11: Stanley W. Sarles

Grave of Stanley W. Sarles

This week I've decided to make an attempt to climb a branch of the very extensive Sarles family tree. This is the grave of Stanley W. Sarles, who died in 1876 at the age of 22. I've already encountered his sister, Eudora Sarles, in my post on the Platts; she married William Platt around 1889, and moved to Aspen, Colorado. While living in Connecticut she was a member of the First Congregational Church of Kent, along with her future sister-in-law, Frances Waldron.

Kent Congregational Church today (source)

Member list of Congregational Church from History of Kent, CT

Eudora and Stanley's parents were Hamilton Sarles and Esther Williams. Hamilton, who died in 1869 at the age of 43, is buried in the cemetery, along with their one-year-old daughter Annette. Esther, who went on to marry Joseph Burroughs and live in Connecticut and then with her daughter in Aspen, CO, is not.

Hamilton's parents, William and Maria, are buried in the cemetery. Maria died in 1842 at the age of 48. Eight years later, her 75-year-old widower was living with their four children: Hamilton, a milkman; Schuyler, a shoemaker; and Elizabeth and Erastus.

1850 US Federal Census

By 1860, Hamilton had married Esther and had two children, Stanley and Catherine.

Meanwhile, Hamilton's brother Schuyler enlisted in the Civil War. His muster roll abstract from 1862 states that he is 5'6", with dark eyes, black hair, and a fair complexion, and that he worked as a shoe cutter.

Their youngest brother, Erastus, was living in a nearby hotel in the 1860 census and was listed as a "gentleman." At least, I assume it was a hotel, since the head of household is a hotel keeper; perhaps it was a boarding house? And what exactly is meant by "gentleman" - "unemployed?" In any case it's nice to see Erastus keeping company with a Kniffin, perhaps related to my great-great-great grandmother Adelia Kniffin, and with two Reynolds, which is a very common name in the cemetery.

1860 US Federal Census

Sadly, all three of the Sarles brothers died young, by our standards. In fact, they all died in the 1860s; Erastus died in 1862 at age 29; Schuyler in 1867 at age 37; and Hamilton in 1869 at age 43. As you will see, this will be a common theme for this family.

Hamilton Sarles seems to be the only brother who had children. In a biography of his son Fred written in 1921, he's named as Alexander Hamilton Sarles. The biography also states that Hamilton was a Republican and a Prebysterian, and that he was a teacher before becoming a successful farmer.

Hamilton's son Stanley, of the featured gravestone, seems to have inherited his father's interest in teaching. He "acquired a liberal education" and had been hired as principal in a large school in New York City when he died.

Two of Stanley's brothers also died young. Joseph Sarles, who owned a meat market in Connecticut, died at age 36, leaving behind a wife, Nellie Clark Sarles, and two children (one named for brother Stanley). William Sarles was also in the meat business and died at age 38. Youngest brother Hamilton Victor Sarles was still living at the time the biography was written. He became a butcher, married Frances Waldron, and lived in Hartford, CT.

Old postcard of Hartford, CT (source)

The census of Joseph Sarles's family in 1900 reveals a surprising pattern. Nellie Clark Sarles was born in Iowa, although her parents were born in Connecticut. Both children were also born in Connecticut. As we'll see, several of the Sarleses have connections out West, including Eudora Sarles Platt, who moved to Aspen, and Fred Sarles, who was all over the place - Colorado, Utah, Montana. Was there a widespread movement of people from Connecticut to the West during this time, or was it just this family?

1900 US Federal Census

Incidentally, the 1910 census lists Stanley's mother's birthplace as Colorado, not Iowa. Stanley married Minerva A. Wainwright and worked as a watchmaker and jeweler in New Haven, CT. They had three girls, the youngest of whom was named for Minerva's mother Medora.

Movements like these aren't really surprising from our 21st-century perspective, but we tend to move around a lot more than our ancestors did. Compared to the other families from the graveyard I've investigated, this is a lot of movement. Some people might have moved to other states in the Northeast. It's certainly new to see multiple members of a family moving all the way to Colorado.

According to the biography, Fred Sarles was raised by his uncle Stanley Williams in Preston, CT, after his father died, and graduated from Upson Seminary for Boys in 1880.

As for Fred's career after that point, well, I'm not going to summarize it - you can read it here.

And this is about Fred's "interesting" children. His two boys were poets.

As noted in the Platt post, Fred Jr. and Eudora were raised by their aunt and uncle after their mother's death. What happened to Beatrice and Henry, the two younger children? According to their father's biography, they seem to have spent some time in Salt Lake City. The 1910 census shows a Henry and "Birdie" Sarles living with grandparents in Salt Lake City. However, the grandparents' surname is Green, not Smith (their mother's maiden name). Is it possible that Sarah Green was formerly Sarah Smith, and that she married twice?

1910 US Federal Census

William Green, a dentist, was born in Illinois and Sarah in Michigan, but their parents were born in New York. Sarah was the mother of two children, one of whom was dead - this would be Eva Smith. In Fred's biography, it notes that his wife was born in Missouri but grew up in New York State, indicating a connection between East and West.

Butte, MT; old postcard from Flickr

What's more, William Green was 49 in 1910 and his wife Sarah was 61. This means that Sarah was old enough to have a child (Eva Smith) born in 1868, but William was not. In fact, 49 seems a little too young to have an 11-year-old grandchild at all, even for a hundred years ago.

Old postcard of Mormon Temple at Salt Lake City from Antique Plum

So, even though I can't confirm it yet, my theory is that Beatrice and Henry went to live with their grandmother, Sarah Smith Green, and her husband in Salt Lake City after their mother died. Henry later moved to Butte, Montana.

Beatrice Sarles Johnson was widowed by 1930, and moved with her daughter Helen into the home of her brother Henry in Oregon. They had moved out by 1940, at which point Henry had married Portia But.

Fred Sarles Jr.'s marriage to Marguerite Morris seems to have ended quickly, presumably with her death; by 1930, he was married to Chloe Mae Bell and living in Cincinnati, Ohio. The couple had an infant daughter, and Fred was working as an insurance agent. In 1940, the family had moved to Greensboro, North Carolina and had a son, Fred. According to his World War I Draft Registration card, he had blue eyes and brown hair.

Henry Upson Sarles seems to have been named for the founder (Reverend Henry Upson) of the seminary his father attended in Connecticut. He fought in World War I and later worked for the Forest Service in Oregon, where he lived for 23 years. According to his Draft Registration card, he was of slim build, medium height, with gray eyes and brown hair. He died at age 49 of cancer.

The overwhelming trend in this family is that of death for men between the ages of 22 and 49. Just to recap:

Hamilton Sarles died age 43
Stanley Sarles died age 22
Joseph Sarles died age 36
William Sarles died age 38/40
Henry Upson Sarles died age 49
Schuyler Sarles died age 36
Erastus Sarles died age 28

All of these men share the same Y chromosome. They're all descendants of William Sarles, who ironically died at the ripe age of 84. My best guess, given that two men in this family (Henry Upson Sarles and Frederick William Sarles - although the latter died at the age of 70) are known to have died of cancer, is that the Sarles men had a genetic predisposition to cancer that killed them before their 50th birthdays. But that's just speculation.

In contrast to the large number of deaths of young adult men, there seem not to have been a large number of child deaths in this family - just Annette (1864-1865) and possibly Catherine Sarles (born 1858). Of course, it's possible that there are infant/child deaths that I haven't come across.

Final multiple name count (first and middle names):
Hamiltons: 3
Stanleys: 3
Eudoras: 2
Fredericks: 3
Williams: 3
Esthers: 2

And here's the completed family tree. Green names are those of people buried in the cemetery.

1. William Sarles (1774-1858) m. Maria (1794-1842)
1. Hamilton Sarles (1826-1869) m. Esther M. Williams (1826-1915); she later married Joseph Burroughs (1814-)
1. Stanley W. Sarles (1854-1876)
2. Joseph O. Sarles (1856-1892) m. Nellie Clark (1857-)
1. Stanley W. Sarles (1880-) m. Minerva A. Wainwright (1878-)
1. Ruth A. Sarles (1909-)
2. Virginia Sarles (1910-)
3. Medora C. Sarles (1914-)
2. Mabel E. Sarles (1881-)
3. William A. Sarles (1858-1898) m. Laura A. Page (1863-1939)
4. Frederick Hamilton Sarles (1860-) m. Eva Smith (1868-1905) in 1888
1. Frederick William Sarles (1895-1965) m. first Marguerite Morris; second Chloe Mae Bell  
1. Helen Mae Sarles (1929-)
2. Frederick W. J. Sarles (1932-)
2. Eudora M. Sarles (1897-) m. Paul R. Caley
3. Beatrice Esther Sarles (1898-) m. James C. Johnson (died before 1930)
1. Helen Johnson (1921-)
4. Henry Upson Sarles (1900-1949) m. Portia But (1910-1980)
5. Catherine Sarles (1858-)
6. Eudora M. Sarles (1862-) m. William Platt (1855-)
7. Annette Sarles (1864-1865) 
8. Hamilton Victor Sarles (1866-) m. Frances Waldron (1865-) in 1898
2. Elizabeth Sarles (1829-)
3. Schuyler Sarles (1831-1867)
4. Erastus Sarles (1834-1862)