Grace Hubbard Fortescue, (''née'' Bell) (November 3, 1883 – June 24, 1979), was a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

socialite A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...

who orchestrated the kidnapping, beating, and murder of a man who was wrongly accused of raping her daughter. After being convicted of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

at a sensational trial, her ten-year sentence was commuted to a single hour by Hawaii's Territorial Governor Lawrence Judd.

Early life

Grace Hubbard Bell was born November 3, 1883, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Her father Charles John Bell was first cousin of inventor

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...

. Her mother was Roberta Wolcott Hubbard Bell (1859–1885). Her maternal grandfather Gardiner Hubbard was the first president of

Bell Telephone Company The Bell Telephone Company was the initial corporate entity from which the Bell System originated to build a continental conglomerate and monopoly in telecommunication services in the United States and Canada. The company was organized in Bost ...

. When her mother died in childbirth in 1885, her father married her mother's sister, Grace Hubbard. The family lived at Twin Oaks, their estate in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Newspaper reports indicate that Grace could be classified a prankster: as a youth, she and her friends stole a trolley car for a joy ride through the streets of Washington and, on another occasion, she blocked traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue by joining hands with friends and roller-skating down the avenue.

Personal life

In 1910, she married U.S. Army Major Granville "Rolly" Fortescue (1875–1952), one of the sons of Robert Barnwell Roosevelt. Her husband was first cousin of U.S. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

. The marriage was not as financially successful as she would have wished. She was the mother of three daughters: * Thalia Fortescue Massie (1911–1963), who married Thomas Hedges Massie (1905–1987), a Navy lieutenant. * Marion Fortescue (1912–), who married Daulton Gillespie Viskniskki in 1934. * Kenyon Fortescue (1914–1990), better known as actress Helene Whitney; she married J. Louis Reynolds in 1936. Outwardly, the Fortescues appeared to be wealthy country gentry. In reality, financial affairs became a primary concern for them after Granville's final retirement from the army. With the exception of a short stint as a fiction editor for ''

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

'' magazine in 1930, he did not have steady employment, preferring to wait for the fortune his wife would inherit at the death of her parents.

Murder trial

In 1932, Grace Fortescue was charged with murder and convicted by a jury of

for the death of Joseph Kahahawai, one of the defendants in the alleged rape of her daughter Thalia in Hawaii in 1931.David E. Stannard, ''"Honor Killing"'', Viking Penguin, 2005 (illustration number 28, entitled ''Mug Shots and arrest file of Grace Fortescue'') Also charged and convicted with Fortescue were two sailors, Edward J. Lord and Deacon Jones, and Fortescue's son-in-law, Thomas Massie, who participated in the abduction and murder of Kahahawai. Attorney

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the ...

defended Fortescue, Jones, Massie, and Lord. He subsequently obtained a commutation of their sentence (ten years' imprisonment for manslaughter) to a one-hour confinement in the executive chambers of Territorial Governor Lawrence M. Judd. In 1966, while being interviewed by author Peter Van Slingerland, Albert O. Jones admitted that he was the one who shot Joseph Kahahawai.

References

External links

Webpage for ''The American Experience'', "The Massie Affair"
retrieved on 2008-06-07.

retrieved on 2008-06-07. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortescue, Grace Hubbard 1883 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American murderers People from Washington, D.C. Politics of Hawaii Gardiner family Roosevelt family American kidnappers American people convicted of manslaughter American prisoners and detainees American vigilantes Prisoners and detainees of Hawaii Recipients of American gubernatorial clemency