The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-05-09
UNDER FALSE COLORs.
Woman Who Was Sent to the PenItentiaTy as q
Man,
From the Buffalo Express ]


On the Esd of October, 1877, William
Freeman was sentenced to the Erie
County Penitentiary for one year and
six months, haYing pleaded guilty to a
charge ofeburglary and larceny. Free
man was duly received into the peniten-
tiary, was,put. to. work in the shop pol
ishing buckles, and continued quietly
and with uniform good behavior to pur-
sue the drearY routine of prison life un-
til yesterday morning, when surprising
discovery was made. 1t became known
to the prison authorities, and later to po-
lice officials and few others, that the
supposed William Freeman was a wo-
man. 1t seems that some friends in AL
legheny county had applied to Governor
Robinson for pardon for the supposed
William Freeman. In such cases it is
usual::for the Governor or his authorized
agent to write to the keeper Of the prison
in which, the person for whom the par.
don is asked is confined, for a statement
Of the condition of the prisoners health.
To ascertain the physical condition of
the convict, a medical examination was
requisite. DR.. P. SonniCk, the physician
to the penitentiary, was accordingly re-
quested to investigate the case, and at
nine o'clock yesterday morningproceeded
to perform that duty. 1t was not very
long before he hurried to Deputy Super
intendent Wander with the startling in.
formation, that's woman" The pris.
oner, who for the past six months has
toiled in the shops with as hard a lot of
men as could easily be got together, was
indeed woman, and the astonishment
of the keepers was increased by her
statement that she had worn the clothes
first of boy, then OF a man, from the
time she was eleven years old.
AS soon as the startling discovery of
her sex was made, Mary Ann Shafer, as
she confessed her true name to be, was
removed to another and secluded part of
the prison, provided with the costume
prescribed for State prisoners, and by
Superintendent Bakers orders was made
as comfortable as the rules would per-
NIT. She had utterly broken down, and
begged the Superintendent to keep her
there for life rather than TO allow her
secret and her name to be published.
Mary is twenty-three yearg of age,
about five feet seven or eight inches in
height, with dark hair and dark eyes,
but pale complexion, and weighs prob
ably l40 pounds. Her wrists and ankles
are small, but her hands and feet, from
the toughest kind Of labor, are large and
coarse, and her waist has never known
the grip of a corset. AS William Free
man, she was as good-looking as the av-
erage man, as Mary SChafer she is not a
homely woman. Her story, told with an
abundance of tears and with much ap-
parent feeling, was to this effect She |
was born in New York City, or on ship.
board. Her early home was in allie.
gheny county, with her mother and a
step. father, whom she left when she was
eleven and half years Of age. To make |
a living was at best hard task for one
of her age, and believing that as a boy
she could do best and earn most, she
dressed herself in boys clothes and hired |
out to do farm work. This she has done |
all her life since-ploughing, chopping
wood, taking care of horses, and all the |
rough work Of farmland although all |
the time in the vicinity of her home, she |
AYERS that not soul except her mother, |
until yesterday, knew her or knew the
secret 30 carefully preserved. The crime
for which she was sentenced she claims |
she did not commit. She had rented a |
farm about five miles from her family's |
home, which is at Wellsville, and hired |
a woman to act as housekeeper. This
woman's nephew committed a burglary
by which he secured quantity of dry |
goods, which he concealed in her barn. |
The property was found, and she was ole |
of the number arrested. Being commit
ted to Jail, she was employed by the |
Sheriff to take care of his horses, and |
taking advantage Of the opportunity for
liberty which this service offered, she |
and fed to Canada. In some
she was induced to return. The |
man who committed the crime threat
ened her life if she betrayed his guilt, |
and, she says, under intimidation, she |
made the plea of guilty.
So long has this young woman followed |
the ways of man, that to see her in
feminine raiment would be amusing if
the spectacle did not excite pity. The
bit of woman's work she does
with all the awkwardness q rough man
would show.