Editing Elizabeth Van Lew

{{Short description|American civil war spy (1818–1900)}}
{{Infobox person
|name          = Elizabeth Van Lew
|image         = ElizabethVanLew.jpg
|caption       =
|birth_name    = 
|birth_date    = {{birth date|1818|10|12}}
|birth_place   = [[Richmond, Virginia]], U.S.
|death_date    = {{death date and age|1900|09|25|1818|10|25}}
|death_place   = Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
|resting_place = [[Shockoe Hill Cemetery]]
|resting_place_coordinates = 37.551816, -77.432016
|nationality   = American
|known_for     = [[Espionage]] during the American Civil War
|education     =
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}}

'''Elizabeth Van Lew''' (October 12, 1818 &ndash; September 25, 1900) was an American [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]], [[Southern Unionists|Southern Unionist]], and [[philanthropist]] who recruited and acted as the primary [[handler (espionage)|handler]] of an extensive [[spy ring]] for the [[Union Army]] in the Confederate capital of Richmond during the [[American Civil War]]. 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]].<ref name=":24">{{Cite web |title=Southern Lady, Yankee Spy - Paperback - Elizabeth R. Varon - Oxford University Press |url=https://global.oup.com/ushe/product/southern-lady-yankee-spy-9780195179897?cc=us&lang=en& |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=global.oup.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
Elizabeth Van Lew was born on October 12, 1818, in [[Richmond, Virginia]]. Her father was John Van Lew and Eliza Baker was her mother.<ref name=":1" /> Her maternal grandfather was [[Hilary Baker]], [[mayor of Philadelphia]] from 1796 to 1798. John Van Lew 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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tsui|first=Bonnie|title=She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War|location=Guilford|publisher=Two Dot|date=2006|isbn=9780762743841|pages=100, 102}}</ref>

Van Lew was educated in Philadelphia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/media/article-search.htm|title=Elizabeth Van Lew|website=National Park Services|access-date=2016-07-06}}</ref> The [[Quaker]] school she attended is thought to have been influential in forming her anti-slavery views.<ref name=":24"/> 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.<ref name=":24"/> 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 [[Southern United States|the South]].<ref name=":24"/>

==American Civil War==
Upon the outbreak of the war, Van Lew began working on behalf of the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] with her mother, caring for wounded soldiers.<ref name="Tsui 2006 102">{{cite book |last=Tsui |first=Bonnie |title=She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War |date=2006 |publisher=Two Dot |isbn=9780762743841 |location=Guilford |page=102}}</ref> When [[Libby Prison]] was opened in [[Richmond in the American Civil War|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 house]]s and getting a Union sympathizer appointed to the prison staff.<ref name=autogenerated1>Loewen, unknown page</ref> Van Lew reportedly helped Union soldiers by giving them money to bribe Confederates.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Lew |first=Elizabeth L. |title=A Yankee Spy in Richmond: The Civil War Diary of "Crazy Bet" Van Lew / edited by David D. Ryan |publisher=Stackpole Books |year=1996 |isbn=0-8117-0554-4 |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |pages=3}}</ref>

Recently captured prisoners gave Van Lew information on [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] troop levels and movements, which she passed on to Union commanders.<ref name="Tsui 2006 102" /> She is rumored to have helped hide escaped Union prisoners and Confederate [[Desertion|deserters]] in her own mansion, although no definite proof of such claims has been found.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.civilwarhome.com/vanlewbio.htm|title=Elizabeth Van Lew Biography|website=www.civilwarhome.com|access-date=2016-07-06}}</ref>

Van Lew also operated a [[spy ring]] 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 Bowser|Mary Richards Bowser]].<ref name=":24"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/a-black-spy-in-the-confederate-white-house/?_r=1 |title=A Black Spy in the Confederate White House |last=Leveen |first=Lois |date=21 June 2012 |website=The New York Times |access-date=2016-07-06}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":24"/> She might have used the alias Mary Elizabeth Bowser to conceal her identity.<ref name=":24" /> 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.<ref name=":24" /> The spy ring eventually became official agents of the Union when General [[Benjamin Butler]], having heard about Van Lew from two escaped Union [[Prisoner of war|Prisoners of War]], recruited her to work for the US government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americancivilwarstory.com/elizabeth-van-lew.html |title=Elizabeth Van Lew |website=American Civil War Stories |last=Weaver |first=Mark}}</ref>
[[File:Elizabeth van Lew Mansion.jpg|thumb|The Elizabeth Van Lew mansion in Richmond, Virginia; ca. 1906]]
Van Lew's spy network was so efficient that on several occasions she sent Lt. Gen. [[Ulysses S. Grant]] fresh flowers from her garden and a copy of the Richmond newspaper.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> She developed a [[cipher]] system and often smuggled messages out of Richmond in hollow eggs.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Union commanders highly valued Van Lew's work; intelligence commander [[George H. Sharpe]], [[Army of the Potomac]], recommended that the government reimburse Van Lew $15,000 because of the great expense she incurred in her efforts, including employment of spies.<ref name=":24"/> Because of the merit of her work, General Grant appointed Van Lew [[Postmaster General]] of Richmond for the next eight years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tsui|first=Bonnie|title=She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War|location=Guilford|publisher=Two Dot|date=2006|isbn=9780762743841|page=104}}</ref><ref name=":24"/>

In 1864, Van Lew risked her entire spy network to see that the corpse of Union Col. [[Dahlgren Affair|Ulric Dahlgren]], 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. After the [[siege of Petersburg]], Van Lew assisted civilians of both sides.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Van_Lew_Elizabeth_L_1818-1900#start_entry|title=Van Lew, Elizabeth L. (1818–1900)|last=DeMarco|first=Michael|date=24 February 2014|website=Encyclopedia Virginia|access-date=2016-07-06}}</ref>

==Postwar life==
When Richmond fell to U.S. forces in April 1865, Van Lew was the first person to raise the [[United States flag]] in the city.<ref name=":0" />

On Grant's first visit to Richmond after the war, he had tea with Van Lew, and later appointed her [[postmaster]] of Richmond.<ref name=Loewen>Loewen, James W. "One of the Great Female Spies of All Times." ''Lies Across America''. New York: Touchstone, 1999.</ref> 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]] had her replaced in 1877.<ref name="Markle">{{cite book | last=Varon | first=Elizabeth R. | title=Southern lady, Yankee spy : the true story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union agent in the heart of the Confederacy | publisher=Oxford University Press | publication-place=Oxford | date=2003 | isbn=1-4237-7573-2 | oclc=252665765 | page=237}}</ref> She was allowed to return as a postal clerk in Richmond, where she served from 1883 to 1887.<ref name=":1" />

After [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], 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."<ref name=":0" /> Having spent her family's fortune on intelligence activities during the war, she tried in vain to be reimbursed by the federal government.<ref name=Loewen/> 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 [[Boston]]ians gladly collected money for the woman who helped so many Union soldiers during the war.<ref name="BEYMER">{{cite journal |last1=Beymer |first1=William G. |date=June 1911 |title=Miss Van Lew |url=https://www.civilwarrichmond.com/written-accounts/other-sources/periodicals/4666-1911-06-harper-s-monthly-magazine-pp-86-99-beymer-william-gilmore-miss-van-lew |journal=Harper's Monthly |issue=1911–06 |pages=86–99 |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref><ref>Varon, unknown page</ref> However, neighborhood children, including future novelist [[Ellen Glasgow]], were told to consider her a witch.<ref name=":1" /> Even into the twentieth century, many white Southerners regarded Van Lew as a traitor. However, among Richmonders of color and white Unionists, Van Lew was an honored figure.

==Death and legacy==
[[Image:Shockoe Hill Cemetery - Elizabeth Van Lew.jpg|thumb|left|Grave of Elizabeth Van Lew]]

Van Lew died on September 25, 1900 (aged 81), and was buried in Richmond's [[Shockoe Hill Cemetery]] in the same grave as her 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Lew |first=Elizabeth L. |title=A Yankee Spy in Richmond: The Civil War Diary of "Crazy Bet" Van Lew / edited by David D. Ryan. |publisher=Stackpole Books |year=1996 |isbn=0-8117-0554-4 |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |pages=22}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Varon |first=Elizabeth R. |title=Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780195142280 |location=New York |pages=253}}</ref> 

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 convinced the scholar William G. Beymer to publish the first biography of Van Lew in ''[[Harper's Monthly]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Varon |first=Elizabeth R. |title=Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780195142280 |location=New York |pages=254}}</ref> 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".<ref name="BEYMER" /> However, it is highly unlikely that Van Lew actually did pretend to be crazy. Instead, she likely relied on the Victorian custom of female charity to cover her espionage.<ref name="Varon">Varon</ref>

The city of Richmond acquired and demolished the Van Lew mansion, her former home, in 1911.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mdgorman.com/Other_Sites/van_lew_house.htm|title=Van Lew House|date=11 July 2008|website=www.mdgorman.com|access-date=2016-07-06}}</ref> 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 (aka Mary Jane Richards).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.markerhistory.com/adams-van-lew-house-marker-sa-69/|title=Adams Van-Lew House SA-69|date=1802-01-01|website=Marker History|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-06|archive-date=2019-12-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222063708/http://www.markerhistory.com/adams-van-lew-house-marker-sa-69/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Furthermore, the daughter of two of Van Lew's servants, [[Maggie Walker]], 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]] in 1993.<ref name="MIHOF">{{cite web |title=Ms. Elizabeth Van Lew (Deceased) |url=https://www.ikn.army.mil/apps/MIHOF/biographies/Van%20Lew,%20Elizabeth.pdf |website=Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame |publisher=Military Intelligence Hall of Fame |access-date=19 January 2021}}</ref>

== 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,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/yankeestranger00than|url-access=registration|title=Yankee Stranger|last=Thane|first=Elswyth|date=1944|language=en}}</ref> and a character in ''The Secrets of Mary Bowser'', a novel by [[Lois Leveen]].<ref name="Leveen2012">{{cite book|last=Leveen|first=Lois|title=The Secrets of Mary Bowser: A Novel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IDBWxx2imH4C&pg=PT10|date=15 May 2012|publisher=William Morrow Paperbacks|isbn=978-0-06-210791-6}}</ref> Her story was also fictionalized in 1995 children's book ''The Secret of the Lion's Head'' by Beverly Hall,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SUBAAAACAAJ|title=The Secret of the Lion's Head|last=Hall|first=Beverly B.|date=1995-01-01|publisher=White Mane Publishing Company|isbn=9780942597929|language=en}}</ref> the 2005 novel ''Elizabeth Van Lew: Civil War Spy'' by Heidi Schoof,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5FUHOBmOQAC|title=Elizabeth Van Lew: Civil War Spy|last=Schoof|first=Heidi|date=2005-07-01|publisher=Capstone|isbn=9780756518516|language=en}}</ref> the 2006 novel ''Only Call Us Faithful: A Novel of the Union Underground'' by [[Marie Jakober]], the 2013 novel ''The Spymistress'' by [[Jennifer Chiaverini]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sSLaCwAAQBAJ|title=The Spymistress|last=Chiaverini|first=Jennifer|date=2014-03-25|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|isbn=9780142180884|language=en}}</ref> and the 2016 novel "Crazy Bet and the Gentleman from Massachusetts" by Frederick Lapisardi.<ref>Lapisardi, F. (2016). "Crazy Bet and the Gentleman from Massachusetts".</ref>

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]] 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''.<ref>Abbott, K. (2015). ''Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War''. New York: Harper.</ref> The title of Abbott's novel pays homage to British novelist and former spy [[John le Carré]]'s Cold War thriller ''[[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]]'', because all four women were amateur spies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-09-06 |title=In fact and fiction, remarkable stories of Civil War women |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/books/2014/09/06/in-fact-and-fiction-remarkable-stories-of-civil-war-women/ |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=Dallas News |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book|last=Abbott|first=Karen|title=Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War|publisher=HarperCollins|date=2014|isbn=9780062092892|oclc=878667621}}
* 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.  {{ISBN|0786428708}}
* Downing, David C. ''A South Divided: Portraits of Dissent in the Confederacy''. Nashville: Cumberland House, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-58182-587-9}}
* Furgurson, Ernest B. ''Ashes of Glory: Richmond at War''. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1996.  {{ISBN|0679422323}}
* Jakober, Marie.  ''Only Call Us Faithful: A Novel of the Union Underground''. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7653-4515-3}}
* [[Harnett Kane|Kane, Harnett T.]] ''Spies for the Blue and Gray''. Garden City, N.Y.: Hanover House, 1954. {{ISBN|978-0385014649}} {{OCLC|476276}}
* Ryan, David D. ''A Yankee Spy in Richmond: The Civil War Diary of "Crazy Bet" Van Lew''.  Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1996. {{ISBN|0-8117-0554-4}}
* Tsui, Bonnie. ''She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War''. Guilford, CT: TwoDot, 2006.  {{ISBN|0762743840}}
* 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. {{ISBN|0-19-517989-7}}

{{Virginia Women in History}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Lew, Elizabeth}}
[[Category:1818 births]]
[[Category:1900 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Richmond, Virginia]]
[[Category:American Civil War spies]]
[[Category:Female wartime spies]]
[[Category:Women in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Southern Unionists in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Underground Railroad people]]
[[Category:19th-century American philanthropists]]
[[Category:Abolitionists from Virginia]]
[[Category:American women philanthropists]]
[[Category:Philanthropists from Virginia]]