Feb. 23, 2026

Fahrenheit 451: Mary Bowser

A servant who wasn’t supposed to notice anything noticed everything. We dive into the astonishing, under-told story of Mary Bowser—a Black woman born enslaved in Richmond—who used education, nerve, and perfect cover to spy inside Jefferson Davis’s household and feed critical intelligence to the Union.

We set the stage in Civil War–era Richmond, a city powered by enslaved labor and blinded by its own assumptions. Enter Elizabeth “Bet” Van Lew, the abolitionist mastermind behind the Richmond Underground, who turned charity runs to prisons into a full-fledged spy network. With Bet coordinating safe houses and invisible ink, Mary stepped into the Confederate White House as a domestic worker, quietly reading documents, catching whispers, and slipping details out before breakfast. From close calls in Davis’s study to reports on conscription and supply strains, her work shows how prejudice created the very breach that weakened the Confederacy.

The story doesn’t end at Richmond’s fall. We follow Mary as she teaches newly freed students at First African Baptist Church, then heads north under shifting aliases to lecture about espionage, call out Union hypocrisy, and argue for education as the path to real freedom. She later establishes schools in Georgia, meets Harriet Beecher Stowe, and writes a final letter to Bet from New York before disappearing from the historical record. Through it all, we highlight the human stakes: courage under daily threat, the power of literacy, and the quiet brilliance of a woman history nearly erased.

If hidden history and sharp storytelling are your thing, hit play, subscribe, and share this episode with a friend. Have thoughts or questions about Mary Bowser’s legacy? Leave a review or tag us on social—we’re listening.

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00:00 - Drinks And Setup

04:10 - Richmond’s Racial Landscape

07:10 - Mary Bowser’s Early Life

11:50 - Education And Liberia Journey

16:50 - Arrest And Legal Limbo

19:45 - War Erupts And Crazy Bet

23:10 - Building The Richmond Ring

26:20 - Infiltrating Davis’s Household

30:00 - Reading Secrets In Plain Sight

33:20 - Close Calls And Leaks

36:30 - Exit From Richmond

WEBVTT

00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:16.879
Oh, hey there.

00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:18.000
Oh, hey there.

00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:18.960
I'm Kate.

00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:20.160
And I'm Bradley.

00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:22.559
This is the history build.

00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:23.679
Sure fucking is.

00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:24.879
Let's do this shit.

00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:26.719
What do you got for us today?

00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:31.519
Oh, um, I have a story.

00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:35.119
Yes, you do.

00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:39.200
I have a story about an enslaved woman.

00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:39.920
Oh shit.

00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:46.320
Who penetrates the um Confederate White House.

00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:47.439
Oh shit, really?

00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:48.479
As a spy.

00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:49.200
Nice.

00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:49.840
Yeah.

00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:50.719
All right.

00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:51.359
Yeah.

00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:53.119
What do we got to drink today?

00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:54.719
Um, I have a beer.

00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:56.159
Yeah, we both do.

00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:58.640
Um, you pick this out for me.

00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:05.599
It is um My Bach, which is a spring bock from Third Space Brewering from Milwaukee.

00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:07.359
Which you've had Third Space before.

00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:07.920
I think so.

00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:08.239
Yeah.

00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:09.200
I'm pretty sure.

00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:16.879
So MyBach is a very um typical this is the season for my box.

00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:23.040
Um I remember when uh I sold beer many, many years ago.

00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:28.319
Capital Brewery before it was whatever the fuck it is now.

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I'm not even sure.

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But um we would go to their boch fest, and it was always in February, so I was happy to see uh a my bock for ya, and they would literally throw fish off the roof as one of their things.

00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:48.079
We being yeah.

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I think that's actually what they said when they threw it.

00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:53.120
Or they say eah, that too.

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Um but being obviously from a a distributor that sold their products, we got a little bit of special treatment.

00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:06.400
We got to go drink like my bot from the big fucking vat and everything.

00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:12.719
Um but I remember this one time Al Casey and I went.

00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:18.879
I for whatever reason did not go on the roof for the fish throwing thing.

00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:25.360
So I was still down in the I don't I don't know if you call it a beer garden, whatever you want to fucking call it.

00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:35.360
And Casey was up there, and it's it's Mardi Gras time too right now, because um Fat Tuesday just happened and so on, whatever.

00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:36.960
So we had beads.

00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:47.840
He threw beads off the roof, literally around around my head, like it landed around your head, yeah on my neck, yes.

00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:48.400
Wow.

00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:52.879
I'm like, how the fuck did that happen?

00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:58.800
It was impressive, but yeah, so that was always a good time.

00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:02.319
So I I'm pretty sure you haven't had a MyBok before.

00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:05.520
No, so I'm curious what you're gonna think.

00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:07.599
Okay, what did you get?

00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:15.599
So I have a tried and true classic hop slam by Bells.

00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:22.159
I didn't also for some reason I am really terrible at guessing my can size when I buy them.

00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:23.360
I bought a four-pack.

00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:25.120
I'm like, oh cool, four 12 ounce.

00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:26.639
Nope, they're 16 ounce.

00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:28.800
I'm just an idiot.

00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:30.719
So I'm gonna open mine.

00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:32.240
Yeah, please do.

00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:36.319
Um, so this is from Bell's.

00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:37.919
It's delicious.

00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:39.680
I miss it in bottles.

00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:41.840
Um this is 10%.

00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:44.479
What do you think of it?

00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:45.840
Um it's different.

00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:47.840
Yeah, I expected it to be.

00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:53.120
I didn't want your normal average modello, you know.

00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:55.439
Modello's not average.

00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:59.840
You for you it is, because that's your go-to.

00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:01.759
Well, cheers.

00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:02.800
Cheers.

00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:06.560
I had an edge on my nose.

00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:07.120
Okay.

00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:09.680
So let me set the stage here.

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All right.

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We are in Civil War time.

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Where are we?

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Richmond, Virginia.

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It is the 1860s.

00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:20.560
Oh shit.

00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:32.319
And Richmond was not the only Confederate capital, but also, well, she was not only the Confederate capital, but also um a society completely dependent on enslaved labor.

00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:33.120
Sure.

00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:47.360
So enslaved African Americans um and other black domestic servants were everywhere in the city, cooking meals, cleaning houses, tending to children, working in hospitals, while Richmonders.

00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:57.360
Richmonders were accustomed to black servants in every corner of daily life so much that they didn't really see them at all.

00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:01.839
They were treated as a silent, unquestioned part of the scenery.

00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:05.360
Yeah, I'm sure, especially at night, though, it's really hard to see them.

00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:12.720
So I heard I heard a stat not that long ago where we are both white.

00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:17.600
And I hate the fact that this is a part of our history.

00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:21.920
It's not the only slavery that's ever happened in the world, though.

00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:29.360
Or led to believe it is, because for some reason that's the narrative a lot of people like to portray.

00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:43.519
But the stat I heard was roughly about the 1860s, like 0.4% of white people had slaves at this time.

00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:50.000
But yet, we're all led to believe that all white people had slaves.

00:05:50.480 --> 00:06:05.759
And it's kind of shitty that that's the the narrative that some people like to push, but like there was a lot of people for the freedom of these people, like Abraham Lincoln and all that.

00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:08.319
I don't know, the North.

00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:18.879
There was the South, Richmond, obviously, that were all for keeping it, and I mean that's why the Civil War was fought.

00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:38.399
There's speculation of other reasons why the Civil War is fought, but either way, it's um really sad that so few people created this narrative that we all wanted it, is all I'm saying.

00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:41.199
So, anyways, Richmond, let's go.

00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:57.920
Um, so Confederate officials would speak freely about war plans and state secrets in front of these people, assuming that black servants were not paying attention, were not paying attention, or they're they were illiterate, too inferior to understand.

00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:05.680
Isn't see, and that's another sad part, is like they literally thought they could talk in front of him and be like, they don't fucking know what we're talking about.

00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:09.759
It's like, no, they do, they're fucking human, you fucking idiots.

00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:12.480
So one Confederate general, Robert E.

00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:16.240
Lee, yep, realized the ridiculousness of this assumption.

00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:26.319
Okay, and in May of 1863, Lee warned that, quote, the chief source of information to the enemy is through our Negroes, end quote.

00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:26.800
Wow.

00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:31.600
Acknowledging that enslaved people were transmitting this valuable information to the Union.

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Okay.

00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:34.079
So by then it was too late.

00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:38.079
A neck network of black informants were already in full swing.

00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:39.040
That makes sense.

00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:45.519
And our character today, Mary Bowser, uh, would become one of these uh legendary figures.

00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:47.519
Oh, so she was one of the slaves?

00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:48.720
Nice.

00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:50.879
So enslaved house servants moved.

00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:55.120
Okay, I'm sorry, the way I said that, not nice she was a slave.

00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:57.040
Nice that she was an informant.

00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:58.879
Okay, I just wanted to make that clear.

00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:06.560
Enslaved house servants moved quietly in the background, serving dinners, etc., all while white residents took their presence for granted.

00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:09.439
Do you know what's really unfortunate in my brain?

00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:29.839
I think think of Forrest Gump, where uh he you know he became a shrimping cat, uh shrimping boat, shrimping boat captain, and then that he went to Bubba's mom, and then she didn't have to cook for anyone anymore, and then she had a white person serving her.

00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:31.439
I don't remember that.

00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:32.159
That's awesome.

00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:33.679
Anyways, sorry.

00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:45.759
Uh so as one Richmond Richmond unionist later noted, quote, negroes involved in medial activities could move about without suspicion.

00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:54.559
Officers tended to ignore their presence when discussing war-related matters, end quote.

00:08:55.120 --> 00:09:02.320
Well, yeah, because they just like you said, they thought they were just more or less part of the scenery at that point.

00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.279
They were part of just the house.

00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:08.000
They didn't listen, pay attention.

00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:09.840
Of course they fucking did.

00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:11.679
You idiots, they're humans.

00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:29.039
So this was the social environment in which Mary Bowser operated, a city where an enslaved maid dusted the furniture, who while also overhearing generals, planning troop troop movements, or glimpse um at state papers that were on the desk.

00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:30.000
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:37.840
Um, Richmond's black population, both enslaved and free, held this hidden power if they chose to use it.

00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:38.480
Right.

00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:45.360
So Mary Bowser's story begins um around 1839 or 1840.

00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:47.519
She was born Mary Jane.

00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:53.360
Um, she was enslaved on a Richmond plantation owned by the Van Lou family.

00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:54.720
Van Lou, okay.

00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:58.879
The Van Lou's were a wealthy white family in Richmond elite society.

00:09:59.039 --> 00:09:59.360
Yep.

00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:06.000
As a child, Mary was baptized in 1846 as Mary Jane, a colored child belonging to Mrs.

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Eliza Van Lou.

00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:08.720
Okay.

00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:15.120
So this tells us that Mary was enslaved property in the Van Lou household.

00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:16.000
Oh, for sure.

00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:20.639
However, the Van Lou's were not typical Confederate uh slaveholders.

00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:21.279
Oh.

00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:23.120
What does that mean?

00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:28.799
Elizabeth or Bet Van Lou, who is the daughter of Eliza.

00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:29.120
Yeah.

00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:30.480
So we'll call her Bet.

00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:31.279
Yep.

00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:36.960
Um the daughter of the family became an outspoken abolitionist despite her Richmond upbringing.

00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:38.080
Oh, nice.

00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:38.639
Okay.

00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:46.000
And upon her father's death in 1843, Bet and her mother freed the people the family had enslaved.

00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:46.960
Oh shit.

00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:47.519
Nice.

00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:58.879
Mary Jane was still just a girl, um, and was one of those emancipated in a technical sense, but she still continued to live there and serve in the Van Lu household.

00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:01.600
From my understanding, that happened a lot.

00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:02.000
Yeah.

00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.960
Especially when that's kind of all they knew.

00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:18.960
Well, yeah, but the the beauty was, uh as far as I know, and I'm I'm not speaking from experience or anything, but a lot of them because, like you said, that's all they do, but then they started getting paid.

00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:20.480
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:20.879
Yeah.

00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:24.960
So so in practice, Mary's status was fairly complicated.

00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:32.879
Virginia laws and even um the father, John Van Luz, will made formal manumission difficult.

00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:35.039
Um release from slavery.

00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:36.080
Manumission.

00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:38.399
We we talked about that with uh what's her name?

00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:39.200
Oh shit.

00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:39.840
I just lost it.

00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:41.360
Phyllis Wheatley.

00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:42.559
Yes, thank you.

00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:50.159
Um, Mary remained with a Van Lou's treated more like a servant or protege than personal possession.

00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:53.759
Okay, but legally her freedom was a little insecure.

00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:54.399
Okay.

00:11:54.879 --> 00:12:00.799
Um, Bet Van Lu saw potential in Mary and defying social norms.

00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:05.519
Um, Bette arranged for Mary to be educated in the North in the 1850s.

00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:06.320
Oh, nice.

00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:08.480
Mary was sent away from Richmond.

00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:13.759
Sources suggested that she studied at a school in Princeton, New Jersey, or Philadelphia.

00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:14.240
Okay.

00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:21.919
And she received a thorough education, which was virtually unheard of for a young black woman from Virginia.

00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:23.519
Especially at that time, yeah.

00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:23.919
Yeah.

00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:24.480
For sure.

00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:29.519
So after several years of schooling, Bet Van Lew had an even bolder plan.

00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:30.320
Oh, damn.

00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:34.639
She encouraged Mary to become a missionary in Africa.

00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:45.600
So in December 1855, around the age of 14 or 15, Mary Jane Richards, as she was back then, sailed for Liber Liberia.

00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:50.879
Oh, it was a colony fund founded for formerly enslaved black Americans.

00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:55.519
And this move was likely influenced by the colonization movement.

00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:55.919
Okay.

00:12:56.159 --> 00:13:04.000
And even some abolitionists believed that black Americans might return to Africa to spread Christianity and escape racism in the U.S.

00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:06.159
That's wild, but all right.

00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.360
But Mary's time was uh somewhat short-lived there.

00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:12.879
She uh found life to be a little bit more difficult and disappointing.

00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:13.679
Oh, sure.

00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:18.399
And she wrote back to uh Bet Van Loo expressing her dissatisfaction.

00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:19.600
Could I come home?

00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:23.679
And pretty much after five years, Mary was on a ship back to the United States.

00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:26.159
Oh, but she was there for five years.

00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:28.720
That's significant fucking time.

00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:29.360
Holy shit.

00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:29.759
Yeah.

00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.720
I mean, it's like, I guess I could stick it out for another couple years.

00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:36.639
Holy fuck, five years.

00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:37.919
That's crazy.

00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:43.039
So Mary coming home to Richmond in 1860 proved quite risky.

00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:43.360
Okay.

00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:52.799
Virginia law at the time forbade free blacks who had been educated in the north or lived in a free state from returning to Virginia.

00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:53.360
Wow.

00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:58.960
And such individuals could be arrested and even sold into slavery for the crime of coming back.

00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:00.720
That's fucking crazy.

00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:04.320
But Mary knew this, so she tried to slip in quietly.

00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:14.799
But Richmond authorities noticed a young black woman without proper paper, and she ended up being arrested, claiming to be free without proof.

00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:20.559
So she gave the jailers false names.

00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:27.840
She first started calling herself Mary Jane Henley, then Mary Jones to obscure her identity.

00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:28.639
Sure.

00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:33.440
After about 10 days in custody, Mary finally admitted who she was.

00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:37.919
And Eliza Van Leo, the mother, stepped in to save her.

00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:38.320
Right.

00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:49.120
To get Mary released, um, Eliza Van Lou lied to the court and claimed Mary was her enslaved property, essentially saying that this is my slave, she belongs to me.

00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:50.000
Give her back.

00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:50.399
Yeah.

00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:58.080
And under Virginia law, an enslaved person could be retrieved by their owner, whereas a flea black black person would have been punished.

00:14:58.399 --> 00:14:59.679
That's fucking wild.

00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:05.679
So Mary was turned over to the Van Lou's custody rather than being sold at auction.

00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:06.159
Okay.

00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:11.519
So the Van Lou's even paid a$10 fine for allowing their slave to go at large.

00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:12.960
$10 fine.

00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:16.960
Which, I mean, again, 1850s, 60s, whatever.

00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:17.440
Yeah.

00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:20.799
Decent amount of money back then, but okay.

00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:28.720
So legally and socially, she was a black woman who did not fit neatly into the usual slave or free categories.

00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:29.279
Yep.

00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:33.759
But soon after her release, Mary slipped back into life with the Van Lu family.

00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:46.000
On April 16th of 1861, church records show Mary from the Van Lou household marrying a man named Wilson Bowser, who was a free black servant there, and that's how we have got her last name.

00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:46.559
Gotcha.

00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:48.879
Mary was about 20 at this time.

00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:49.679
Sure.

00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.080
It was um a brief marriage.

00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:53.919
Um and then it didn't last.

00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:56.240
We're not really sure what happened to him.

00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:59.200
Oh, so something could have a good.

00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:02.879
We don't really have records of what he ended up as.

00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:04.559
If he died in the war or what?

00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:05.600
We're not we're not sure.

00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:06.799
All right, fair enough.

00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:09.200
There we go.

00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:18.240
So literally the next day after getting married, April 17th, 1861, Virginia voted to succeed from the Union.

00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:19.919
Secede.

00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:20.639
There it is.

00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:21.440
There it is.

00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:24.960
The Civil War ignited around them.

00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:25.360
Yep.

00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:35.919
Mary Bowser, a young black woman with an exceptional education and a very unusual life experience, was now in the capital city of a riding slaveholders' republic.

00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:40.080
And that republic was at war with the country that also had educated her.

00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:41.279
Oh dear.

00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:55.600
As Richmond transformed into the Confederate Capitol, Mary Bowser's former uh owner turned to ally, Bet Van Lew, emerged as one of the most important Union loyalists in the South.

00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:56.480
Oh, sure.

00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.759
Bette is a fascinating character in her own right.

00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:00.240
Yep.

00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:06.480
By 1861, she was in her early 40s, unmarried, and known as the town eccentric.

00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:11.440
Her neighbors called her Crazy Bet because of her odd behavior.

00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:18.160
But could you imagine being walking around and there goes Crazy Bet again?

00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:26.559
But I mean, it's just funny because like she probably was um I'm I'm assuming you're gonna tell us a little more, but like just fine.

00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:28.480
People are just psychopaths.

00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:36.000
Well, she kind of used that to her advantage because they all thought that she was this harmless, crazy person, yeah, a little dazed.

00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:36.559
Right.

00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:43.039
Um, but she ran an aggressive spy operation under the Confederates' noses.

00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:45.759
I'm liking bet.

00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:54.000
Right after war broke out, Van Lu began volunteering in Richmond prisons where union POWs were kept.

00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:54.559
Okay.

00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:57.759
Under the guise of charity, she brought food, medicine, and books.

00:17:57.920 --> 00:17:58.240
Yeah.

00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:02.799
Um, in reality, this was the start of an espionage and resistance network.

00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:03.920
Oh shit.

00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:12.000
She smuggled messages into prisons and out of prisons to um by hiding notes in the supplies that she re delivered.

00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:20.240
She even helped some prisoners literally sneak out and hit escapees in a secret room in her mansion.

00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:26.720
And by 1863, Union generals had caught wind of this brave Richmond lady aiding their cause.

00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:27.200
Sure.

00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:35.599
And General Benjamin Butler sent agents to formally recruit Eli uh Bet Van Lew as a union spy.

00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:39.119
Wasn't she kind of already doing that?

00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:40.319
Not officially.

00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:43.680
Well, did it matter that it was official or not?

00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:48.160
Yes, because she had this ring of people, this little tiny ring.

00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:53.759
Now she's just got massive amounts of people that help her now.

00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:55.440
I mean, I I I get that.

00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:56.640
Don't get me wrong.

00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:59.519
But it's like she's already doing the Lord's work.

00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:05.039
So she accepted, and with Butler's support, she expanded her espionage ring.

00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:05.359
Right.

00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:09.599
Devising clever mess mes methods like invisible ink.

00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:10.640
Oh shit.

00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:12.480
She used to use lime.

00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:15.039
She had to use milk.

00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:15.440
Oh.

00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:20.480
And once the milk dried, heat would reveal the secret writing.

00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:21.119
Oh.

00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:25.599
Heat and paper had different burn temperatures.

00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:27.440
So it would burn the muck.

00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:28.880
What is it?

00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:30.240
Fahrenheit, 450.

00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:31.279
Oh fuck.

00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:33.519
There's a book.

00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:37.759
And the title of the book is What Paper Burns At.

00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:38.960
Yeah.

00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:41.359
Oh my god, I can't believe I can't forget.

00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:42.400
I can't think of it.

00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:43.680
Anyway, I'm sorry.

00:19:44.000 --> 00:20:03.200
So Bet Van Lu's network, sometimes called the Richmond Underground or Richmond Ring, eventually included dozens of people, white unionists, Virginians, enslaved and free black people, men and wet women, all trades and trace and um trades and trades, all more trades.

00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:04.960
Can you say trades and trades?

00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:07.440
Trades, am I right?

00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:14.640
Bett was the ringleader and middleman collecting intel and forwarded forwarding it on to Union commanders in Washington.

00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:16.960
Makes sense or camped outside Richmond.

00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:17.519
Yep.

00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:26.799
But to penetrate the highest levels of the Confederate government, she needed eyes and ears in Jefferson Davis' own household.

00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:28.000
Oh boy.

00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.640
This is where Mary Bowser enters.

00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.519
Bet knew Mary's intellect encourage.

00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:44.799
Who better to be planted as a spy in the Confederate White House than in persons the Confederates would never suspect?

00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:46.880
A black woman servant.

00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:52.000
Well, I mean, they're spot on, right?

00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:54.640
Because why would you expect that?

00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:59.759
In this time frame, like, oh, it's another servant girl.

00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:00.319
Mm-hmm.

00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:02.480
Whatever.

00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:08.400
But obviously the correct people knew, like, no, she's fucking intelligent.

00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:09.680
She knows what she's doing.

00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:12.960
She's free, but she's spying.

00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:13.440
Right?

00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:14.000
Yeah.

00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:14.720
So I mean.

00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:19.440
So we don't have Beth's own writings detailing the moment she recruited Mary.

00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:20.240
That's too bad.

00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:31.599
Um, but later testimony and circumstantial evidence made it clear that by late 1862 or 63, yeah, Mary Bowser was enlisted as part of Van Lu's uh spy ring.

00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:32.160
Okay.

00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:42.640
So whether by name or under her married name Bowser, Mary did end up working inside the Confederate executive mansion by 1863.

00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:43.119
Okay.

00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:51.920
Richmond newspapers after the war and even uh Bette's own deathbed recollections confirm that an educated black maid was planted in the Davis home as a spy.

00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:52.799
That's wild.

00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:55.920
Uh Bette had freed Mary years before.

00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:56.319
Yeah.

00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:59.839
Now she's asking Mary to pose as an uneducated spy.

00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.000
Slave in order to infiltrate the rebel president's house.

00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:08.319
How did she go?

00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:16.559
Like I I would have a hard time going from yes, I'm this smart person to yes, master.

00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:23.279
You know, it's like good on her for like doing this because that would be tough.

00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:23.759
Yeah.

00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:24.720
Honestly.

00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:31.039
I I I don't think I could do it, but um good good on her, because I'm sure this helped.

00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:31.599
Yeah.

00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:32.400
Obviously.

00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:41.359
So So uh Bet later wrote with admiration about her black informants in Richmond, noting how crucial their perceived invisibility was.

00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:42.160
Sure.

00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:51.279
Um they had diary entries, um, almost certainly referring to Mary Bowser, um, which reveals reveals the setup.

00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:58.400
So each morning, Bette would discreetly get a briefing from Mary and other servants about the latest gossip and secrets.

00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:08.880
Mary Bowser working inside Jefferson Davis's household was Bett's star contributor gathering the reliable news that Bette passed on to union leaders.

00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:10.559
Sure, makes sense.

00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:17.839
So by late 1863, Mary uh was employed in the Richmond Mansion mansion.

00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:18.319
Okay.

00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:22.960
Um Mary's duties include cleaning, serving meals, domestic tasks.

00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:23.519
Yep.

00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:28.640
Um, but unlike most domestic servants, Mary had an exceptional asset.

00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:31.839
She was highly educated and she could read.

00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:40.240
Well, that that is a huge benefit for these people at this time because a lot of them didn't know how.

00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:43.039
So no, that's oh that's awesome.

00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:47.200
So from Mary's later accounts, we get glimpses of how she operated.

00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:54.400
She recalled one instance when posing as a washerwoman, she entered President Davis's study while he was away.

00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:59.200
Um, a clerk unsuspectingly let her into his private office.

00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:00.160
That's wild.

00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:05.039
And Mary opened drawers and read through sensitive uh documents.

00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:11.200
Jefferson Davis himself walked in on her in his office.

00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:12.960
And he's like, What are you doing?

00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:26.960
He was startled and demanded to know what she was doing, and she likely gave some excuse, but Davis let her go without punishment simply because she was black, and he assumed that she couldn't actually grasp the importance of what she had seen.

00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:28.240
Oh my god.

00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:29.279
Yes.

00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:33.519
The fucking stupidity of this era.

00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:34.319
Yes.

00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:35.119
Yeah.

00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:43.440
So another um legend of Mary is that she is has an idetic or photographic memory.

00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:44.559
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:45.200
Yeah.

00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:54.960
So um she could remember like word for word different things, but that was sure more than likely just her intelligence, not necessarily a photographic memory.

00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:55.839
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:57.759
No, that makes sense.

00:24:58.240 --> 00:24:58.880
Wow.

00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:06.720
So um because spy communications were destroyed for safety, yes.

00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:09.599
Um, we have only a few specifics.

00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:17.839
Um in one of her post-war talks, she claimed that she slipped into a secret session of the Confederate Senate.

00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:18.319
Okay.

00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:26.079
The actual legislative chamber while they were debating a um a bill to draft nearly every abled-body male.

00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:26.559
Yeah.

00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:40.880
Um, and Mary said that she sat in this meeting, then he immediately relayed the outcome to the Union contract contacts, alerting them that the Confederacy was desperate enough to conscript boys and old men.

00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:42.559
Which is wild.

00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:45.119

Fahrenheit 451: Mary Bowser

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