Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1905-03-30
A COlOred Man Commits Serious Crime.

Charles Greenfield, a well-known
young colored man of Shepherdstown,
is behind the bars of the county Jail
at Charles Town, charged with very
serious crime. He was arrested Mon
day evening on complaint of Brock
Manuel, colored, whose fve-year-old
daughter Greenfield is said to have
outrageonsly assaulted. The crime Is
alleged to have occurred about ii
o'clock Tuesday morning, when the
child and younger sister were alone
in their home near the colored school
house in the west end of the town.
According to the evidence. Greenfield
offered to pay the younger child to
keep watch at the window, while he
perpetrated the crime against her sis
ter. The victim told her parents of
the occurrence late in the afternoon,
and her father swore out warrant
for his arrest.
Constable NJ P. Crowl and j. R
Show arrested Greenfield at Sheetzs
store, where he was scrubbing shelves
Although nothing was said as to why
he was arrested, he cried on his way
to the Office of Magistrate D. S. Rentch
and declared that he had not harmed
the girl, saying she had been injured
by falling against clair. Magistrate
Rentch gave him preliminary hear
ing. The prisoner denied the charges
against him, and again stated that the
little girl had hurt herself by falling
upon a chair. DR.. W. L. Byers tes-
tilted that he had made an examlna-
ton of the child and that she had
been criminally assaulted, and had
sustained severe injuries. Magistrate
Rentch committed Greenfield to jail,
without bail, to await the action Of
the grand jury at its May session.
The prisoner was taken to the Jail
by officers Crowl, Shipley and Show.
They locked him up and left him
standing in the corridor. Sergeant
Shipley and Mr.. Show returned in
about a quarter of an hour and found
him standing motionless in the same
attitude in which they had left him.
The sergeant questioned him about
the crime and he admitted that he
was guilty. He was told to sit down
on the bed and be sat down, and the
officers left. In an hour or two they
returned, accompanied by Mayor Mil
Ter, and found the negro sitting in ex-
actly the same attitude, apparently
not having moved muscle. He was
deeply detected, and asked what would
be done with him. Heagain acknowl-
edged to having committed the crime
and gave some of the details. h
was then left alone for the night.
Tuesday morning Constable Crowl
took him to the county Jail at Charles
Town, but be refused to talk about
the matter. He was locked up to
await the action Of the jury.
There is a good deal Of regret
among most people in the community
that Greenfield should be in such
trouble, as many have regarded him
as a harmless sort of fellow. He has
not been considered to be of altogeth-
er sound mind, and his chief charac-
teristic has been the heartiness of b e
laugh. He was nearly always on the
street, and at the slightest provoca-
ton would burst into peals OF laugh
ter that were irresistible. That laugh
of his would just drive the blues away,
no matter how bad the attack, and
night and day the cheerful sound Of
his ever ready hal hal might be heard.
He was also great singer, and bis
rendition of "Sweet Violets. "All
Coons Look Alike to Me-" Just Break
the News to Mother, and other pop
ular songs new or old will be missed.
There are those who regarded him as
a bore, but he was as good as a dose
of medicine to respondent persons.
We confess that we are extremely sor-
ry that he has gotten into such scrape.