Elizabeth Van Lew was born in 1818, oldest daughter of John Van Lew, a prominent Richmond businessman. She was a spy for the Union during the civil War, sending military and other information to Union generals throughout the war. Elizabeth: provided imprisoned Union soldiers with bribe money, food and books; hid escaped prisoners-of-war; and spent her entire inheritance ($10,000) buying and freeing slaves and pursuing anti-Confederate efforts. She kept an "Occasional Journal" of her activities, but buried it for a time, for fear of recrimination.Elizabeth's abolitionist tendencies were learned from one of her teachers at the school she attended in Philadelphia. After her father's death, she convinced her mother to free their nine slaves.
A plaque at her gravesite reads: "She risked everything that is dear to man -- friends, fortune, comfort, health, life itself, all for one absorbing desire of her heart -- that slavery might be abolished and the Union preserved."
For more information on Richmond during the Civil War, please visit Richmond National Battlefield Park's home on the web.
Ryan, David D. A Yankee Spy in Richmond.: The Civil War Diary of "Crazy Bet" Van Lew. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1996.