Mary Elizabeth Bowser Marker

Mary Elizabeth Bowser was born a slave in the Van Lew family in 1839, but was later freed by Elizabeth Van Lew, and worked as a United States spy in the Confederate capital during the American Civil War.

During the Civil War there were numerous spy rings in the North and the South. Among the most successful was the spy ring run by Elizabeth Van Lew in Richmond, Virginia on behalf of the United States. Van Lew was the daughter of a slave owner, but held fiercely abolitionist views and freed all of the slaves she inherited from her father when she was able. Bowser was among these, and went on to serve in Van Lew's spy ring. This spy ring was so successful, in fact, that Van Lew was able to provide useful information to the United States that helped lead Ulysses S. Grant and his troops to victory.

Bowser was arguably the most valuable spy in Van Lew's spy ring. She had been sent up north to Philadelphia to receive an education by Van Lew, and she was able to land employment under a false name as a maid for Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, in the Confederate Capitol. In addition to being able to read and write, she had a photographic memory, allowing her to memorize documents and conversations from Jefferson Davis and then transfer that information to Van Lew who sent it to Union leaders. The intelligence she provided was, according to historian Elizabeth D. Leonard, “invaluable" [1]. She was able to go undetected for a few years due to the fact many in the Confederate government did not see her as a threat. After some time however, she fell under suspicion and had to flee for her safety, however, it is rumored before she left she attempted to set fire to the Confederate Capitol.

Not much is known about Bowser other than this, especially following the Civil War. During her work for the Union and Van Lew, she was mentioned very little in Van Lew’s diaries and amongst others in the ring. This was likely to protect her identity and ensure her safety, as well as to increase the likelihood that she could complete the job. Following the war, when she fled, not much is known about her whereabouts, whether or not she got married or had any children. Such secrecy was also likely intended to protect her from possible retaliation from Confederate sympathizers following the war. There was a diary that is believed to have belonged to her that detailed her work, but it was unintentionally discarded in the early fifties by mistake. 

Although there is not as much known about Bowser as others involved in Van Lew's the spy ring, she was undoubtedly one of the most important spies during the Civil War. The intelligence she gathered for the Union, directly from the top of Confederate strategists and leaders was crucial to Union victories not just on the battlefield, but to the war as a whole. While the site of Van Lew’s home where she spent many of her years is now converted to an elementary school, and the exact year of her death is unknown, there is a marker in Woodland Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia (Section G, plot 23) dedicated in her memory. 

[1] Leonard, Elizabeth D. All the Daring of the Soldier. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999.

[2] Boyer, Jean-Pierre. Encyclopedia of Free Blacks and People of Color in the Americas. Volume I. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc., 2012.

[3] Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed 06 December 2020), memorial page for Mary Elizabeth Bowser (1840–unknown), Find a Grave Memorial no. 111467930, citing Woodland Cemetery, Richmond, Henrico County, Virginia, USA ; Maintained by John Shuck (contributor 46798527).