B A B of History: Union Spy Mary Elizabeth Bowser - Uncensored

There's a book on Bowser which leaves out Van Lew, too, or minimizes their relationship and treats Van Lew as ineffective. I don't know- we girls get pitted against each frequently. Like there's no room for more than one.

Bowser had to have been incredibly intrepid- can you imagine spying in that house, of all others?
 
Does this little video comport with the historical facts as we know them?

Particularly about the destruction of Union spy records after the War?
 
That was one of worst videos I have ever seen, mostly garbage at best. Van Lew was very important to intelligence gathering in Richmond. Mary Elizabeth Bowser was also important, so both should be treated as equally important.
 
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Mary never used the last name Bowser. And she and Bet did not exchange messages via a seamstress. Most of what is claimed about this inspirational figure is simply untrue or greatly exaggerated. If you'd like a more factual account, try https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-vanishing-black-woman-spy-reappears/ and https://time.com/5609045/misremembering-mary-bowser/
Mary Jane Richards married another Van Lew servant named Wilson Bowser in the Van Lew's church St. John's Episcopal Church and in fact the seamstress was in Van Lew's spy network and Mary would dissemble waistbands resew them or sew into the folds of Varina's dresses then bring them in for repair so Van Lew could retrieve it the following morning at the seamstress and disperse it. They used Scottish immigrant McNiven's (he belonged to Van Lew's church) home deliveries from the bakery at 811 North Fifth St. if the seamstress was unavailable or compromised or Mary couldn't leave the Davis house.
Source: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by historian Karen Abbott.
 
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Mary Jane Richards married another Van Lew servant named Wilson Bowser in the Van Lew's church St. John's Episcopal Church and in fact the seamstress was in Van Lew's spy network and Mary would dissemble waistbands resew them or sew into the folds of Varina's dresses then bring them in for repair so Van Lew could retrieve it the following morning at the seamstress and disperse it. They used Scottish immigrant McNiven's (he belonged to Van Lew's church) home deliveries from the bakery at 811 North Fifth St. if the seamstress was unavailable or compromised or Mary couldn't leave the Davis house.
Source: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by historian Karen Abbott.

Hi Belle,
I know, it's distressing that Abbott's book, which is marketed as nonfiction history, is full of inaccuracies. Elizabeth Varon's book, SOUTHERN LADY, YANKEE SPY, is much more reliable, although there is more information that has emerged about Mary through my own research, since Varon's book was published over fifteen years back.

If you check Abbott's footnotes, you'll see that much of her source materials are emails received in the 21st-century, from Bet's brother's great-grandson (or maybe great-great ... I apologize that I don't have my notes in front of me!). However, Bet's brother's daughter said she knew nothing of the espionage beyond the name "Mary Elizabeth Bowser" and that she married someone named Carter, neither of which is correct (her middle name was Jane, and, as my research has recently documented, she later married someone named Denman); it seems unlikely that if the niece, interviewed 50 years after the war, knew so little, somehow her descendant interviewed another century later could accurately provide the kind of detail that Abbott wants -- where people are standing when they had private, undocumented conversations! -- strains credulity.

Some nineteenth-century sources suggest another African American woman used seamstressy to help the pro-Union underground smuggle messages, but that is separate from Mary's espionage. It seems like a great Hollywood scene, to see her sewing messages right into Varina Davis's own dresses! But think about it: The idea of someone who was enslaved, or posing as a slave, being able to 1) access the enslaver's wardrobe whenever she wanted; 2) have the leisure time to handsew messages into items in that wardrobe, with stitches or needle holes never to be detected; 3) decide when items with messages would be sent to a seamstress -- a service that would have to be arranged and paid for by the enslavers; all of that just doesn't seem possible. But most importantly, descriptions of the espionage from both Bet and Mary contradict this 'sewing messages' story. Mary's descriptions suggest she was NOT in the Davis house for most of the war, and Bet specifically said, "When I wake in the morning, I ask 'what news, Mary?'" which tells us that they were in direct contact.

The use of seamstressy by other African American women definitely deserves to be remembered -- Mary was NOT the only African American involved with Bet in this network, nor was this network the only way that information was getting to the Union, so celebrating her shouldn't mean conflating or erasing what others did.

As for the "Bowser" name: in April, 1861, "Wilson Bowser and Mary" who were identified as "colored" and "servants" of the Van Lews, were married in St. John's, the Van Lews' church. But although Mary used at least half a dozen surnames during her lifetime, there are no documents in which she used the last name Bowser. Even during the war, she used OTHER last names, and by the end of the war, was referring to herself as "Miss Richards," as she had before the war. So this marriage was short lived. After the war, both Mary and Wilson married other people. But because Bet's niece, fifty years after the war, identify her as "Mary Elizabeth Bowser," this is the name that gets used most often, even though she never used it.

As for Thomas McNiven -- as a novelist, I love him as a character. But as actual history, this is not a reliable source. McNiven purportedly told of his espionage "on his deathbed" to a family member, who then told another family member, who finally wrote it down decades later. And no historian has ever been able to corroborate any of what is in this document. We know of many other members of the pro-Union underground in Richmond, and none of them mention anything related to someone who would be McNiven, nor do they corroborate what is in his "memoir" in terms of how the underground operated. So this might have been someone inventing his own importance long after the fact, or descendants doing so -- intentionally or unintentionally.

I can't stress enough how important it is that real historians document using primary sources from the time period. I am poring over archives to document Mary's life for my upcoming book, and I am discovering so much that we never knew before. But I wouldn't publish a claim without being able to point to the corroborating evidence. Again, Elizabeth Varon sets a really high bar in her book, and anyone writing about the espionage ring should live up to that bar.

-Lois
 
Hi Belle,
I know, it's distressing that Abbott's book, which is marketed as nonfiction history, is full of inaccuracies. Elizabeth Varon's book, SOUTHERN LADY, YANKEE SPY, is much more reliable, although there is more information that has emerged about Mary through my own research, since Varon's book was published over fifteen years back.

If you check Abbott's footnotes, you'll see that much of her source materials are emails received in the 21st-century, from Bet's brother's great-grandson (or maybe great-great ... I apologize that I don't have my notes in front of me!). However, Bet's brother's daughter said she knew nothing of the espionage beyond the name "Mary Elizabeth Bowser" and that she married someone named Carter, neither of which is correct (her middle name was Jane, and, as my research has recently documented, she later married someone named Denman); it seems unlikely that if the niece, interviewed 50 years after the war, knew so little, somehow her descendant interviewed another century later could accurately provide the kind of detail that Abbott wants -- where people are standing when they had private, undocumented conversations! -- strains credulity.

Some nineteenth-century sources suggest another African American woman used seamstressy to help the pro-Union underground smuggle messages, but that is separate from Mary's espionage. It seems like a great Hollywood scene, to see her sewing messages right into Varina Davis's own dresses! But think about it: The idea of someone who was enslaved, or posing as a slave, being able to 1) access the enslaver's wardrobe whenever she wanted; 2) have the leisure time to handsew messages into items in that wardrobe, with stitches or needle holes never to be detected; 3) decide when items with messages would be sent to a seamstress -- a service that would have to be arranged and paid for by the enslavers; all of that just doesn't seem possible. But most importantly, descriptions of the espionage from both Bet and Mary contradict this 'sewing messages' story. Mary's descriptions suggest she was NOT in the Davis house for most of the war, and Bet specifically said, "When I wake in the morning, I ask 'what news, Mary?'" which tells us that they were in direct contact.

The use of seamstressy by other African American women definitely deserves to be remembered -- Mary was NOT the only African American involved with Bet in this network, nor was this network the only way that information was getting to the Union, so celebrating her shouldn't mean conflating or erasing what others did.

As for the "Bowser" name: in April, 1861, "Wilson Bowser and Mary" who were identified as "colored" and "servants" of the Van Lews, were married in St. John's, the Van Lews' church. But although Mary used at least half a dozen surnames during her lifetime, there are no documents in which she used the last name Bowser. Even during the war, she used OTHER last names, and by the end of the war, was referring to herself as "Miss Richards," as she had before the war. So this marriage was short lived. After the war, both Mary and Wilson married other people. But because Bet's niece, fifty years after the war, identify her as "Mary Elizabeth Bowser," this is the name that gets used most often, even though she never used it.

As for Thomas McNiven -- as a novelist, I love him as a character. But as actual history, this is not a reliable source. McNiven purportedly told of his espionage "on his deathbed" to a family member, who then told another family member, who finally wrote it down decades later. And no historian has ever been able to corroborate any of what is in this document. We know of many other members of the pro-Union underground in Richmond, and none of them mention anything related to someone who would be McNiven, nor do they corroborate what is in his "memoir" in terms of how the underground operated. So this might have been someone inventing his own importance long after the fact, or descendants doing so -- intentionally or unintentionally.

I can't stress enough how important it is that real historians document using primary sources from the time period. I am poring over archives to document Mary's life for my upcoming book, and I am discovering so much that we never knew before. But I wouldn't publish a claim without being able to point to the corroborating evidence. Again, Elizabeth Varon sets a really high bar in her book, and anyone writing about the espionage ring should live up to that bar.

-Lois
Hi Lois,
Thank you, I am always interested in learning something/anything new about the female spies I talk about! I agree that many "stories" passed down through generations can be larger than life and to me the more accurate the better. For the most part I try to cover as many female spies as I can on both sides when I do talks and I always encourage others to research for themselves.
My main purpose is to shed light to the general public about women spies and their accomplishments during the ACW and I have inspired interest in school age gals to research further, especially if they take up a special interest in anyone in particular. In shedding light on the much lesser known spies I do take with a grain of salt and as you know the newspapers in those days were inaccurate and very biased in their coverage of women and town folklore makes for good storytelling. Much of those stories I mention are used to perhaps even "stand in" for all of those unknown gals who were actual spies and lucky enough to never have gotten caught :wink:
I recently converted a history teacher who actually portrays Gen. NB Forrest that Forrest had a female double agent who turned on him after I sent him a copy of the provost marshal's report/interview of her after her capture as a Rebel spy. Albeit many ACW sources themselves could have been tainted through the years but again my goal is to introduce people to ACW female spies and usually remind them of that and that even Belle Boyd's own autobiography can't be taken word for word.
It will be interesting to see the new Harriet Tubman movie coming out and how many facts they actually based it on and how much they used artistic license for entertainment value.
Have a great weekend!
 
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Hi Lois,
Thank you, I am always interested in learning something/anything new about the female spies I talk about! I agree that many "stories" passed down through generations can be larger than life and to me the more accurate the better. For the most part I try to cover as many female spies as I can on both sides when I do talks and I always encourage others to research for themselves.
My main purpose is to shed light to the general public about women spies and their accomplishments during the ACW and I have inspired interest in school age gals to research further, especially if they take up a special interest in anyone in particular. In shedding light on the much lesser known spies I do take with a grain of salt and as you know the newspapers in those days were inaccurate and very biased in their coverage of women and town folklore makes for good storytelling. Much of those stories I mention are used to perhaps even "stand in" for all of those unknown gals who were actual spies and lucky enough to never have gotten caught :wink:
I recently converted a history teacher who actually portrays Gen. NB Forrest that Forrest had a female double agent who turned on him after I sent him a copy of the provost marshal's report/interview of her after her capture as a Rebel spy. Albeit many ACW sources themselves could have been tainted through the years but again my goal is to introduce people to ACW female spies and usually remind them of that and that even Belle Boyd's own autobiography can't be taken word for word.
It will be interesting to see the new Harriet Tubman movie coming out and how many facts they actually based it on and how much they used artistic license for entertainment value.
Have a great weekend!
PS: I'm looking forward to your book!
 
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