Chester and Grace: The Real American Tragedy

4/25/06- A CRISIS OF VICTORIAN PROPORTIONS


IN APRIL OF 1906, A YOUNG WOMAN LIVING IN CORTLAND, NY, LEARNED SOMETHING THAT WAS CONSIDERED TERRIBLE FOR A YOUNG WOMAN LIVING IN THE VICTORIAN ERA WHO WAS NOT MARRIED: SHE LEARNED THAT SHE WAS PREGNANT WITH HER LOVER'S CHILD. IN 1906, A WOMAN COULD NOT BE A SINGLE MOTHER. DESPITE THE FACTS THAT SOME ORGANIZATIONS TREATED SINGLE MOTHERS AS VICTIMS OF SOCIETY, THE SOCIAL MORES OF THAT TIME CONDEMNED THEM TO A LIFE OF DISGRACE AND SHAME. IN SHORT, IF A SINGLE WOMAN BECAME PREGNANT, IT WAS HER FAULT.

THIS WAS THE PROBLEM THAT 20-YEAR-OLD GRACE BROWN FACED. SINCE THE SUMMER OF 1905, SHE WAS ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED WITH CHESTER GILLETTE, THE NEPHEW OF THE OWNER OF THE SKIRT FACTORY WHERE THEY BOTH WORKED, DESPITE WARNINGS FROM CO-WORKERS. SHE HAD NOT BEEN WITH ANYONE ELSE AT THAT TIME. SHE KNEW WHO THE FATHER WAS, BUT SHE WAS STUCK WITH TWO OPTIONS: PRESSURE CHESTER TO MARRY HER OR COMMIT SUICIDE. IN THOSE DAYS, SUICIDE WAS NOT ONLY AN ACCEPTABLE WAY OUT FOR A PREGNANT SINGLE MOTHER, BUT IT WAS ALSO CONSIDERED HONORABLE. HOWEVER, GRACE DID NOT WANT TO KILL HERSELF. SO BEGAN THE DAUNTLESS TASK TO TRY AND PERSUADE CHESTER TO MARRY HER.

THE PREGNANCY CAME AT A BAD TIME IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP. SINCE THE WINTER OF 1905, CHESTER HAD BEEN SEEN AROUND TOWN WITH THE YOUNG WOMEN OF UPPER-CLASS SOCIETY, WHICH DID NOT SIT WELL WITH GRACE, WHO WAS A MIDDLE-CLASS GIRL. A LOT OF THAT WAS DUE TO HIS UNCLE'S INFLUENCE OVER HIM. IT WAS AS IF HE SECRETLY KNEW ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP. IF INTEGRATING CHESTER INTO HIS WORLD WAS HIS INTENT TO BREAK UP CHESTER AND GRACE, HE WAS ONLY MILDLY SUCCESSFUL.

ONE GIRL THAT CHESTER HAD HIS EYE ON WAS HARRIET BENEDICT, THE DAUGHTER OF A CORTLAND LAWYER. HE HAD MET HER BACK IN THE SUMMER OF 1902 WHILE HE SPENT HIS SUMMER VACATION WORKING AT THE FACTORY BEFORE HE WENT BACK TO OBERLIN ACADEMY. HE WOULD LATER TAKE HER OUT ON A DATE ON THE FOURTH OF JULY. HISTORY, ALONG WITH THEODORE DREISER, WOULD LATER REFER TO HER AS "THE OTHER GIRL" IN THE CHESTER/GRACE TRIANGLE. THIS, OF COURSE, WAS NOT TRUE. ALTHOUGH HARRIET ADMITTED THAT SHE DID GO OUT WITH CHESTER ON SOME OCCASIONS, SHE DENIED THE FACT THAT THERE WERE ANY ROMANTIC FEELINGS BETWEEN HER AND CHESTER. IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WOULD HAUNT HER FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE.

ONE INCIDENT OCCURRED IN JUNE OF 1906 WHEN A GIRL NAMED JOSEPHINE PATRICK PULLED UP AT THE FACTORY TO TALK TO CHESTER. GRACE SAW THE INCIDENT HAPPEN AND AFTER CHESTER RETURNED, GRACE STORMED INTO THE STOCK ROOM, WHERE CHESTER WORKED, AND GOT INTO A HEATED ARGUMENT. AFTER THAT, GRACE FINALLY DECIDED TO LEAVE CORTLAND AND THE FACTORY BEHIND UNTIL CHESTER GAVE IN TO HER DEMANDS TO MARRY HER, WHICH WAS HIS DUTY AS A GENTLEMAN. A FEW DAYS LATER, SHE WAS ON A TRAIN BACK TO HER HOMETOWN OF SOUTH OTSELIC, WHICH WAS THIRTY MILES AWAY IN CHENANGO COUNTY.

THE DAY THAT SHE BOARDED THE TRAIN WOULD BE THE LAST TIME THAT ANYONE IN CORTLAND WOULD SEE GRACE BROWN ALIVE.