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- 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. [1, 6]
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1816 - 1888 (72 years)
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