Today’s blog post concerns a bit of local history. I’ve mentioned walking by the 1836 Jail, which once housed the murderer Chester Gilette. I thought I would talk a little bit about the murder.
I don’t remember when I first heard about the murder, but the first time I learned much about it was while we were living in Georgia. Steven gave me a book he had found in Watertown, Adirondack Tragedy: The Gilette Murder Case of 1906 by Joseph W. Brownell and Patricia A. Wawrzaszek.
The story begins in Cortland, NY, at the Gilette Skirt Factory. Chester, a nephew of the factory owner, started romancing Grace Brown, an innocent farm girl from Otselic in Chenango County. As sometimes happens to young couples, Grace became pregnant and Chester did not want to get married.
Chester convinced Grace to go on a trip with him. The two met in DeRuyter where they boarded a train to Canastota. From Canastota, they went to Utica. Imagine my delight, sitting in Georgia and reading about Utica, NY. Oh well, as we used to say, it takes so little to please some people.
The actual murder took place in the Adirondacks, not the Mohawk Valley. First stop was Tupper Lake. From there they went to Big Moose Lake, where the two went out in a row boat and Grace was never seen alive again.
District Attorney George W. Ward, Deputy Sheriff Granville Ingraham and Undersheriff Austin Klock travelled from Herkimer through Utica and up into the Adirondacks to investigate. Chester was arrested at the Arrowhead Hotel in Inlet. He was returned to Herkimer where the sensational trial took place.
If I’ve piqued your interest, I highly recommend Adirondack Tragedy. Another excellent book is Murder in the Adirondacks by Craig Brandon. I know at least the Brandon book is available at the Herkimer County Historical Society or at Gems Along the Mohawk in Herkimer. Craig Brandon also edited and annotated Grace Brown’s Love Letters. See, people used to write actual letters in those days. I like to write letters myself, although few people write back. But I digress.
The Gilette murder case inspired Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy and the movie A Place in the Sun. I love the movie, but it is not really the same story. For one thing, none of it takes place in the Mohawk Valley. What’s that all about?
Mohawk Valley Girl 