Color Editor Indicted
January 13, 1900
Summary
The only "colored" editor in West Virginia stands accused of criminal libel.
Transcription
Colored Editor Indicted
J. R. Clifford Accused of Criminally Libeling a Hagerstown Pastor’s Wife.
Martinsburg, W. Va., Jan. 10—J. R. Clifford, colored, editor of the Pioneer Press, the only paper of his race in West Virginia, was indicted by the grand just here to-day for criminal libel. The indictment was found at the instance of Mrs. Hattie R. Newman, wife of Rev. John C. Newman, of the Colored Baptist Church of Hagerston, Md.
Clifford alleged in his newspaper that she had had improper relations with one George Baum, also colored, of Hagerstown. Baum testified before the grand jury that the statement was untrue.
Clifford recently gained notoriety by leaving the Republican party and entering the Democratic fold.
J. R. Clifford Accused of Criminally Libeling a Hagerstown Pastor’s Wife.
Martinsburg, W. Va., Jan. 10—J. R. Clifford, colored, editor of the Pioneer Press, the only paper of his race in West Virginia, was indicted by the grand just here to-day for criminal libel. The indictment was found at the instance of Mrs. Hattie R. Newman, wife of Rev. John C. Newman, of the Colored Baptist Church of Hagerston, Md.
Clifford alleged in his newspaper that she had had improper relations with one George Baum, also colored, of Hagerstown. Baum testified before the grand jury that the statement was untrue.
Clifford recently gained notoriety by leaving the Republican party and entering the Democratic fold.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Elizabeth Lopez-Lopez
Citation
“Color Editor Indicted,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed May 12, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/110.