Recollections of Thomas McNiven and his activities in Richmond during the American Civil War.

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Recollections of Thomas McNiven and his activities in Richmond during the American Civil War.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/122323181

These reminiscences contain McNiven's recollections of his abolitionist and espionage activities in Richmond during the Civil War. He discusses his relationships with Elizabeth Van Lew, Mary Elizabeth Bowser (a black woman who worked in Jefferson Davis' house), Christopher Taylor (McNiven's free black employee), and a prostitute named Clara, and their activities. Seven photographs are included in this collection: two of an espionage identification emblem made from a peach seed (obverse and reverse, greatly enlarged), two of Thomas McNiven, one of Thomas McNiven and his brother James, one of an unidentified female espionage agent, and one of a reunion of Union espionage agents at Richmond's A.P. Hill monument.

5 p.Photographs: 7 prints.

Library of Virginia

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SNAC Resource ID: 6682727

Library of Virginia

Related Entities

There are 5 Entities related to this resource.

Van Lew, Elizabeth L., 1818-1900

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ms3v6h (person)

American abolitionist and federal agent during the Civil War She was born on October 17, 1818 into a family of high social standing in Richmond, Virginia. For her education, she was sent to Philadelphia where her pro-Union leanings may have had their beginnings. When the war came, she was back in Richmond and was openly loyal to the Union which she relentlessly supplied with intelligence reports through relay stations run by her servants. She was reported to have freed her slaves and helped Unio...

Taylor, C. T. (Christopher Thomas), 1938-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zg6w8z (person)

Started an early insurance agencies in Louisville. From the description of Letter, 12 April 1850. (Filson Historical Society, The). WorldCat record id: 49323861 ...

McNiven, James D.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fx7f1n (person)

Bowser, Mary Elizabeth, 1841?-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6br8wh1 (person)

Mary Bowser was born into slavery and later became a missionary to Liberia, a Union spy in the Confederate White House during the American Civil War (1861–1865), and a teacher at freedmen’s schools. As a child, she was enslaved by the Van Lew family of Richmond; Elizabeth Van Lew, who had arranged for her to be educated in the North and provided her with de facto freedom prior to the war, ran a pro-Union intelligence ring in which Bowser played an important role. After the war, Bowser gave a ser...

McNiven, Thomas, 1835-1904.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68055vg (person)

Thomas McNiven (1835-1904), born Niven in Glasgow, Scotland, came to the United States in 1853. He joined the Waldenese Society and worked for the abolition of slavery in Richmond beginning in 1855. He set up an espionage network with Elizabeth Van Lew during the Civil War. From the description of Recollections of Thomas McNiven and his activities in Richmond during the American Civil War. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122323181 ...