Every Town - An American Tragedy - The Ruthless True Crime Story Behind A Famous Oscar Winning Film

Episode Date: April 21, 2023

A PLACE IN THE SUN won 6 Oscars and is based on this insane True Crime Story. Grace Brown and Chester Gillette’s clandestine romance, The doomed lovers’ destiny drove them to their untimely deaths. This story became a sensation in Upstate New York back in 1906. Justice was served, and closure attained. Yet Grace and Chester seemingly wanted more and their spirits can still be seen and heard from today.💥 Watch On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/scarymysteries🎧 Our Other Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1235579💀 Follow Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries 💀 Follow Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.fitzg👁 Follow Our TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewfitzgerald💥 Follow Our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarymysteriesofficial🗣 Business Inquiries: [e-mail] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you love true crime, grab your favorite mug and pour yourself a dose of creepy true crime every single morning with morning cup of murder. This short daily show is the perfect podcast to incorporate into your morning routine, because in less than 15 minutes, you'll hear about a true crime that took place on a day's date in history. Each day's dark history lesson will kickstart your morning with intriguing tales of murder, abduction, serial killers, cults, and everything in between. With over 20 million downloads, Morning Cup of Murder has something for every true crime lover. One listener describes the show as a small package with a powerful punch of crime.

Another writes that the show is an absolute delight in the morning. Support yourself a piping hot cup of murder every single morning with Morning Cup of Murder. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every town has a dark side. In 1951, a drama film entitled A Place in the Sun starring Hollywood Screen Legends, Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters, and a 17-year-old Elizabeth Taylor reaped commercial and critical success.

Based on the 1925 novel, an American tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser, the film tells the story of a working-class young man who is entangled with two women, one who works in his wealthy uncle's factory, and the other a beautiful socialite. While it may seem like one of the dime a dozen love triangle stories churned out by film producers, the novel and the movie were actually based on the story of early 1900s doomed lovers, Grace Brown and Chester Gillette.

Theirs was a very complicated romance that ended in tragedy and extended into the realm of the paranormal. Hey guys, I'm Andrew Fitzgerald, and welcome to this week's episode of every town. It's been said that love conquers all, but in the case of Grace Brown and Chester Gillette's clandestine romance, the doom lover's destiny drove them to their untimely deaths. This story became a sensation in upstate New York back in 1906 and for good reason. Justice was served and closure attained, yet Grace and Chester seemingly wanted more and their spirits can still be seen and heard from today. Grace Brown was the fifth child of Frank Brown, a farmer, and Betsy Babcock, a homemaker.

She was born on March 14, 1886, and grew up on a dairy farm in the village of South Osteleck in the middle of New York State. Grace was attractive, with blue-gray eyes and dark brown hair, worn in the then-fashioned Gippson girl style. She attended grammar school in her village, and with a lot of friends, grew up into a happy and lively young teenager who looked at a very young. love singing and dancing. At 16, she graduated high school, an admirable accomplishment for a country girl during the 1900s era. She then went on to work as a farmhand in Norwich, New York. On the other side of the country, Chester Gillette was born on August 9, 1883 in Wicks, Montana. To his parents, Frank Gillette, a silver miner, and Louisa Rice. The family was financially comfortable, and when Chester was three, they moved to Spokane

Washington. Unfortunately, the family lost most of their possessions and the great Spokane fire of 1889. This incident ultimately made Chester's parents turn deeply religious, and they decided to join the Salvation Army, a Protestant Christian church and charitable organization that sought to bring salvation to the poor, destitute, and hungry. In keeping with their religion, Chester's family renounced their money and material wealth and traveled around the West Coast and even Hawaii during Chester's adolescent years as part of their evangelical mission. The young man was never fully into this lifestyle and wanted something else for himself. In 1901, Chester attended Oberlin College's Preparatory Academy in Ohio through the help of his

wealthy uncle, Noah Gillette. However, he didn't do well and left that school in 1903. By that time, he had traveled extensively, lived and worked in California and Chicago, and so by rural New York standards at the turn of the century, Chester was considered a worldly man. His uncle Noah's clout could open possibilities for Chester to meet and mingle with people from Cortland's upper crust. So with that, he was hired to work at his uncle's newly built Gillette's skirt factory in Cortland County, New York in 1905, as a stockroom supervisor.

That's where Chester met Grace, and their meeting blossomed into a deeper relationship that changed their lives forever. Grace was 18 years old in 1904 and living with her married sister Ada when she found the job as a fabric cutter at the Gillette Skirt Factory. Chester was considered a good catch by many women. Grace liked him from the start and was thrilled to know that the feeling was mutual. The thought that such a desirable man was interested in a simple farm girl turned factory worker, Grace must have been over the moon. Their constant flirting then progressed into a romantic relationship, although a clansomely. and destined one, as Chester didn't acknowledge their romance publicly and avoided even being seen with her.

But Grace saw Chester as everything she wanted in a man, so she wanted to see their romance through no matter what. When her sister Ada left Cortland in 1905, Grace rented a Rome from a Mrs. Wheeler, a well-respected woman in town. Thus, the Brown family was assured that Grace would be properly chaperoned by Mrs. Wheeler at all times. But without their knowledge, Chester took advantage of the situation. With more privacy at Grace's new quarters, the 22-year-old man met often under the cover of night with a 19-year-old young lady. By May of 1906, the pair's indiscretions got Grace pregnant, which back then was a big no-no and put her into an uncompromising situation. A pregnancy out of wedlock would leave a young girl ostracized by society. Thus, the expecting Grace unabashedly begged Chester to marry her, but wasn't part of his plan.

The cosmopolitan Chester wanted more from life and wasn't ready to settle down and raise a family. He didn't mind having sexual relations with Grace, but he was certainly reluctant in giving her the privilege of carrying the Gillette surname. After all, the young woman, who was raised on a dairy farm, wasn't really up to par with the old-money Gillette family. Instead, Chester spent most of his time attending social gatherings with the in-crow and visited Grace less and less. See, Chester had aspirations of getting involved with a woman from society's upper crust and had his eyes set on socialite Harriet Benedict, the daughter of a wealthy New York lawyer. Meanwhile, the enamored Grace had every reason to believe that carrying Chester's child would make him come around and make an honest woman out of her. Thus, she took a break from her job and went back to her family in South Otsilic on June 15th.

She spent her time sewing garments for her upcoming hopeful wedding. Without fail, Grace wrote letters to Chester constantly, proving her earnest love despite him being very non-committal. She also expressed to Chester her mounting fear and shame in case her family would find out her predicament. However, he just continued having a grand old time with his rich friends and his friends in Cortland and didn't even bother to reply to Grace's first few letters. He probably thought she'd get tired and eventually get the hen and give up on expecting to

become Mrs. Chester Gillette. While she didn't hear often from her boyfriend, Grace did receive letters from other friends reporting about Chester's womanizing ways. One day Grace called him up at the skirt factory, warning him that she would return to Cortland and make her condition known. Chester now realizing the problem wasn't going away, knew that he'd had to handle it sooner rather than later. So in July of 1906, Chester wrote Grace inviting her to go on a trip to the Adirondacks in northeastern New York. But before doing so, he planned on being with Harriet

for the 4th of July holiday, and so the scheduled meetup was for July 9th. The love-struck young woman was excited, thinking that a marriage proposal was going to take place during their romantic getaway. Chester carefully planned for the summer rendezvous with Grace. He took vacation leave from the factory and requested for his salary in advance. And on July 9th, as promised, he met up with Grace and DeRoyder, New York, and they began their journey north to the Adirondacks. Grace had packed her whole wardrobe for the trip, wanting to look good for him while Chester just brought along a small suitcase and a tennis racket as they boarded a train to Utica where they stayed at the Tabor Hotel. The following day, they resumed their trip and spent the night at Tupper Lake in Franklin, County. The next day, their plans for an outing in a nearby lake was hampered by heavy rain,

so they returned south to Big Moose Lake in Eagle Bay. There they stayed at the lakeside Glenmore Hotel where Chester registered himself in Grace as Carl Graham from Albany and Grace Brown from South Otsillac, respectively. Chester may have used a different name, but it still matched the initial CEG monogrammed on his suitcase. A couple rented a 17-Oxelike. A couple rented a 17-8. foot wooden row boat from a man named Robert Morrison. Before boarding the boat, Robert noticed something odd as Chester ran back to the hotel, before returning with a small suitcase and a tennis ragged. The boat owner reminded the couple to be back around dinner time, and with that, the two of them rode out onto the vast waters. A little past 6 p.m., Robert wondered why Chester and Grace hadn't returned,

so he assumed they must have ended up at another resort. Around that exact time on the lake, a woman named Marjorie Carey and her husband heard a very short but piercing cry that seemed to have originated from the eastern shore of South Bay. They thought it came from a group of youngsters goofing around so they didn't bother to check it out. When Chester and Grace failed to return later that night, Robert then reported them missing

and initiated a search effort the next day. People searched the lake by steamboat and soon discovered a boat floating upside down in Punky Bay, one of the lake's most isolated coves. Also floating nearby was a lady's black jacket, a man's straw hat, and some magazines. When the searchers pulled up a mass at the bottom of the lake, which they thought was garbage, they were astonished to see it was a woman's dead body. They noticed that the small, pale corpse had blood clots on her nose,

swollen lips, and dark discolourations and abrasions on her face. Investigators identified the dead woman as Grace, who was a guest at the Glenmore Hotel with a man named Carl Graham of Albany. Five doctors performed Grace's autopsy and the results on July 14th determined that she had not died primarily of drowning, but a terrible beating that caused traumatic injuries on her face and head leading to her death. She was, of course, also found, to be four months pregnant. Police learned from Grace's family that she didn't go to the Adirondacks with the Carl Graham, but with Chester Gillette of Cortland. And four men reported that around eight months, In the evening on July 11th, they encountered a well-dressed man carrying a suitcase in the woods around the lake, asking for directions to Eagle Bay.

Police pursued the same wooded path leading them to the Arrowhead Hotel, where they found and arrested Chester. Chester was asked to give a statement upon his arrest where he readily admitted he was with Grace when she died, but said that she took her life because she was despondent over her pregnancy. Police explained that Grace clearly died from a severe beating, and so he changed his story a bit. This time he said that the boat capsized when he stood up to reach for his hat, and both of them were thrown out into the lake. He told Grace to grab hold of the boat, but it turned over again, dragging her down, and she never resurfaced. Of course, the investigators saw these inconsistencies and then charged him for murder.

His sensational trial began on November 12, 1906, in Herkimer County. Many theories were presented as to what really transpired. The prosecution contended that Chester knew Grace couldn't swim, so he rented the boat, rode to a secluded spot, and murdered the girl first by striking her with either his tennis racket or an oar on which strands of long brown hair were discovered. After hitting her with a forceful blow to the head,

he then shoved her overboard and let her drown. After that, he proceeded to row ashore where, after removing his suitcase, turned the boat over and gave it a hefty push in the direction of the area where Grace lay dead in a thick layer of mud at the bottom of the cold, dark lake. Presumably Chester wanted to make it appear Grace drowned by accident. According to the prosecutors, it was Grace's pregnancy and insistence of marriage that drove Chester to commit the crime. They also presented circumstantial evidence, including a bottled dead fetus to prove Grace was indeed pregnant. However, the defense team argued that Chester was innocent, the Grace committed suicide by diving into the water during an argument in which Chester refused to marry her.

Unfortunately, it was Chester's erratic statements and inconsistent stories when he took the witness stand that gave him away. So in the end, the jury believed it was all premeditated, and Chester was convicted of first-degree murder, with the judge sentencing him to die by the electric chair. Chester then sent a three-worded telegram to his father. I am convicted. On March 30th, 1908, Chester took his last breath at the age of 24. It was reportedly the most successful electrocution that ever took place in the local prison.

The 1800-volt current and 7.5 ampires was held on for one minute and three seconds. Shortly after, the unfaithful lover and heartless killer's body was moved to nearby soul's cemetery where it was buried in an unmarked grave, which is now unknown after a road had been paved over the plot. The murder of grace had been solved and justice served, but the restless souls of these once lovers appear to have never moved on. The rennet bow was an important piece of evidence during the trial, so it was kept in the Herkimer County Courthouse. But it mysteriously disappeared in 1909, and soon after that, many citizens witnessed free. frequent paranormal activity occurring in the red brick building.

People claim seeing ghostly images of a man and a woman seemingly rowing a boat before disappearing, but not before the woman let out a piercing unearthly scream. Chester's spirit had also been spotted in the structure formerly occupied by the Gillette skirt factory where he first met grace. His ghost reportedly appears wearing a white shirt, light-colored trousers while holding a tennis racket. Chester also sowed terror at the Herkimer County Jail, particularly in the cell that he once occupied. Many times, the whole prison has been woken up by terrifying screams from the inmates locked inside the haunted cell. Prisoners have insisted that they've been roused from their sleep, only to see Chester beside them lying in their cot.

These hauntings persisted until the county jail was abandoned in 1977. These hauntings persisted until the county jail was abandoned in 1977, yet people who enter the former prison today feel a certain presence inside, and wonder if Chester is still stalking its dark corridors. Meanwhile, years after her tragic death, Grace's spirit is also manifested and has been witnessed by many people. Her ghostly figure appears as a happy, carefree young girl, often seen walking among the apple trees on the farm where she once lived, However, the most remarkable encounters with the spectral Grace happened in the Covewood Lodge built in 1924, 18 years after Grace had died.

It's a favorite vacation spot on Big Moose Lake. Linda Mackin, author of the book Adirondack Ghost, had a vivid encounter with Grace's spirit. One night while walking near Covewood Lodge, Linda said her flashlight, camera, and watch all stopped working at the same time. Later, while she and a friend sat in a gazebo overlooking the lake, they observed a white mist taking form in the vicinity of the South Bay and slowly floating in their direction. It gradually assumed a distinct female shape looking like Grace with feet trailing off in the haze.

Linda recalled, I wasn't uncomfortable, but I did feel an incredible sadness emanating from a ghostly woman. Inside the lodge, Grace's spirit had been known to turn the lights on and off. Some employees at glimpse the luminescent female figure standing in a second floor window as well. At times when the hotel lobby was empty, guests coming in late at night saw a vaporous girl and old-fashioned clothes standing momentarily on the staircase landing, which remained inexplicably cold for a few moments after. More recently, in the summer of 1999, lodge guest, Jim Dunning, took a dip at Big Moose Lake, a little before 6 a.m. as part of his morning routine. In one instance, he noticed small,

wet footprints on the steps leading from the lake to the dock, but no one else was around, and it was then that he remembered Grace's story. Grace and Chester were ordinary people, but it was there out of the ordinary tale of love and hate that immortalized them. He killed her, and in doing so, he killed himself. Now they live on in infamy in books, movies. This pop podcast, and perhaps still, even in the places they once lived. So that's going to do it for this week's episode of Everytown, guys. Hope you enjoyed it. If you want some more stuff from us,

check out our YouTube channel called Scary Mysteries or our podcast Scary Mysteries. I remember to tune in next week for another episode filled with scary, strange, and mysterious stories, because who knows? Maybe your town will be next.