Murder in the Adirondacks: "An American Tragedy" Revisited"Murder in the Adirondacks is the true story of the Chester Gillette - Grace Brown murder case, which was the basis for Theodore Dreiser's classic novel An American Tragedy and the movie "A Place in the Sun" with Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. Although the trial in Herkimer, New York was front page news throughout the nation in 1906 and millions of words have been written about Dreiser's novel, this book is the first complete account of the fascinating facts behind the fiction. Gillette, a former prep school student and railroad brakeman, was the nephew of the owner of a skirt factory in Cortland, New York, where he met Grace Brown, the daughter of a Chenango County farmer. Soon after Grace discovered she was pregnant with Gillette's child in 1906, they left on a trip to the Adirondacks. Grace thought it was to be a wedding trip, but Gillette was planning murder, not matrimony. At Big Moose Lake in Herkimer County, Gillette rented a boat and took Grace to a deserted section of the lake called Punky Bay. She ended up at the bottom of the lake and Gillette escaped to Inlet, where he was arrested three days later. The spectators at Gillette's trial sobbed when the district attorney read Grace's letters, but Gillette sat quietly and chewed gum until it was his turn to testify. Then he said Grace jumped out of the boat and committed suicide. The jury didn't believe him and he was sentenced to die in the electric chair in Auburn. Gillette's mother waged a campaign that led all the way to the governor's mansion in Albany and a last minute attempt to save her son's life. By the 1980s, the fiction had overpowered the facts and many people accepted Dreiser's novel as the true story. This book sets the record straight. Meticulously researched, it relies on the original courtroom testimony and the 1906-1908 newspaper articles. It contains letters, documents and photographs that have never before been made public. Facts about Gillette's early life and his family are revealed here for the first time anywhere. After 80 years, readers can finally find out what really happened at Big Moose Lake in 1906. The true story of Upstate New York's most famous murder case can finally be told."--Back cover |
Contents
The Factory Owners Nephew | 13 |
The Farmers Daughter | 41 |
Love Letters | 75 |
Copyright | |
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Adirondacks American Tragedy arrived asked Auburn autopsy Big Moose Lake boat called Canastota cell Chenango County Chester and Grace Chester Gillette Cortland Cortland County court courtroom dear death DeRuyter Devendorf district attorney Dolgeville Dreiser Eagle Bay electric chair evidence farm Frank friends Gillette's girl Glenmore Grace Brown Harriet Benedict Herkimer County Historical Society Hoag jail July jurors jury Klock knew later lawyers letters Little York lived looked Louisa MacIlravy Mills and Thomas minutes morning Morrison mother murder N. H. Gillette nearly never newspapers night novel Oberlin papers planned prison probably reporters Salvation Army seems sister skirt factory South Otselic spent Spokane story Street suitcase talked tell tennis racket testimony Theodore Dreiser things thought told took Tragedy train trial trip Utica walked wanted Ward Ward's week witnesses write wrote young