"Mary Eliazabeth Bowser"(date of death unknown)

Was an American freed slave who worked with Elizabeth Van Lew as a Union Spy during the Civil War.Born in Richmond,Virginia around 1839,Mary began her life as a slave on

the plantation   of John Van Lew,a wealthy hardware merchant.When Mary was very,young her family members were traded away to other masters. John Van Lew died in 1851.His daughter Elizabeth,a strong abolitionist,freed Mary and bought her family members.Mary stayed with the family until the late 1850s.Elizabeth noted Mary intelligence and arranged her education at a Quaker school in Philadelphia,where she was studying as the Civil War began.She espionage work began in 1861.Elizabeth convinced a friend to bring Mary along to work as a servant for Varina Davis,the wife of the President of the Confederacy,Jefferson Davis.She was eventually hired full-time.Jefferson Davis home was located in Richmond,where Mary had grown up.As a spy for the Union,she read a number of military documents she had access to,including lists of troops movements,reports on moving Union prisoners,military strategies,and treasury reports.She passed the information along to Elizabeth and others in the Union Intelligence operation.Mary had many advantages as a spy.At the house,the servants were taught to be unobtrusive,so it was easy for her to gain information without being noticed.As an ex-slave,she was not expected to be able to read and write.Mar colleagues in the Union intelligence operation praised her excellent memory for the information she discovered.In January 1865,as the war was coming to a close,Mary fled Richmond,never to be heard from again.Her sudden disappearance remains unexplained.Some think that her work was suspected.Before she left,Mary attempted to burn down the Confederate White House,but was unsuccessful.