News Updates
Chester Gillette's prison diary and letters that he wrote from prison have been published by the Richard W.Couper Press in Clinton, N.Y. The 193-page book is being distributed by North Country Books in Utica and should be in book stores soon. If you need a copy right away I would be glad to send you one. The price is $25 plus $4 shipping and handling. Send your check along with your name and address to Surry Cottage Books, 25 Roxbury St. Keene NH, 03431. I can't do credit cards, but I can do Paypal, if you have an account. Just send $29 to cbrandon@keene.edu and I will send one out right away.
Jack Sherman and I plan to do some book signings in the spring. I will update you on this as soon as we have some dates nailed down.
added Dec. 29, 2007
The recently unearthed diary of Chester Gillette will be published in November 2007 by Hamilton College. The editors working on the project are Judge Jack Sherman, Librarian Randy Erickson and author Craig Brandon. The three are currently tracking down the obscure references to people, places and books and this information will be included in an introduction and in footnotes to the diary.
The letters from Chester to Bernice Ferrin and his sister, Hazel, will also be a part of the package, which may also include the first publication of Grace Brown's diary as well. Plans are to produce an inexpensive edition in time for Christmas and to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Chester's death on March 30. There are also plans to publish a more elaborate deluxe edition that would include photos of every page of the diary.
Stay tuned for more information.
added April 23, 2007
The information in Chester's diary has already led to some new discoveries about his life. The Bernice Ferrin, who came to visit him in Auburn Prison, was a resident of Zion City, Illinois, where the Gillettes once lived. Census records researched by Sue Perkins of the Herkimer County Historical Society show that she married Joe Cramner and moved to South Dakota.
Chester also refers to someone named "Lloyd" who he says is is going to be with after he dies. Research done by Randy Ericson at Hamilton College shows that this was Chester's brother, a year older than Chester, who died when he was a baby.
Also, Chester writes that despite the fact that he is a devout Christian, he believes in Darwin's theory of evolution. This is quite remarkable in that most Christians in 1906 had serious doubts about this and many ministers insisted it was heresy.
added March 16 2007.
Craig Brandon and Marlynn Murray, Chester Gillette’s grandniece, who donated Chester’s prison diary to Hamilton College on March 6.
Chester Gillette’s prison diary made public
Chester Gillette’s Auburn Prison diary, which contains entries from September 1907 right up to the hour of his death on March 30, 1908, has been donated to Hamilton College by Hazel Gillette’s granddaughter, Marlynn Murray of Tallahassee, Florida. The diary was kept by Hazel, Chester’s sister, then given to her son, who passed away in 2003. It then became the property of his daughter, Marlynn.
The book is about 8 ½ inches wide and 10 inches tall with a plain black cover, with stapled signatures glued into the cover. It has ruled pages inside and was probably purchased in Auburn in 1907 for a nickel. There are about 90 pages in the book
There are three parts to the book. Chester’s diary entries are at the beginning, starting in September, when he had been in Auburn almost a year. These entries end on the day of his death. After that there are two pages in which someone else has written quotations from John Alexander Dowie, the faith healer who organized the Zion City religious community in Illinois. These were probably written by Hazel. Then there are some blank pages followed, at the very end of the book, with quotations that Chester has written from his prison reading. They include poems by Robert Browning and others and aphorisms from Plato, Aristotle, Victor Hugo and others. Hamilton College plans to restore the diary by removing the acid from the paper and putting the pages back into the cover. All of the pages have torn along the fold where they attach to the cover and have come loose from it.
Added March 7, 2007
Gillette diary found
The diary that Chester Gillette kept in Auburn Prison while awaiting his execution has been found and will be donated to Hamilton College in a ceremony on March 6, 2007. The diary and some of Chester’s letters were passed down through the family of Hazel (Gillette) McWade, Chester’s younger sister. Marlynn Murray, the current owner of the diary, is the granddaughter of Hazel Gillette. She says the diary doesn’t contain any startling new information. Chester maintained his innocence and the diary details his spiritual conversion from January 1907 to March 1908, when he died in the electric chair. Murray will come to Herkimer and Hamilton College to tour the sites of the famous trial and will stay at Ward’s Pond Bed and Breakfast, the former home of the prosecutor in the case, George Ward.
Historical Marker Unveiled
A new historical marker in front of the 1834 Herkimer County Jail on Main Street in Herkimer, N.Y. was dedicated at 12:30 Saturday, November 18. The date marked the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Chester Gillette murder trial of 1906. Gillette was a prisoner in the jail from July to December 1906 and his trial was held in the court house directly across the street. The marker was donated by Herkimer County Sheriff Chris Farber in honor of his family.
One of the highlights of the ceremony was a short note from Marlynn Murray, the granddaughter of Hazel McWade, Chester’s younger sister. She was unable to attend the ceremony but said in her note that she was grateful that so many people remembered the event and asked those present to pray for both Chester and Grace.
This is the fifth historical marker dedicated to the Gillette case. The others are outside George Ward’s former home in Gloversville, one at Big Moose Lake and two in South Otselic, Grace Brown’s home town. Added Nov. 26, 2006
Grace Brown’s early diary
Robert Williams, Grace Brown’s great grandnephew, has transcribed her early diary from 1902, which was passed down from his grandmother. He has generously allowed me to post it here in its entirety along with a photo of it. He brought the diary along with Grace’s cradle to the centennial commemoration at Big Moose last July. You can take a look at it by clicking here.
Did Grace Brown's doctor
know about her condition?
When I was doing the
research for Murder in the Adirondacks I came across a local
legend that Grace Brown's family doctor, J. Mott Crumb, had been aware
that she was pregnant. This is significant because Grace stayed with
Crumb and his wife, the former Maude Kenyon, on the night before her
fatal trip to the Adirondacks. The nearest I could come to any proof of
this was an article in one of the Syracuse newspapers from the 1950s in
which a reporter went to South Otselic and tried to interview the Crumbs
about this question. The Crumbs refused to talk publicly about Grace, as
they did all their lives, but the rumor that they knew about her
pregnancy was said to be common knowledge.
This seemed like little more than a rumor to me when I wrote the
book, but now another piece of evidence has emerged in a story passed
down through the descendents of Mary Landesman, Grace Brown's younger
sister. The family of Sue and Bob Williams sent me the story that
according to their family tradition, Grace's doctor, who was not named
in the story, knew about Grace's pregnancy but for ethical reasons
declined to perform an abortion.
If this story is true, which I now think it probably is, it means
that on the night of July 8, the Crumbs knew that Grace was running away
with Chester and probably gave their consent. But both of the Crumbs
apparently took this secret to their graves. It does nothing to clarify
where exactly Grace thought she was going. Was her destination a wedding
or a home for unwed mothers?
Added Aug.
18, 2006
The marker on Stage Road near Grace
Brown's
home in South Otselic.
The marker on Route 26 just south of the village of South Otselic. Photos by Jean Winter
South Otselic historical markers unveiled
While the memorial wreath was
being laid at Big Moose Lake on July 11, residents of South Otselic were
marking the date in their own way by setting up two historical markers
in honor of Grace Brown. Previously the town had honored her by naming
two roads after her: Grace Brown Lane for the small dead-end road in
front of her house and Billy Brown Road just off Route 26 south of the
town.
The markers were set up in a quiet
ceremony and as far as I know the ceremonies were not covered by any
news media.
The first maker was set up on Stage Road
just west of the intersection with Grace Brown Lane. The other is on
Route 26 just below the Valley View Cemetery on a small piece of land
just south of the village from which you can see the former Gothic
Hotel, the center of town.
The first marker reads: "Grace Brown,
Mar. 20 1886 - July 11, 1906. The Family Home. Her untimely death at Big
Moose Lake and resulting trial captivated the nation."
The second marker reads: "Grace Brown
whose life and death inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy.
Her final resting place in the valley she loved."
I think these markers, especially the
second one, capture Grace's spirit and the feelings that residents of
South Otselic have for her today.
When I did my research for my book there
was only one historical marker about the case. That was in Dolgeville
outside George Ward's mansion. It seemed a strange place for the only
officially designated site.
Now there are four markers, including the
new one at Big Moose Lake. The number will increase to five this fall
when Herkimer places one outside the jail and across the street from the
court house where the trial took place. This will be a double-sided
marker with different text on each side, according to Jeff Steele, the
president of the Herkimer County Historical Society.
The wording of historical markers is not
as easy as it might seem. I have been in on the negotiations for a
couple of these and there are restrictions on the number of words and
how many letters in a line. There's no way you can write complete
sentences but you have to be careful about hidden meanings. So
far I think everyone has done a great job with this!
Added Aug. 18 2006
Grace Brown remembered
At 5:30 p.m. on July 11, 2006 a
memorial wreath for Grace Brown was placed in South Bay of Big Moose
Lake at the spot where her body was found. Placing the wreath are Bob
and Sue Williams, great nephew and niece of Grace. Their grandmother,
Mary Brown, was Grace's next youngest sister. That's me in the blue
shirt at the right holding the rope. See below for the story.
Photo by Mike Doherty of the Utica Observer-Dispatch.
The memorial marker at the far western end of Big Moose Lake that was unveiled July 11, 2006. (AP photo)
July 11, 2006
What actually happened was much less lonely and much more significant.
Charlie Adams, the skipper of the “Grace” tour boat that has taken
thousands of tourists around the lake over the past decade, can be
credited with scripting and organizing the commemoration activities,
along with the members of
Charlie worked diligently with Assemblyman Marc Butler to get the state
to approve the marker and then to come up with wording that would fit
the small space on the sign. It's a long-overdue tribute that officially
recognizes the death as an important part of the region's history. Even
though many residents of Big Moose Lake are less than pleased that their
beautiful part of the Adirondacks has been tainted from its association
with an infamous crime, Charlie was able to secure all the permissions
and smooth over the objections to get the marker approved. Everyone who
understands the significance of this story owes him a round of thanks.
During the afternoon there were displays of historical artifacts, a
special stamp cancellation and books signings by Joe Brownell and
myself. I signed books continuously for over four hours!
Then at 5:15 the “Grace” left its dock at Dunn’s Marina and headed out
to South Bay, accompanied by a police boat and jet ski provided by the
Herkimer County Sheriff’s Department. In the boat was a large wreath
that Charlie had had made by a local florist. The flowers were selected
so that they would last a long time out there on the bay after the
ceremony was over.
Charlie also had to select from a large number of people who wanted to
be on the boat when the wreath was laid. Among those who were on the
boat were Robert and Susan Williams, the great nephew and niece of Grace
Brown. Their grandmother, Mary Brown, was Grace's sister, who was 19
when Grace died. Also on the boat were Frank Carey, whose grandmother
heard what may have been Grace’s last call; Jennifer Pokon, the actress
who plays Grace in re-enactments; Denny McAllister, the grandson of
James McAlliser, who drove Grace and Chester from the train station to
the Glennmore Hotel; the minister of the Big Moose Chapel; descendants
of Roy Higby, who found the body in the lake; Charlie Adams; Gail Murray
of the Town of Webb Historical Association, and me.
The ceremony itself was brief but meaningful, with the minister saying a
few words about the tragedy and how it was never welcomed by many at the
lake. Then came the most emotional moment as Jennifer read Grace Brown's
last love letter to
There were a number of spectators on other boats that were anchored
around the site, including a press boat. In a few minutes it was over
and the boats headed back to the marina, leaving only the wreath behind
in South Bay, where it will be seen by tour boats for the rest of the
summer.
I think it was a fitting tribute to the
young woman whose life was cut short a century ago, but whose memory has
never been allowed to fade away and now probably never will.
Added July 16, 2006
