Mary Elizabeth Bowser was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1839 on the Van Lew plantation (Mary Bowser, 2018). Mary Elizabeth was born into slavery and was forced to work as soon as she was capable of doing so. When Mary was a child, the Van Lew plantation had a large slave sale, and her family members were traded away to different masters, so no one knows for sure who her mother and father were. Mary was compelled to work on the plantation, in the fields, and even doing laundry from the age of three. John Van Lew thought that if slaves wished to have a place to sleep and food to eat, they should be forced to work as soon as they could (Mary Bowser, 2018). Because most slaves couldn’t start working until they were three years old, the plantation kept a slave or two to care over the “underage” children who couldn’t work yet. As a result, the “underage” slave moms could work without being hindered by their children.
Mary was a Union spy, working to collect important information during the Civil War. Van Lew persuaded a friend to bring Bowser to a function hosted by Varina Davis, the wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis (Mary Bowser, 2018). Bowser was finally hired full-time and remained with the Davis family until the war’s end. Mary worked as a servant in the Davises’ home, cleaning and serving meals. Given the racial prejudice of the time, and the way servants were encouraged to act and appear invisible, Mary was able to learn a great deal just by doing her job (Mary Bowser, 2018). The fact that she was literate, allowing her to read the materials she had access to—and thus better interpret the talks she was hearing—could only be a plus. Although Jefferson Davis was probably aware of a leak in his home, Mary was not suspected until late in the war.
Reference
“Mary Bowser. Question of the Month.” (2018). Ferris State University.