The Prison Diary and Letters of Chester Gillette: September 18, 1907 through March 30, 1908

by Jack Sherman and Craig Brandon

Edited by Jack Sherman and Craig Brandon. Chester Gillette was executed on March 30, 1908, for the murder of Grace Brown, who was pregnant with his child. The trial was a sensation at the time and the case became the basis for Theodore Dreiser's classic novel An American Tragedy, the 1951 Academy award-winning movie A Place in the Sun, and a 2006 opera. Revealed here, for the first time in nearly a century, are Chester's private thoughts in his final months.

The diary was kept private by the Gillette family for ninety-nine years and only came to light in 2007 when Marlynn McWade-Murray, the grandniece of Chester Gillette, donated it to the Hamilton College Library. Along with the diary, this volume contains twelve letters Chester wrote from prison while awaiting his execution. Eleven of the letters are to Bernice Ferrin, a young friend of the Gillette family for whom Chester seemed to have romantic feelings. The twelfth letter was written to his sister Hazel the day before his execution.

This work includes a synopsis of the events surrounding the murder and trial by Craig Brandon, the leading scholar on the Gillette case. Jack Sherman provides an introduction to the diary along with headnotes to each entry and explanations of Chester's many obscure references.

Genres: True Crime

193 pages, Paperback

First published December 20, 2007

Reviews

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1905, a young philanderer named Chester Gillette met Grace Brown, a farmer's daughter, at his uncle's skirt factory in Cortland, New York. The two began a clandestine relationship that they kept secret because she was socially beneath him. She became pregnant, and after heated and tearful discussions about their dilemma, they left for the Adirondacks together on July 9, 1906. Chester returned from the vacation in handcuffs after Grace's bruised body was fished from the bottom of Big Moose Lake. At the end of a widely covered trial, a jury concluded that he had done away with her rather than hamper his social ambitions by marrying her. Gillette was convicted of murder, and after unsuccessful clemency movements spearheaded by his devoted mother, died in Auburn's electric chair on March 30, 1908.

Theodore Dreiser used the Gillette case as a basis for his bestselling novel "American Tragedy", which in turn fuelled films, plays, and even an opera. Two excellent nonfiction books have also been written: Craig Brandon's "Murder in the Adirondacks" and "Adirondack Tragedy" by Joseph Brownell and Patricia Enos.

The case continues to haunt the public for two primary reasons. First, a distressed young woman and her unborn child met a terrible end. Second, a faint question mark remains over the issue of Chester Gillette's guilt. He claimed at his trial that she committed suicide by jumping out of their rowboat, and Cortland people who knew Grace said that she had suffered from epileptic seizures, raising the possiblity that she'd fallen in the water during a fit. After his death, Chester's spiritual advisors stated that "no legal mistake" had been made where his execution was concerned, which suggested that he had confessed, but no more details were divulged.

In March 2007 Chester Gillette's grandniece made public a 'prison diary' that he kept from September 18, 1907 until the morning of his execution. The journal, now published (and the subject of this review!) is an intriguing historical document. Be warned: if you're expecting to read a confession or even ruminations on the subject of Grace Brown, you'll be disappointed. Knowing that prison authorities could have access to the diary at any time, he steers away from incriminating musings and focuses instead on book reviews and fond commentary on his friends and family. It's interesting to note that Gillette does not directly assert his innocence: he complains instead that he was convicted on the basis of improper evidence. There's a subliminal message of "They got me, but they didn't play fair" as opposed to "They've condemned an innocent man."

The earliest entries are a bit shallow and self-absorbed, but as the time of execution draws near, Gillette's entries take on a more spiritual, reflective, and regretful tone. The same progression is observed in the letters to his sister Hazel and friend Bernice Ferrin that were donated along with the journal and published as an appendix.

"The Prison Diary and Letters of Chester Gillette: September 18, 1907 through March 30, 1908" contains no revelations about how Grace Brown really died, but by providing a small degree of insight into Gillette's final months, it adds a haunting new dimension to the case and its aftermath.

[Jacqueline115 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Murder in the Adirondacks years ago so I have a better appreciation of this book. I can't wait to read Grace Brown's Diary. My childhood friend helped with the restoration of the photos and diary and said it was a neat project to do.

[Evangelia Amirhom]

A medium just informed me that Chester had murdered grace by pushing her face under the water and the reason behind murdering her was that she wanted to leave him .
if he couldn't have her no one else would.