George Randolph Chester is best remembered as the author of "Get Rich
Quick Wallingford". Originally a newspaper reporter, Chester first
began submitting short stories for publication at the urging of his
wife Elizabeth. Mrs. Chester, who at that time was a Cincinnati school
teacher, assisted her husband by proof reading his work and taking
dictation.
Not long after relocating to New York City, Elizabeth left her husband
after accusing him of having an affair with Lillian Hauser (aka Lillian
Deremo), a mutual friend who drew illustrations for his stories. On 12
October, 1911 Elizabeth received an interlocutory degree of divorce
from Chester. George and Lillian, who at the time were on a tour of
Europe, decided to get married after receiving word of the divorce.
When Chester returned to America in December, he was shocked to
discover that an interlocutory degree of divorce did not become final
until 90 days after it was signed, thus technically he was still
married to Elizabeth. Later his lawyer informed him that since he
and Lillian were married outside the country, it was unlikely any
bigamy charges would be laid.
Lillian and George Chester went on to work as a team in New York
and in Hollywood until his death in 1924. Chester had credited Lillian
for some of the wittier lines that appeared in his later stories. When
not working the couple would rarely be found at home but instead off
exploring some far corner of the earth.
Of all his stories, the exploits of con men, J. Rufus Wallingford and
Blackie Daw remained the most popular and would spawn numerous books,
plays and movies.
George Randolph Chester and his first wife had two sons, George
Randolph Chester Jr. (1896-1979) and Robert Fay Chester (1904-1975)
