Mary Bowser – Union Spy
By
John C Abercrombie
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The story of Mary Bowser is intriguing. She is often reported to be a spy in the Jefferson Davis White House. There is difficulty in fully verifying the story because of record keeping and name changes by Mary herself. While there are many similarities between the people in the trail of information, it is important to stay alert while reading the story of the Black spy in Confederate War.
It is believed that she was born enslaved in Virginia but there is no documented proof of this or the names of her parents. We do know that she was enslaved by the house of Elizabeth “Bet” Van Lew in Richmond, Virginia. The lack of birth records etc.… It is not unusual for slaves as they were most often listed as property and with gender and an approximation of age.
Here is where we see signs to indicate that she was singled out. She was baptized in the St. John’s Church which is the White church attended by the Van Lew family and not the Richmond First African Baptist Church where the other slaves of the Van Lew family were baptized. This single fact points out that someone considered her special. She was baptized on May 17, 1846. She is recorded with the name of Mary Jane.
Shortly after her baptism she was sent North possibly to Princeton, New Jersey for education. As you read other accounts of this, we encounter what is intended to be a compliment that I personally view as a sort of slur. She is noted for her exceptional intelligence, which implies that this quality is absent from all others. It is a slur because it conforms with the stereotype that all Blacks lack intelligence, when the problem is they are never given a chance to demonstrate their intelligence. History is littered with examples that destroy the myth, but they are most often left out of the accounts to which we are exposed.
After graduating she was sent to Liberia. The official name of the country is Republic of Liberia, located on the West Africa coast and bordered by Sierra Leone to the Northwest, Guinea to the North, the Ivory Coast to the East and the Atlantic Ocean to the South and Southwest. English is the official language but there are over twenty indigenous languages spoken. The largest city and Capital is Monrovia.
Liberia was founded by free people of color from the United States, organized by the American Colonization Society
She went to Liberia in 1855 to join a missionary community arranged by Elizabeth Van Lew but by spring of 1860, returned to Richmond.
It is reported that on April 16, 1861, she married Wilson Bowser, hence the name of Mary Bowser. The ceremony took place at St. John’s, the same church she was baptized in, four days before the start of the Civil War. The marriage was short, and she resumed using the surname of Richards.
Throughout the war Mary was active in the pro-Union underground espionage ring organized by Elizabeth Van Lew. She reported on at least one occasion of going into President Davis’s house while he was absent, but there are also reports that she worked there. It is not known exactly how or what intelligence she collected but it is also reported that it helped Generals Benjamin Butler, Ulysses S Grant, and George H Sharpe.
History is filled with the spinae of Miss Van Lew, but little is publicized about the many people working in her extensive spy network throughout the capital of Richmond. These were the suppliers of information which made the supply of accurate information possible. Mary Bowser is considered one of the best placed players in this network.
She obtained the position of a servant in the Confederate White House with the assistance of Miss Van Lew.
At some point during the first couple years of the war, Mary succeeded, with Miss Van Lew’s assistance, in getting a position as a servant in the Confederate White House (right). Under this humble and overlooked guise, Mary became privy to information intended only for Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
The Confederate leadership felt no need to guard their conversations in the safe confines of the Presidential residence; and since it was assumed that she was illiterate, no effort was made to keep Mary from seeing secret documents.
Thanks to this, she was able to gather sensitive information at all times. Whether she was dusting Jefferson Davis’s office or clearing away dishes during a cabinet meeting, Mary Bowser was always on the lookout for information.
A local bakery man, Thomas McNiven, supplied the Confederate White House with baked goods and served as a part of Miss Van Lew’s network. Thus, Mr. McNiven (he used the code name “Quaker”) was able to receive valuable information from Mary when he delivered to the White House each evening. He later described Mary’s incredible skill to his daughter, “…Mary [Bowser] was the best as she was working right in Davis’s home and had a photographic mind. Everything she saw on the Rebel President’s desk she could repeat word for word.”
As with most Union spies who served in Richmond during the war, all records of Mary’s work were destroyed by the War Department to protect her from the retaliation she would have faced if the extent of her service were uncovered. Because of this, extraordinarily little specific information is known about her activities during the war.
It Is beyond doubt that the person depicted in the life of Mary Bowser served exceptionally well and 1995, the military Intelligence Hall of Fame at Fort Huachuca, Arizona honored her effort with the following quote:
“Ms. Bowser certainly succeeded in a highly dangerous mission to the great benefit of the Union effort. She was one of the highest placed and most productive espionage agents of the Civil War.”
While some wonder if the exploits of Mary Bowser are possible, it is necessary to keep in mind that the Southern mentality was built on the notion that Blacks were without intellect and there to serve the Whites. Whites took drastic steps to ensure that they were not exposed to educational opportunities not because they could not learn, but because they did it so well.
It is inconceivable that with these beliefs that Jefferson Davis would stoop so low as to have White people do the work needed to maintain the Capital. It is easy to be intelligent and pretend to be dumb, giving comfort to those who thought they had figured this out to expose their most closely guarded secrets in the presence of those capable of understanding it.
Just a few days after the fall of Richmond we find Mary Jane Richards working as a teacher to former slaves in the city. This fits with a person dedicated to freedom and in the right location.
She gave at least two lectures in the North in 1865, speaking about her education and travels to Liberia and wartime exploits. It is also reported that she and the famed White political orator Anna Dickinson could easily be mistaken for twin sisters.
We are also exposed to the use of pseudonyms by using the name of Richmonia Richards while speaking at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Manhattan and two weeks later Richmonia R St. Pierre at the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Brooklyn. It is easy to recognize the need for anonymity with her background and the fact that many Southerners ever accepted the results of the end of slavery or those who fought for equality of the races.
She is also credited with founding the freedmen’s school in St. Marys, Georgia early in 1867 where she taught day students, adult night students and Sunday school herself.
There are no pictures of the person we are speaking of here, however, there is a picture commonly used of a different Mary Bowser that is frequently identified as her.
After the war ended, Mary Bowser spent time serving as a teacher for freed slaves and gave at least one speech in which she told the story of her time as a spy in the Confederate White House. For the speech, given in the fall of 1865 in New York, she used the name, “Richmonia Richards.”
In 1867, she had a chance meeting with Harriet Beecher Stowe in Georgia and told her story again. At that time, she was teaching under the name Mary J. R. Richards. After 1867, we don’t know what happened to her…
She seems to have effectively disappeared. Like a good spy would… Keeping in mind the South was rife with lynchings of Blacks that violated the stereotype and especially those who stood for anything close to equal treatment of all citizens of the United States of America.
Her story almost disappeared with her, only being meticulously researched in recent years.
Sadly, much of her story will never be known, but what is known is this: Mary Bowser rose from slavery to become the best Civil War spy of them all. She is, without a doubt, a true American Civil War hero.
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Mary Bowser
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Jousting with History on a Stick: What Commemorations of Mary “Bowser” Richards Denman Reveal
Jousting with History on a Stick: What Commemorations of Mary “Bowser” Richards Denman Reveal About How to Center African American Women in U.S. History.
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Synopsis:
In April 2021, Governor Northam announced that Virginia would erect five new historical highway markers, all commemorating Black history, including one for a woman referred to as “Mary Richards Bowser” in the official announcement from the governor’s office. Who was this woman? What did she do to make her worthy of this honor – and why did she do it? In this talk, these questions will serve as a lens for understanding how historians and biographers learn about the past. Historical markers – sometimes jokingly referred to as “history on a stick” – provide an important way to honor significant people and events, and to educate the public. But these markers may also reinforce false beliefs about history, erasing the meticulous care required to document and interpret the past accurately. Using the example of Mary “Bowser” Richards Denman, Dr. Lois Leveen explores what happens when we put Black women at the center of our understanding of history. How does centering Black women give us greater insight into antebellum Virginia, into the Civil War, and into the ongoing struggle for justice and full citizenship for African Americans after emancipation? Join us for this timely and fascinating look at the particular challenges and rewards of documenting and interpreting the lives of African Americans, of women, and especially of African American women.
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Mary Bowser and the Civil War Spy Ring: A Spy on History Book
It’s a true story of bravery: Mary Bowser was an African American spy for the Union who worked as a maid in the mansion of Confederate Jefferson Davis. From hair-raising close calls when she almost gets caught to how she uses her photographic memory to “steal” top secret documents. Mary’s story reads like a gripping novel.
It’s a mystery to solve: There are clues embedded in the story’s text and illustrations, and Spycraft materials—including a replica Civil War cipher wheel—come in an envelope at the beginning of the book. Use both to discover what happened to Mary Bowser’s secret diary.
ABH – Mary Bowser and the Civil War Spy Ring
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AF-277: Mary Elizabeth Bowser: Unsung Heroes of the Civil War | Ancestral Finding
This fascinating person was an African-American, formerly enslaved by the Van Lew family in Virginia, who went on to be freed and to work closely with the abolitionist daughter of that family as a spy for the Union in the Civil War. Join me today to learn more about this extraordinary story.
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The Secrets of Mary Bowser: A Novel
Based on a remarkable true story, The Secrets of Mary Bowser is an inspiring tale of one daring woman’s willingness to sacrifice her own freedom to change the course of history.
All her life, Mary has been a slave to the wealthy Van Lew family of Richmond, Virginia. But when Bet, the willful Van Lew daughter, decides to send Mary to Philadelphia to be educated, she must leave her family to seize her freedom.
Life in the North brings new friendships, a courtship, and a far different education than Mary ever expected, one that leads her into the heart of the abolition movement. With the nation edging toward war, she defies Virginia law by returning to Richmond to care for her ailing father – and to fight for emancipation. Posing as a slave in the Confederate White House in order to spy on President Jefferson Davis, Mary deceives even those who are closest to her to aid the Union command.
ABH – The Secrets of Mary Bowser A Novel
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ABH – Southern Lady Yankee Spy
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Beyond “Mary Bowser”: Researching & Writing a Biography of Black Activism in 19th-Century Virginia
Dr. Lois Leveen demonstrates how we can unearth centuries of Black activism in Virginia, even when most of the documents preserved in the Library of Virginia and other archives reflect the perspectives of white men. Learn how this research reveals powerful new understandings of America’s past. The author of the critically acclaimed novel “The Secrets of Mary Bowser”, Leveen is currently a Virginia Humanities Research Fellow at the Library, where she is researching the first nonfiction book about the real woman who inspired the novel.
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Spies in the Civil War for Kids: A History Book (Spies in History for Kids)
Send spy-enthusiasts ages 8 to 12 behind enemy lines with top-secret Civil War history
When it comes to getting kids interested in history, the secretive tales of spies are a great place to start. Filled with exciting stories about the brave men and women who served in plain clothes, this unique look into the Civil War helps history come alive through explorations of cunning plots, inventive gadgets, and clever disguises that are sure to fascinate kids.
Go beyond other Civil War books for kids with:
A complete overview—This book teaches kids about the Civil War and the many spies that played key roles in the conflict.
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Illustrated history—Awesome full-color drawings of historical moments, spy gadgets, battle maps, and more keep kids engaged.
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Juneteenth | Super Spies Animated Comic
Super Spies uses hand-drawn illustrations, historical photographs, and fantastic storytelling to explore the untold history of Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Van Lew, and Mary Bowser during the American Civil War
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Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy
Northern sympathizer in the Confederate capital, daring spymaster, postwar politician: Elizabeth Van Lew was one of the most remarkable figures in American history, a woman who defied the conventions of the nineteenth-century South. In Southern Lady, Yankee Spy, historian Elizabeth Varon provides a gripping, richly researched account of the woman who led what one historian called “the most productive espionage operation of the Civil War.” Under the nose of the Confederate government, Van Lew ran a spy ring that gathered intelligence, hampered the Southern war effort, and helped scores of Union soldiers to escape from Richmond prisons.
ABH – Southern Lady Yankee Spy
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A Black Union Spy in Richmond: Who Was Mary Jane Richards?
In 1911, fifty years after the Civil War, “Harper’s Monthly” magazine made a bold claim. A Black woman, they said, had worked in the Confederate White House, spying on Jefferson Davis.
“[Noted Union spies] The Van Lews,” Harper’s proclaimed, “had owned a negro girl of unusual intelligence; several years before the war she had been given her freedom, sent North, and educated at Miss Van Lew’s expense. This young woman, whose name was Mary Elizabeth Bowser, was now sent for; she came, and for a time was coached and trained for her mission; then, in consummation of Miss Van Lew’s scheming, she was installed as a waitress in the White House of the Confederacy. What she was able to learn, how long she remained behind Jefferson Davis’s dining-chair, and what became of the girl ere the war ended are questions to which Time has effaced the answers.”
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We see people demonstrate courage, cunning and character appear before our eyes in the posts on AmazingBlackHistory.com. These are not new people, places or events, but they belong in the very fabric of the rich tapestry that is our history. It does no good to manipulate history to avoid any mention of people, places or events that may be embarrassing to Europeans. History must be based on fact.