Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1879-11-21

a curious story comes from western
New York. In 1876 young man
named Freeman rented a farm near
Wellsville, Allegany County. He had
worked on different farms in that part
of the State, enjoyed an excellent repu-
tation, and was know as Handsome
Billy" Being unmarried, he hired a
widow of middle age who lived in the
neighbOrbood to superintend his house
hold affairs. A nephew of this woman
assisted Freeman with the farm-work.
In the summer of 1877 several burgla-
ries were committed in the county.
Among others a store was robbed, and
the goods were traced to Freeman's
barn and found hidden there. Free
man was arrested and charged with be-
ing concerned in the burglary. He
declared that he was innocent, and few
people who knew him believed him to
be guilty. By the time his case was
ready for trial, in October, a speedy
acquittal of Freeman was expected, as
circumstances pointed strongly to other
persons as the criminals. But, to the
surprise of the community, when Free
man was arraigned for trial he pleaded
guilty to both counts of the indictment,
burglary and larceny. He broke down
entirely in making the plea, and begged
the court to be lenient with him. He
was sentenced to eighteen months i'm
prisonmenti in the Erie County peniten-
tiary, and was put to work polishing
buckles among lot of hardened crimi-
nails.
The warden of the prison was given
notice by Governor Robinson in March,
1873, that petition had been made for
the pardon of the prisoner William
Freeman, and requested report on the
physical condition of the convict, as is
customary when pardon is to be con-
sidered. DR.. Sinnock, the prison ply
sician, proceed to make the necessary
examination of Freeman, and, in few
minutes, reported to the warden with
the astonishing intelligence that the
convict was a woman. The prisoner was
removed at once to the women's quar-
ters. She begged that her case should
not be made public, and told the follow
ing story: Her name, she said, was Mary
Ann Schaler, and she was twenty-three
years old. Her parents were German
emigrants, and she was born on the
ocean. Her father died soon after ar
irving in America, and her mother
married again and removed to Allegany
County. When she was eleven years
old her step-father told her he could
not support her any longer, and that
she must go away and earn her own
living. She worked as a servant in
farm-houses for a few months, when
she determined to disguise herself as a
boy in order that she could find more
remunerative employment. No one
but her mother knew of her intention.
She went to distant part of the
county for about two years, did farm
work, and worked one season on the
Erie Canal. She then returned to the
vicinity of her home, where no one re-
cognized her. Under the name of
William Freeman she worked in the
vicinity for ten years without awaken
ing any suspicion that she was not
man. She joined the Methodist Church
in 1875, and for several years longed to
assume her true character, but the
wearing of mems clothing had become
second nature to her, and she was
ashamed to make the change. In re-
gard to the crime for which she was
arrested, and to which she pleaded
guilty, she declared that she was en-
tirely innocent. The nephew of the
woman who was her housekeeper had
committed the burglary and secreted
the goods in the barn, and had declared
to her while she was in jail that unless
she entered plea of guilty she never
would reach home alive. She believed |
that the nephew was a man who would |
not pause at any CRIME, and to save her
life she pleaded guilty.
When dressed in women's clothing |
Mary Schafer became a fine looking |
woman, but awkward from long use of |
male attire and masculine labor. She |
was pardoned in the fall of 1878, and |
returned to Bradford, Pa, and obtained |
in shoe store, under her |
real name, in proper attire. The
nephew whose threats made her a
convict, and led to the discovery of her
secret, escaped punishment by leaving
the State. In the spring of 1873 the |
in whose store the burglary |
was committed disposed of his business
and went to Limestone, Cattaraugus
County, N. Y. His business called him
to Bradford. He was Ger I
man, and friend of the man for whom
Mary Ann Schafer worked. He met
the young woman at the store, liked
her, and asked her to marry him. She
accepted him, and last week they be-
came man and wife.