Mary Elizabeth Bowser was born on the Van Lew plantation around 1839 and worked as a slave there. Elizabeth Van Lew, her owner, had freed Bowser when her father past away. Mary remained with the Van Lew family as a paid servant after she was freed. Elizabeth then sent Mary to a Quaker School for Negroes. After Mary graduated, she married a free black man named William Bowser.
Shortly after the war had broken out, Van Lew heard of an opening for a servant in the home of Confederate president, Jefferson Davis. Van Lew made arrangements for Bowser to fill the position as the servant and this is how Mary Elizabeth Bowser started her career as a Union spy.
Bowsers job as a servant in the presidents home, created many encounters with the president himself. Although Mary was educated, she played dumb so that Jefferson Davis would not be suspicious of her. Davis openly discussed important information about the war and military tactics for the confederates in Bowser's presence because he assumed that since she was a slave, that she was dumb and un-educated. While doing her duties as a servant, serving meals and cleaning up after, she
overhead conversations about troop strategy and movement between the president and military officers.
Bowser also had the freedom to roam the house freely which gave her access to Davis' private study. Inside his study, Bowser would find war dispatches and important military papers that the Confederates left out. Because she was literate, she was able to read letters and documents that were left out in the president's private study. She read and memorized everything she could word for word. Eventually, President Davis came to realize there was a leak in the house, but did not suspect Mary until later on in the war. This is what made Bowser such a unique and important spy.
Mary had a photographic memory which gave her the ability to recite important letters from President Davis' itenirary to Elizabeth Van Lew. Thomas McNiven, an important member of the Van Lew spy network, owned a Bakery in Richmond, Virginia. This bakery would be a central exchange point of the information received behind enemy lines. The bakery was also among one of the favorite places for Davis to get his food. McNiven's frequent delivery's to the Davis household enabled Bowser to give her information to McNiven which would then be transported to The Union generals.
After the war, in 1865, she fled across the country because it was becoming suspious that she was a spy. Her death is unknown and her whereabouts after the war is unknown.
Shortly after the war had broken out, Van Lew heard of an opening for a servant in the home of Confederate president, Jefferson Davis. Van Lew made arrangements for Bowser to fill the position as the servant and this is how Mary Elizabeth Bowser started her career as a Union spy.
Bowsers job as a servant in the presidents home, created many encounters with the president himself. Although Mary was educated, she played dumb so that Jefferson Davis would not be suspicious of her. Davis openly discussed important information about the war and military tactics for the confederates in Bowser's presence because he assumed that since she was a slave, that she was dumb and un-educated. While doing her duties as a servant, serving meals and cleaning up after, she
overhead conversations about troop strategy and movement between the president and military officers.
Bowser also had the freedom to roam the house freely which gave her access to Davis' private study. Inside his study, Bowser would find war dispatches and important military papers that the Confederates left out. Because she was literate, she was able to read letters and documents that were left out in the president's private study. She read and memorized everything she could word for word. Eventually, President Davis came to realize there was a leak in the house, but did not suspect Mary until later on in the war. This is what made Bowser such a unique and important spy.
Mary had a photographic memory which gave her the ability to recite important letters from President Davis' itenirary to Elizabeth Van Lew. Thomas McNiven, an important member of the Van Lew spy network, owned a Bakery in Richmond, Virginia. This bakery would be a central exchange point of the information received behind enemy lines. The bakery was also among one of the favorite places for Davis to get his food. McNiven's frequent delivery's to the Davis household enabled Bowser to give her information to McNiven which would then be transported to The Union generals.
After the war, in 1865, she fled across the country because it was becoming suspious that she was a spy. Her death is unknown and her whereabouts after the war is unknown.