Victoria Sutherland (1849 - 1902)

Born Jul 1849 in Cambria, Niagara, New York

Ancestors

Died 23 May 1902 at age 52 in 513 West 145th Street, New York City, New York

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Victoria Sutherland is Notable.

Biography

Victoria was the second 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 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. Fletcher died in 1888.

Victoria had the longest hair of all the girls, a full 7 feet from the top of her head to the ends. When she let it down, it would drag on the ground behind her. One fan offered Victoria $2,500 to cut off all her hair. She refused but did sell one strand of hair to a jeweler for $25. The jeweler then suspended a seven carat diamond from the hair, in his shop window.

Victoria was always considered a beauty. In 1898, she married Wesley Craw, a 19-year-old preacher's son, when she was 49. Her sisters were outraged and kicked her out of the family mansion. She was ostracized from them the rest of her short life. She passed away in 1902 at age 53, at her residence 513 West 145th Street, New York City, New York.

Sources

"United States Census, 1850," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MCBV-XTV : accessed 15 Aug 2014), Victory 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-6X8 : accessed 15 Aug 2014), Victora 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-YZ3 : accessed 15 Aug 2014), Victoria 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-S89 : accessed 15 Aug 2014), Victoria 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/VTZ5-45S : accessed 15 Aug 2014), Victoria Sutherland in household of Fletcher Sutherland, Cambria, Niagara, New York, United States; citing p. 6, line 34, State Library, Albany; FHL microfilm 1577676.

"United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZXC-BPX : accessed 17 Aug 2014), Victoria 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/MSK4-5ZH : accessed 17 Aug 2014), Victoria Craw in household of Wesly Craw, Borough of Manhattan, Election District 25 New York City Ward 23, New York County, New York, United States; citing sheet 9A, family 190, NARA microfilm publication T623, FHL microfilm 1241109.

Father of Sutherland Sisters Inclined to Exaggeration but Loved His Girls; Niagara Falls Gazette, January 13, 1955, pg. 4 (http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%208/Niagara%20Falls%20NY%20Gazette/Niagara%20Falls%20NY%20Gazette%201955%20Jan-Feb%20Grayscale/Niagara%20Falls%20NY%20Gazette%201955%20Jan-Feb%20Grayscale%20-%200265.pdf : accessed 16 Aug 2014)

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)