Born October 12, 1818
Richmond, Virginia
Died September 25, 1900
Richmond, Virginia

Union spy known as "Crazy Bet"

Escaped detection by pretending
to be a harmless eccentric

"She risked everything that is dear to man—friends, fortune, comfort, health, life itself, all for the one absorbing desire of her heart—that slavery might be abolished and the Union preserved."

From Elizabeth Van Lew's gravestone

Elizabeth Van Lew. (Reproduced with permission of the Granger Collection, New York.)

Elizabeth Van Lew was a wealthy and refined (cultured) lady of Richmond, Virginia—the city that became the Confederate capital during the Civil War. Her neighbors called her "Crazy Bet" and laughed at her strange behavior. But she only pretended to be eccentric (odd or peculiar). In fact, she was a cunning and highly effective spy for the Union. She sent valuable information to the North through the entire course of the...