The true story of Niagara’s Seven Sutherland Sisters is actually stranger than fiction. This family of siblings made a business out of their floor-length hair and their musical talents. Even in death, the story is bizarre. On March 12, 1898, the Union-Sun printed a story about an attempted grave robbing from a family mausoleum in Glenwood Cemetery. The building had been erected in 1896 by one of the sisters, Isabella Sutherland Castlemaine, as the final resting place for her beloved husband, Frederick.

According to the published reports, the ghouls drove a horse and wagon into the cemetery at night and attempted to gain entry into the mausoleum. The renegades did accomplish removal of the heavy bronze gate on the front of the building but were stymied in their attempt to blast through the door by placing gunpowder in the keyhole. The explosion failed in its mission to gain the men admittance, so their next attempt was to break a small window and crawl through. The following morning, the cemetery caretaker noticed the missing gate and forced entry. Isabella Sutherland was summoned to the cemetery and she opened the mausoleum door with a foot-long key, and to everyone’s surprise, the massive door swung open. The entry party, including a Union-Sun reporter determined that the purpose of the forced entry was an apparent attempt at body snatching. It was assumed that Isabella’s share of the hair tonic fortune led the bandits to believe they could obtain a large ransom for her husband’s body. There had been rumors that the body was bedecked with diamonds and other jewels, but the men did not attempt to remove the glass cover of the inner metal coffin, which confirmed the authorities’ suspicions that the men were only after the body. The two-foot window was too small to remove the casket from the building, so the men left the cemetery empty handed.

Late the police made every effort to trace the desecrators, but to no avail. The site of the crime actually became a “must-see” in Glenwood for thousands of curious on-lookers and tourists. Heavy metal bars were added to the window opening to prevent any repeat attempt to disrupt the dead. In 1914, Isabella joined Frederick in death, and was laid beside her husband.

Douglas Farley, Director
Erie Canal Discover Center
24 Church St.
Lockport NY 14094
716.439.0431
CanalDiscovery@aol.com
www.NiagaraHistory.org