Mary Bowser

Mary Bowser (originally Mary Jane Richards, fl. 1846-1867) was a Union spy during the Civil War. She was an American former slave and worked in connection with Elizabeth Van Lew.

Mary Richards was likely born near Richmond, Virginia, and may have been born a slave of Eliza Baker and John Van Lew or their extended family.

The first record of Richards is her baptism, as "Mary Jane" at St. John's Church in Richmond, on May 17, 1846. Baptizing Richards at the Van Lew family church, rather than Richmond's First African Baptist Church, where the other Van Lew slaves were baptized, indicates that Baker took special notice of Richards. Baker's daughter, Elizabeth Van Lew, soon did the same by sending Richards north to school in Princeton, New Jersey or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In 1855, Richards went to Liberia to join a missionary community, as arranged by Elizabeth Van Lew. By spring of 1860, Richards had returned to Richmond.

On April 16, 1861, Mary Richards wed Wilson Bowser. The ceremony took place just four days after Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter, the first battle of the Civil War.

When I open my eyes in the morning, I say to the servant, "What news, Mary?" and my caterer never fails! Most generally our reliable news is gathered from negroes, and they certainly show wisdom, discretion and prudence, which is wonderful.

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