Mary Elizabeth Bowser (c. 1839-)

DOSSIER:
Mary Elizabeth was born c. 1839 in Richmond, VA as a slave to John Van Lew, a wealthy hardware merchant. Upon his death in 1843, his wife, son and daughter freed his slaves. They also bought everyone in the slave's family in order to set them free as well.

Like most former slaves, Mary remained a free woman and servant in the Van Lew household. She stayed with the family until late 1850s. The matriarch of the family, Elizabeth Van Lew, became increasingly aware that Mary Elizabeth had exceptional intelligence. Being a staunch abolitionist and Quaker, she sent Mary to the Quaker School for Negroes in Philadelphia to be educated.

Mary Elizabeth returned from Philadelphia after graduating so that she could marry Wilson Bowser, a free black man. The ceremony was held on 16 Apr 1861, just four days after Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter. There is no record of any children.

ALSO KNOWN AS:
Crazy Bet
Ellen Bond
Mary Jane Richards
Mary Jones

Elizabeth Van Lew

Elizabeth Van Lew was the tool used to integrate Mary Elizabeth into the espionage business. Van Lew had strong ties to the Union and used this to her advantage. She would use an alter-personae which was always distracted and muttered when she spoke in order for people to think she was unbalanced and therefore not someone to take seriously. She was given the nickname "Crazy Bet". Van Lew was instrumental in establishing a spy system in the Confederate capital. She would regularly visit the Libby Prison with food and medicine, and helped escapees of all kinds, hiding them in a secret room in her mansion. However her biggest accomplishment in espionage was utilizing Mary Elizabeth .

Because of Mary Elizabeth's intelligence and photographic memory, Van Lew decided to make her a spy to infiltrate the confederacy. In order to get access to top-secret information, Mary Elizabeth became "Ellen Bond", a slow-thinking, but able, servant. Van Lew, through the help of friends of the Union, was able to have "Ellen Bond" work at functions held by Varina Davis, the wife of the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis. She was eventually hired full-time and worked in the Davis household until just before the end of the war. At the Davis house she worked as a servant, cleaning and serving meals. Because of the racism that existed then, the slaves were trained to act and seem invisible. Usually not noticed at all. Mary Elizabeth was able to get incredible amounts of information simply by doing her work. The assumption was that slaves could not read or write, nor understand the complex political conversations being held. However, due to her education and keen perception, Mary Elizabeth was able to read and remember any papers that were left around in Jefferson Davis' study and report the information to the other spies. She would also spy on conversations and relay back to Van Lew all that was going on in Davis' house.

Jefferson Davis

There was another spy that Mary Elizabeth would work in coalition with, named Thomas McNiven. He was a baker in Richmond and would make deliveries to the Davis household. She would relay the information to McNiven who had a team of people come in and out of his bakery to dispatch the related information. According to McNiven, she was the source of the most crucial information because as he wrote in his journal, "she was working right in the Davis home and had a photographic mind. Everything she saw on the Rebel President's desk, she could repeat word for word. Unlike most colored, she could read and write. She made a point of always coming out to my wagon when I made deliveries at the Davis home to drop information."

Jefferson Davis had become aware that there was a leak in his house, but for a while he did not realize it was Mary Elizabeth. Thomas McNiven was found out to be a spy and soon suspicion fell on her. She chose to flee in January 1865, but she did not go quietly. Her last act as a spy was an attempt to burn down the Confederate White House. She was not successful. After the war ended, the federal government destroyed any records of evidence of espionage in order to protect those involved, including those of McNiven and Mary Elizabeth. Therefore, the extent of information gathered by Mary Elizabeth is unknown. A significant amount made its way to General Ulysses S. Grant and influenced his decisions from 1863-1864.