By Carl McRoy

Contrary Mary

Mary Elizabeth Bowser, aka Mary Jane Henley, aka Mary Jane Richards, aka Richmonia Richards, was the incarnation of W.E.B. Dubois’s “double-consciousness.” Living two different lives and having two sets of thoughts were necessary for physical survival and mental wellness for enslaved African Americans. Outward expressions of discontent or disrespect could result in blows. Internal acceptance of inhumane treatment was psychological death.

Infiltrating the Confederate White House

The family of Elizabeth Van Lew of Richmond, Virginia, had owned Mary. Elizabeth broke from family tradition by manumitting Mary and sending her to school in Philadelphia. Mary later worked as a missionary in Liberia for awhile but came back to the U.S. and served as a spy during the Civil War. Elizabeth Van Lew became an organizer of a resistance movement called the Richmond Underground and arranged for Mary to help with domestic duties in Jefferson Davis’s home.

To win freedom for her people, Mary played the role of a slave. Mary was literate, an eloquent speaker and writer, and had a photographic memory, but she veiled herself in ignorance so she could gather intelligence for the Union Army. Her convincing act gave her access to oral conversations and written correspondence regarding Confederate plans.

Honored by enemies and allies

General Robert E. Lee unconsciously complimented intelligence agents like Mary Bowser, recognizing their role in the Confederacy’s demise: “The chief source of information to the enemy is through our Negroes.”

Mary Elizabeth Bowser’s sacrificial courage was posthumously rewarded in 1995, when she was inducted into the U.S. Army Intelligence Hall of Fame.

CARL MCROY serves as the Director of Literature Ministries for the Adventist Church in North America.