Her eyes, exceedingly bright and sharp. — Harriet Beecher Stowe (image via Wikimedia Commons) Just before the Civil War, immediately after her father died, Elizabeth Van Lew freed all her family slaves, sending them North to be educated. Among them was Mary Bowser, Elizabeth's friend and confidante. Once the Civil War began, however Even though Mary enjoyed her freedom up North, Mary felt a deeper purpose calling her back to Richmond, Va. And Elizabeth had plans for that, too — as a Union sympathizer living in the war-torn South, she was building a spy ring to infiltrate the heart of the Confederacy.
A Woman to Know: Mary Bowser
A Woman to Know: Mary Bowser
A Woman to Know: Mary Bowser
Her eyes, exceedingly bright and sharp. — Harriet Beecher Stowe (image via Wikimedia Commons) Just before the Civil War, immediately after her father died, Elizabeth Van Lew freed all her family slaves, sending them North to be educated. Among them was Mary Bowser, Elizabeth's friend and confidante. Once the Civil War began, however Even though Mary enjoyed her freedom up North, Mary felt a deeper purpose calling her back to Richmond, Va. And Elizabeth had plans for that, too — as a Union sympathizer living in the war-torn South, she was building a spy ring to infiltrate the heart of the Confederacy.