; the number of years on the gravestone should be 59 years.
Note: The gravestone in Glenwood Cemetery was originally a stepstone on the original Andrew Sutherland property on Ridge Road where other family members were buried.

Andrew married Naomi Cooley on 6 Jan 1807 in Pittsford, Rutland Co, Vermont. Naomi (daughter of Benjamin5 Cooley and Ruth Beach) was born on 6 Oct 1788 in Pittsford, Rutland Co, Republic of Vermont; died on 15 Dec 1870 in Romeo, Macomb Co, Michigan; was buried about Dec 1870 in Procter Cemetery, Romeo, Macomb Co, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• AFN: 1DGR-CC
• Name: Annie

Notes:

Letter to Niagara County Historian from Anna Sutherland, Metamora, Mich. Oct 29, 1964: "This Mrs Andrew Sutherland [Naomi Cooley] was my great grandmother. My father was Lewis Cass Sutherland, son of Dr. Benjamin C. Sutherland. I remember my father telling that his father visited at Lockport NY and brought his mother back with him but do not know how long she lived with them.* Now, his father [Benj C Sutherland] died in 1867 so I do not know if she continued to live with them or eve if she did live them all the time previous to his death. She might have lived part time with her son Byron as I remember my father [Lewis Cass Sutherland] telling about this Uncle Byron somewhere near them. Now as to the cemetery, I think it would be the Armada (Macomb County) cemetery but I do not know anyother name. My father's [Lewis Cass Sutherland] old home, about 10 miles from Romeo. This was in Ray Townmship of Macomb County; he was bogn on January 25, 1859. My father lived untio March 24, 1946".
*According to the US Census, Naomi was living with her son Benjamin Cooley Sutherland in 1850.
Note to clarify: Naomi was buried in Procter Cemetery Michigan, not Proctor Cemetery, Vermont.

Other Events and Attributes:

• AFN: 21BQ-HTX

Notes:

From "History of Pittsford": "Noah Cooley, son of Col. Benjamin, married Jane, daughter of Peter Sutherland, 24 Jan 1804..."

Peter married Carol BushVermont. Carol was born before 1754 in Probably Rutland Co, Vermont; died in Sutherland Falls, Rutland Co, Vermont; was buried in Vermont. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• AFN: 21BQ-HV5

Notes:

There are no extant records of this person. Hundrreds of trees on Ancestry list Carol Bush as a wife of Peter Sutherland yet none site a source other than "Ancestry trees", the worst possible source for good data; other peoples GEDCOMs and family trees.

Notes:

DAR Patriot; Captain Vermont From DAR Lineage Book vol. 30 pp. 343-44 Mrs. Katherine Beach Gray (#29959) b. Pontiac MI; grandaughter of Noah Beach and Eunice Cooley; Gr. Grandaughter of Benjamin Cooley and Ruth Beach. Benjamin Cooley (1747-1810) commanded a company of Vermont militia, 1778. He responded to various alarms under Col. Ebenezer Allen and Col. Gideon Warren. He was born in Greenwich MA and died in Pittsford VT.
Greenwich was originally part of an area known as Narragansett Township Number Four and was settled by land grantees in the 1730s who had served England in the Indian Wars against the Narragansetts. The area became known as "Quabbin Parish" or "Quabbin Plantation" when the Rev. Pelatiah Webster was ordained in 1749. The towne of Greenwich was incorporated per Chapter 37 of the Massachusetts laws on April 20, 1754. It was located along the East and Middle branches of the Swift River.
Greenwich and three other towns were disincorporated on April 28, 1938 as part of the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. Upon disincorporation, portions of the town were annexed to the adjacent towns of Hardwick, New Salem, Petersham, and Ware. It is now largely below water, except for the hilltops of Curtis Hill, Mount Liz, and Mount Pomeroy which are now islands.
Extracts From the Rutland Weekly Herald 1800-1805 by Dawn D. Hance
Monday 20 Sep 1802Thunderstorm Tues last 7 a.m., one of the worst in town [Rutland]. At Pittsford, Col. Cooley's barn struck by lightning and burned.

Benjamin5 married Ruth Beach on 18 Feb 1773 in Pittsford, Charlotte Co, New York. Ruth (daughter of Gershom Beach and Mary Salter) was born about 1756 in Morristown, Morris Co, New Jersey; died on 5 Sep 1825 in Pittsford, Rutland Co, Vermont; was buried about Sep 1825 in Congregational Church Cemetery, Pittsford, Rutland Co, Vermont. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From the Cooley Genealogy: "[Benjamin Cooley] m. Feb. 1773, Ruth Beach, b Jan 11, 1756, Morristown, N.J., d. Sept 1, 1825; when married, she was visiting her brother, Co. Beach, in Rutland Vt. She probably belonged to the Beach family of Milford and New Haven, Conn. who went with the New Haven Colony to New Jersey in 1666"
Vermont Vital Records microfilm verifies: (1) Ruth Beach's birth place as Morristown New Jersey, (2) Ruth's birth year, 1756 and (3) Ruth Beach was a resident of Rutland, Charlotte Co, New York at the time of her marriage. However, the exact date of her birth has not been sourced. Note that her husband Benjamin was town clerk at the time.
Morris County was created on March 15, 1739, from portions of Hunterdon County. The county was named for the Governor of the Province of New Jersey, Colonel Lewis Morris. In later years Sussex County (on June 8, 1753) and, after the revolution, Warren County (on November 20, 1824, from portions of Sussex County) were carved out of what had been the original area of Morris County under English rule. The county was the site of the winter camp of the Continental Army after the Battles of Trenton and Princeton during the winter of 1777, as well as another winter camp at Jockey Hollow during an extremely cold winter of 1779-80 which occurred during the Little Ice Age.

Notes:

Married:
Cooley Genealogy: [Benjamin Cooley] m. Feb. 1773, Ruth Beach, b Jan 11, 1756, Morristown, N.J., d. Sept 1, 1825; when married, she was visiting her brother, Col. Beach, in Rutland Vt.
Vermont Vital Records: Place of residence [when married], Rutland