Sarah Naomi Sutherland (1845 - 1919)

Born Aug 1845 in Wayne Co., New York

Ancestors

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Sarah Sutherland is Notable.

Biography

Sarah was the oldest of the seven Sutherland sisters. When they were little their mother would slather their hair with a horrible smelling ointment which she believed would make the girls hair thick and long. It was so bad the girls’ classmates shunned them due to the odor. The embarrassed girls (with the long, thick braids) hid in the tall grass near their log cabin when visitors approached.

Their mother Mary died in 1867, when her youngest daughter, Mary, was just a toddler. The sisters didn't have the foul-smelling oil applied to their hair any longer. Their father Fletcher, was determined to provide a better future for himself and his children.

Their father devoted himself to his children's musical education and managed The Seven Sutherland Sisters' burgeoning career. The Sutherland children, including the girls’ only brother, Charles, played musical instruments and toured churches, fairs, and community theaters around Niagara County as the “Sutherland Concert of Seven Sisters, and one Brother.”

In 1882, the sisters signed a deal to tour with with W.W. Coles Colossal Shows, and by 1884, the sisters had joined Barnum and Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth as a sideshow attraction. P.T. Barnum himself dubbed them, “the seven most pleasing wonders of the world.”

Around 1883, their father came up with the idea to invent a hair tonic when he realized that audiences were more interested in his daughters' spectacular hair than their musical abilities. Although Fletcher died in 1888 the Sutherland business continued and was among the top corporate beauty product manufacturers and marketers at the turn of the century.

Two and a half million bottles of hair grower were sold by 1890, just about four years after production began. With big price tags, ranging between 50 cents to $1.50 per bottle and the average American salary was $2 to $15 dollars per week, the sophisticated marketing and pricing was meant to attract the wealthy. More than $3 million in reported income was realized.

Sarah had the shortest hair of the sisters at only 3 feet long, but it was thick and wavy. When the sisters posed for photo shoots, Sarah would sit and others would bend their waists so that it seemed that all seven had hair that brushed the ground. A leather-covered Bible was always with Sarah and she used her talents as a high solo soprano and pianist to become a revered music teacher. Sarah never married and when she died in 1919, her family kept her body on display in the home, and resisted burying her until forced to by local authorities.

Sources

"United States Census, 1850," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MCBV-XTJ : accessed 15 Aug 2014), Sarah Sutherland in household of Fletcher Sutherland, Cambria, Niagara, New York, United States; citing family 268, NARA microfilm publication M432.

"New York, State Census, 1855," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K67T-6XZ : accessed 16 Aug 2014), Sarah Sutterland in household of Fletcher Sutterland, Cambria, Niagara, New York, United States; citing Secretary of State; FHL microfilm 1577674.

"United States Census, 1860," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MCWF-YZS : accessed 15 Aug 2014), Sarah N Sutherland in household of Fletcher Sutherland, The Town Of Cambria, Niagara, New York, United States; citing "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," Fold3.com; p. 37, household ID 297, NARA microfilm publication M653; FHL microfilm 803823.

"United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M8V3-S8M : accessed 17 Aug 2014), Sarah Southerland in household of Flet Southerland, New York, United States; citing p. 41, family 316, NARA microfilm publication M593, FHL microfilm 000552553.

"New York, State Census, 1875," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VTZ5-459 : accessed 17 Aug 2014), Sarah N Sutherland in household of Fletcher Sutherland, Cambria, Niagara, New York, United States; citing p. 6, line 33, State Library, Albany; FHL microfilm 1577676.

"United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZXC-BP6 : accessed 17 Aug 2014), Sarah Sutherland in household of Fletcher Sutherland, Cambria, Niagara, New York, United States; citing sheet 12C, NARA microfilm publication T9.

"United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MS26-RZG : accessed 17 Aug 2014), Sarah N Sutherland, Cambria Township, Election District 1, Niagara, New York, United States; citing sheet 6B, family 130, NARA microfilm publication T623, FHL microfilm 1241128.

Untangling the Tale of the Seven Sutherland Sisters and Their 37 Feet of Hair by Lisa Hix, September 6th, 2013 (http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-seven-sutherland-sisters-and-their-37-feet-of-hair/  : accessed 15 Aug 2014)

Famous Ladies with Long Hair: The Sutherland Sisters (http://www.angelfire.com/art/rapunzellonghair/rapunzellonghairarchive/portrait4.htm  : accessed 15 Aug 2014)

The Long Hair Success Story of the Seven Sutherland Sisters by Doug Farley (http://dougfarley.hubpages.com/hub/The-Long-Hair-Success-Story-of-the-Seven-Sutherland-Sisters#  : accessed 15 August 2014)