Murder of Grace Brown

Grace Mae Brown (March 20, 1886 – July 11, 1906)[1] was an American woman who was murdered by her boyfriend, Chester Gillette, on Big Moose Lake, New York, after she told him she was pregnant.[2] The murder, and the subsequent trial of the suspect, attracted national newspaper attention.

Quick facts: Grace Brown, Born, Died, Cause of death,... ▼

Grace Brown
Born	Grace Mae Brown (1886-03-20)March 20, 1886 South Otselic, New York
Died	July 11, 1906(1906-07-11) (aged 20) Big Moose Lake, New York
Cause of death	Drowned by Chester Gillette
Resting place	Valley View Cemetery, South Otselic, New York
Known for	Circumstances of her death inspired fictional treatments as: An American Tragedy A Gathering Light
Partner	Chester Gillette
Children	None but pregnant at time of death

Brown's life has inspired such fictional treatments as Theodore Dreiser's 1925 novel An American Tragedy, and Jennifer Donnelly's 2003 novel A Gathering Light. The murder was analyzed and explored in two non-fiction books, both published in 1986: Adirondack Tragedy: The Gillette Murder Case of 1906, written by Joseph W. Brownell and Patricia A. Wawrzaszek, and Murder in the Adirondacks: An American Tragedy Revisited, by Craig Brandon (which was updated in 2017).[2]