Kickass Women in History: Mary Bowser

Welcome to Kickass Women in History, in which we examine the lives of some of the lesser-known amazing women who kicked ass in all sorts of ways. This month we’ll be talking about Mary Bowser, one of the most remarkable spies of the Civil War.

Mary Bowser was born a slave of the Van Lew family. The Van Lews were abolitionists in the Confederate town of Richmond, Virginia. When John Van Lew died, his wife and his daughter, Elizabeth Van Lew, freed their slaves, including Mary.

Elizabeth sent Mary to school in Philadelphia. After graduation, Mary worked as a missionary in Liberia for several years before coming back to work as a servant for Elizabeth Van Lew.

When the Civil War broke out, Elizabeth Van Lew became the leader of a substantial network of spies. When Elizabeth learned that Confederate First Lady Varina Davis was having trouble finding household help for the Confederate White House, she suggested that Varina “borrow” Mary (under the alias “Ellen Bond”). Elizabeth claimed that ‘Ellen’ was a hard worker, but not too bright, a persona that Mary played to the hilt.

At the time, not only was it illegal to teach a slave to read and write, it was also illegal in Virginia to teach any group of black people, regardless of status, to read and write in a group setting such as a school or meeting. This being the case, everyone in the Confederate White House assumed that Mary couldn’t read, so they left maps and other documents out in rooms that she worked in. Since she was said to be not very smart and since servants are often ignored as a matter of course, military and government officials talked quite unguardedly in her presence.

Mary cleaned the rooms that had letters, maps, and lists spread out on the table and she cleaned rooms where military officials planned campaigns, and she memorized everything instantly (she has been described as having an eidetic memory). She then passed the information on to Thomas McNiven, a baker whose job took him naturally to both The While House and the Van Lew mansion, making him a perfect courier. Elizabeth claimed that Mary was the best informant that she ever had. In The New York Times, Lois Leveen quotes Elizabeth’s diary:

 “When I open my eyes in the morning, I say to the servant, ‘What news, Mary?’ and my caterer never fails! Most generally our reliable news is gathered from negroes, and they certainly show wisdom, discretion and prudence which is wonderful.”

In 1865, Mary felt herself to be under suspicion, and she fled to Elizabeth’s house. Mary’s husband, Wilson, worked on one of Van Lew’s properties outside of town. Elizabeth had Mary smuggled to the farm in the back of a wagon, disguised by a substantial load of horse manure. Mary resided on the farm for the rest of the war (presumably taking a long bath upon arrival). Rumors that she tried to burn the White House down on her way out have been unsubstantiated.

Very little is known of Mary’s personal life. There’s no record that she and Wilson had any children. She wrote a journal, but it disappeared sometime in the 1950s. Her exact dates of birth and death are unknown. She gave at least two lectures after the war about her experiences, but in both cases she used a pseudonym and altered facts both to make a better story for her audiences and to protect herself. She also seems to have spent some time teaching school in Georgia, during which time she wrote,

“I felt that I had the advantage over the majority of my race both in Blood and Intelligence, and that it was my duty if possible to work where I am most needed….

“I am I hope willing to do what I can, but I fear that in the end it will not prove much.”

According to The New York Times, Bowser was the sole teacher of  “70 day students, a dozen adult night students, and 100 Sunday school students.” This may have been even more kickass than working undercover as a spy in the Confederate White House. Regardless, Bowser remains largely a figure of mystery – even the photo above, which has been circulated as a photo of “Mary Bowser, spy” since 2002, was recently revealed to be a photo of a different Mary Bowser. She was incognito until the end, but not unrecognized, having been inducted into the US Army Intelligence Hall of Fame in 1995.

For more about Mary Bowser, in addition to the articles linked above, try the book Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott.  For websites, check out:

The Spy Photo That Fooled NPR, the U.S. Army Intelligence Center, and Me, by Lois Laveen

Mary Bowser: Union Spy for the Civil War, by Lyde Cullen Sizer