A Sarles Family

(Source)

What is the relationship between these four Sarleses? By the way, did you know that there are five Thomas Sarleses buried in the cemetery? What, was the name Merritt not an option?

I'd like to take a moment here just to thank the volunteers at Find A Grave, which truly is one of the best free genealogy resources on the web. I like to have a photograph of the stone I'm researching, but if I've neglected to take one myself, I always go to Find A Grave to find one. They're fantastic! Not only are most of the graves in the cemetery covered already, but people continue to add stones to the database on a daily basis. You can tell how recently this photo was added by the posts and tape around Charles Haight's stone in the background, which have only been there since April. Find A Grave volunteers have been visiting the cemetery since our campaign began, adding photos not only of the stones, but of the signs we've put up next to them. They do great work.

Anyway, back to the Sarleses. Here are the names on the stone:

Leila May, died 1867
Mortimer S., died 1903
Harold, died 1904
Thomas H., died 1905

My first guess about these Sarleses was that they were a quartet of unmarried siblings, just like the Haines family. It turns out my suspicions were right on target. Here is the Sarles family in 1870. Note the presence of Harold, Mortimer, and Thomas (Leila would have died already). Also note that the census taker has neglected to fill in the name of the children's mother. I have called this census the Sexist Census before, due to the fact that the census-taker refused to list the first names of any married women, but instead listed them as "Mrs. [Husband's First and Last Name]." That is bad enough, especially considering that the 1850 and 1860 censuses do give the first names of married women, but look at this! Even when Mrs. Sarles is the householder, she doesn't get a name! And because her husband is dead, so she doesn't even get the courtesy of a "Mrs. [Blank] Sarles."

1870 US Federal Census

Thanks to the 1860 census, I know that Mrs. Sarles's husband's name was Thomas, probably the Thomas Sarles buried in the cemetery who died in 1869 at the age of 33, and that her name was Ernestine A. Hyatt.

Leila May Sarles isn't listed in the 1860 census. She was probably born between 1860 and 1867, and died as a child.

Harold Sarles didn't marry. In 1900, at the age of 40, he was living as a boarder in the house of his aunt, Catherine Hyatt, and her husband Oliver Van Cortlandt, and was listed as an "invalid." He died in 1904.

I might not have been able to identify Mortimer Sarles in the 1880 census, where he is listed as "M. S. Sarles," if it weren't for the fact that he was living in the same household as his brother would be 20 years later. While he lived with his aunt and uncle, 18-year-old Mortimer worked as a store clerk. 
He died December 16, 1903, in Jacksonville, Florida.

In 1910, Ernestine Sarles was living with her son Effingham, who was one of only two of her seven children still alive. At age 53, Effingham was listed as an "invalid," just like his brother ten years earlier. Did the Sarles children suffer from an inherited illness? Mother and son lived with three boarders at 339 West 50th Street.

1910 US Federal Census

During this time, Ernestine Sarles was embroiled in a court case regarding the estate of her "mentally incompetent" niece, Augusta Hyatt, which was estimated to be $400,000 (quite a sum back then). Ernestine died in 1911, leaving her brother Mortimer A. Hyatt and nephew George Hyatt Robinson as the last two relatives in the running. Ultimately George won.

Here's an article from the New York Times written when Augusta Hyatt was first declared insane.

New York Times 15 Dec. 1898

These articles, also from the times, announced George's victory over his uncle. Apparently George was a bit unstable himself, having been institutionalized by his wife in 1909 after an epic spending spree (seriously - he spent $500,000, the equivalent of 12.6 million dollars today, in 5 years).

New York Times 29 June 1912

New York Times 6 May 1914

1. George E. Hyatt (1815-) m. Rachel (1821-)
1. Augusta (1844-)
2. Agnes (1847-)
3. George (1849-)

1. Thomas Sarles (1835-1869) m. Ernestine A. Hyatt (1834-1911)
1. Effingham H. Sarles (1857-) m. Carrie G. Griswold (1860-)
2. Harold Sarles (1859-1904)
3. Mortimer S. Sarles (1861-1903)
4. Alice Sarles (1863-)
5. Thomas H. Sarles (1869-1905)
6. Leila May Sarles (?-1867)

1. Joseph Ryder Hyatt (1787-1848) m. Mary Pamela Montross (1796-1840)
1. George E. Hyatt (1815-) m. Rachel (1821-)
1. Augusta Hyatt (1844-)
2. Agnes Hyatt (1847-) m. Charles Robinson
1. George Hyatt Robinson
3. George Hyatt (1849-)
2. Jackson Hyatt (1819-1892) m. Phebe J. Sarles (1824-1909)
3. Catherine Hyatt (1820-) m. Oliver Van Cortlandt 
4. Oscar Warren Hyatt (1824-)
5. Emily Hyatt (1826-1887)
6. Mortimer A. Hyatt (1828-1916) m. Margaret L. Anderson (1827-1893)
7. Minerva Hyatt (1830-1907)
8. Ernestine A. Hyatt (1834-) m. Thomas Sarles (1835-1869)
9. Pamela Hyatt (1838-1910)
10. J. Effingham Hyatt (1840-1872)