21 Facts About Chester Gillette

Chester Ellsworth Gillette was an American convicted murderer who became the basis for the fictional character Clyde Griffiths in Theodore Dreiser's novel An American Tragedy.

Chester Gillette was born in Wickes, Jefferson County, Montana Territory to Franklin Chester Gillette and Louisa Maria Rice, who married on October 21,1883, two months after their son's birth.

Chester Gillette's parents were financially comfortable, but deeply religious, and eventually renounced material wealth to join The Salvation Army.

Chester Gillette thus spent part of his childhood in Spokane, Washington, and lived in Hawaii during his adolescence.

Chester Gillette never took to the religious aspects of his upbringing.

Chester Gillette attended Oberlin College's preparatory school on the generosity of a wealthy uncle, but left after two years in 1903.

Chester Gillette continued to pressure Gillette to marry her, often writing him pleading letters.

Brown then returned to her parents' home for a time, but returned to Cortland when she discovered that Chester Gillette had been courting other girls.

One popular story involved Miss Harriet Benedict, a wealthy acquaintance of Gillette who the newspapers later speculated was the "other woman" for whom Chester had left Grace.

Finally, Chester Gillette made arrangements for a trip to the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York.

At the lakeside Glenmore Hotel, Chester Gillette registered under a false name.

Chester Gillette was carrying one suitcase and a tennis racquet.

An overturned boat was found floating in the lake, together with Chester Gillette's hat, leading authorities initially to believe both had drowned.

Meanwhile, Chester Gillette, carrying a suitcase, hiked through the woods to Fulton Chain Lakes, where he checked into the Arrowhead Hotel under his real name.

Later, witnesses said that Chester Gillette seemed calm, collected, and perfectly at ease; nothing seemed to be amiss.

Chester Gillette had done a poor job of planning the cover-up, and was quickly arrested in nearby Inlet, New York.

Court appointed attorneys claimed that their client was innocent, that Brown had committed suicide, and that Chester Gillette was a helpless onlooker to the suicide.

Chester Gillette had a hard time explaining to the jury Brown's injuries, why he took his suitcase on a boat ride, and how it ended up dry even though the boat overturned.

On March 30,1908, Chester Gillette was executed by electric chair at Auburn Prison in Auburn, New York.

Chester Gillette was buried in Soule Cemetery in Sennett, New York.

Chester Gillette's novel inspired two films in turn: An American Tragedy and A Place In The Sun.