Elizabeth Van Lew
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Elizabeth Van Lew (October 12, 1818 – September 25, 1900) was an American abolitionist and philanthropist who built and operated an extensive
spy ring Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
for the
Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. Many false claims continue to be made about her life. The single most reliable source is a 2002 biography by University of Virginia Professor Elizabeth R. Varon.


Early life

Elizabeth Van Lew was born on October 12, 1818, in Richmond, Virginia to John Van Lew and Eliza Baker, whose maternal grandfather was Hilary Baker, mayor of
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
from 1796 to 1798. Elizabeth's father came to Richmond in 1806, at the age of 16; within 20 years, he had built up a prosperous hardware business and owned several slaves. Her family sent Van Lew to Philadelphia to be educated. The Quaker school she attended is thought to have been influential in forming her anti-slavery views. Following her father's death in 1843, Van Lew and her mother continued to live in the family's home in Richmond. John Van Lew's will stipulated that none of the family's enslaved human property could be freed. However, Elizabeth and her mother helped the slaves in their household to earn wages and a measure of freedom. While the Van Lew family benefited from slavery, she believed it would eventually fade away. Her hope was that Southerners would free their slaves and that emancipation by manumission would gradually end the practice that she viewed as abhorrent and destructive to the South.


American Civil War

Upon the outbreak of the war, Van Lew began working on behalf of the Union with her mother, caring for wounded soldiers. When
Libby Prison Libby Prison was a Confederate prison at Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. In 1862 it was designated to hold officer prisoners from the Union Army. It gained an infamous reputation for the overcrowded and harsh conditions. Priso ...
was opened in Richmond, Van Lew was allowed to bring food, clothing, writing paper, and other things to the Union soldiers imprisoned there. She aided prisoners in escape attempts, passing them information about safe houses and getting a Union sympathizer appointed to the prison staff.Loewen, unknown page Van Lew reportedly helped Union soldiers by giving them money to bribe Confederates. Recently captured prisoners gave Van Lew information on
Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
troop levels and movements, which she was able to pass on to Union commanders. She is rumored to have helped hide escaped Union prisoners and Confederate deserters in her own mansion, although no definite proof of such claims has been found. Van Lew also operated a
spy ring Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
during the war, which included clerks in the War and Navy Departments of the Confederacy, as well as free and enslaved African Americans, including Mary Richards Bowser. Mary Jane Richards, aka Mary Elizabeth Bowser, was reputedly a formerly enslaved maid in the Van Lew household, and was sent by the family to be educated in a Quaker school in Pennsylvania. She might have used the alias Mary Elizabeth Bowser to conceal her identity. Stories surfaced about the woman having possibly served as a maid for Jefferson Davis, while spying for the Union. She herself admitted to having served as a detective during the war. Van Lew's spy network was so efficient that on several occasions she sent Lt. Gen.
Ulysses S Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
fresh flowers from her garden and a copy of the Richmond newspaper. She developed a cipher system and often smuggled messages out of Richmond in hollow eggs. Union commanders highly valued Van Lew's work; intelligence commander George H. Sharpe,
Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confede ...
, recommended that the government reimburse Van Lew $15,000 because of the great expense she incurred in her efforts, including employment of spies. Because of the merit of her work, General Grant appointed Van Lew
Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
of Richmond for the next eight years. In 1864, Van Lew risked her entire spy network to see that the corpse of Union Col.
Ulric Dahlgren Ulric Dahlgren (April 3, 1842 – March 2, 1864) was a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was the son of Union Navy Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren and nephew to Confederate Brigadier General Charles G. Dahlgren. He ...
, who died trying to free Union prisoners in Richmond, was properly buried. Reports of disrespectful display of his corpse had outraged Northern public opinion, and Van Lew herself. Furthermore, after the long siege of Petersburg, Van Lew assisted civilians of both sides.


Postwar life

When Richmond fell to U.S. forces in April 1865, Van Lew was the first person to raise the
United States flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...
in the city. On Grant's first visit to Richmond after the war, he had tea with Van Lew, and later appointed her postmaster of Richmond.Loewen, James W. "One of the Great Female Spies of All Times." ''Lies Across America''. New York: Touchstone, 1999. Van Lew modernized the city's postal system and employed several African-Americans, with the same pay and benefits as white employees, until new President
Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...
had her replaced in 1877. She was allowed to return as a postal clerk in Richmond, where she served from 1883 to 1887. After
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
, Van Lew became increasingly ostracized in Richmond. "No one will walk with us on the street," she wrote, "no one will go with us anywhere; and it grows worse and worse as the years roll on." Having spent her family's fortune on intelligence activities during the war, she tried in vain to be reimbursed by the federal government. When attempts to secure a government pension also failed, she received support from the family and friends of Union Col. Paul Joseph Revere, whom she had helped while he was held prisoner during the Civil War. These Bostonians gladly collected money for the woman who helped so many Union soldiers during the war. However, neighborhood children, including future novelist
Ellen Glasgow Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow (April 22, 1873 – November 21, 1945) was an American novelist who won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1942 for her novel ''In This Our Life''. She published 20 novels, as well as short stories, to critical ac ...
, were told to consider her a witch. Even into the twentieth century, many white Southerners regarded Van Lew as a traitor. However, among Richmonders of color and white Unionists, at least, Van Lew was an honored figure.


Death and legacy

Van Lew died on September 25, 1900 (aged 81), and was buried in Richmond's
Shockoe Hill Cemetery The Shockoe Hill Cemetery is a historic cemetery located on Shockoe Hill in Richmond, Virginia. History Shockoe Hill Cemetery, as it is presently called, was established in 1820, with the initial burial made in 1822. It was earlier known as the ...
in the same grave as her beloved niece Eliza Van Lew, who had been her constant companion in her later years, and who had died just a few months before her. Elizabeth was purportedly buried vertically, facing the north; however, this is highly unlikely, as Cemetery records do not reflect that circumstance, and such a burial would have been unnecessary as multiple persons were often buried in a common grave shaft in that era. Relatives of Union Colonel Paul J. Revere, whom she had aided during the war, donated the tombstone. The epitaph reads: "ELIZABETH L. VAN LEW (1818 - 1900) She risked everything that is dear to man-- friends-- fortune-- comfort-- health-- life itself-- that slavery might be abolished and the Union preserved. This boulder from the Capitol Hill in Boston is a tribute from Massachusetts friends." In her will, Van Lew bequeathed her personal manuscripts, including her account of the war, to John P. Reynolds, Col. Revere's nephew. In 1911 Reynolds was able to convince the scholar William G. Beymer to publish the first biography of Van Lew in ''
Harper's Monthly ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
''. The biography indicated that Van Lew had been so successful in her spying activities because she had feigned lunacy, and this idea won Van Lew the nickname "Crazy Bet". However, it is highly unlikely that Van Lew actually did pretend to be crazy. Instead, she probably would have relied on the Victorian custom of female charity to cover her espionage.Varon The city of Richmond acquired and demolished the Van Lew mansion, her former home, in 1911. Bellevue Elementary School (which still remains) was erected on the site the following year. Historical plaques and a marker now memorialize her activities, and those of Bowser (a/k/a Mary Jane Richards). Furthermore, the daughter of two of Van Lew's servants,
Maggie Walker Maggie Lena (née Draper Mitchell) Walker (July 15, 1864 – December 15, 1934) was a businesswoman and teacher. In 1903, Walker became both the first African American woman to charter a bank and the first African American woman to serve as ...
, became a prominent Christian entrepreneur in Richmond, founding the country's first African-American-woman owned bank. Elizabeth Van Lew was inducted into the
Military Intelligence Hall of Fame The Military Intelligence Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established by the Military Intelligence Corps of the United States Army in 1988 to honor soldiers and civilians who have made exceptional contributions to military intelligence. The hall is ...
in 1993.


Books and films

Elizabeth Van Lew was an insignificant character in the 1944 book ''Yankee Stranger'' by Elswyth Thane, the second in her Williamsburg series, and a character in ''The Secrets of Mary Bowser'', a novel by
Lois Leveen Lois M. Leveen is an American writer, educator and historian based in Portland, Oregon. Early life and education Leveen graduated from Harvard College, University of Southern California, and University of California, Los Angeles. Writing Lev ...
. Her story was also fictionalized in 1995 children's book ''The Secret of the Lion's Head'' by Beverly Hall, the 2005 novel ''Elizabeth Van Lew: Civil War Spy'' by Heidi Schoof, the 2006 novel ''Only Call Us Faithful: A Novel of the Union Underground'' by Marie Jakober, the 2013 novel ''The Spymistress'' by Jennifer Chiaverini. and the 2016 novel "Crazy Bet and the Gentleman from Massachusetts" by Frederick Lapisardi. The 1987 television movie ''A Special Friendship'' tells a fictionalized story of the friendship and pro-Union collaboration of Van Lew (who is presented as a young, rather than middle-aged, woman in the film) and her former slave Mary Bowser. The 1990 television movie ''Traitor in My House'' tells the story of Elizabeth Van Lew from the perspective of her niece;
Mary Kay Place Mary Kay Place (born September 23, 1947) is an American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter. She is known for portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', a role that won her the 1977 Primetime Emm ...
portrays Elizabeth. A fictionalized, but heavily researched account of Elizabeth Van Lew's work during the Civil War is included in Karen Abbott's 2015 novel, ''Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War''.Abbott, K. (2015). ''Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War''. New York: Harper.


References


Further reading

* * Casstevens, Frances Harding. ''Tales from the North and the South: Twenty-Four Remarkable People and Events of the Civil War''. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co, 2007. * Downing, David C. ''A South Divided: Portraits of Dissent in the Confederacy''. Nashville: Cumberland House, 2007. * Furgurson, Ernest B. ''Ashes of Glory: Richmond at War''. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1996. * Jakober, Marie. ''Only Call Us Faithful: A Novel of the Union Underground''. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2002. * Kane, Harnett T. ''Spies for the Blue and Gray''. Garden City, N.Y.: Hanover House, 1954. * Ryan, David D. ''A Yankee Spy in Richmond: The Civil War Diary of "Crazy Bet" Van Lew''. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1996. * Tsui, Bonnie. ''She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War''. Guilford, CT: TwoDot, 2006. * Varon, Elizabeth. ''Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, A Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Lew, Elizabeth 1818 births 1900 deaths People from Richmond, Virginia American Civil War spies Female wartime spies Women in the American Civil War Southern Unionists in the American Civil War Underground Railroad people