Latest news with #ElizabethVanLew
Fox News
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
From Southern Belle to Spymaster; Uncovering the Tale of Elizabeth Van Lew
History is packed with untold stories, and tragically, most remain that way. For quite some time, the life of Elizabeth Van Lew–a Southern belle turned revolutionary spymaster–was among them, until FOX Business correspondent Gerri Willis discovered her story while searching for something to inspire young women during the COVID lockdown. Today, Gerri reveals how, after five years of painstaking research, she uncovered a fascinating tale full of danger, political intrigue, and courage — one she is proud to present in her book, Lincoln's Lady Spymaster: The Untold Story of the Abolitionist Southern Belle Who Helped Win the Civil War . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Wall Street Journal
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
‘Lincoln's Lady Spymaster' Review: An Agent of Society
Elizabeth Van Lew was rich, beautiful, charming and plugged into 19th-century Virginia high society, whose aristocracy included President Jefferson Davis. Motivated by her abhorrence of slavery and opposition to the dissolution of the Union, Van Lew (1818-1900) used her elite social position to set up a spy ring that helped the North win the Civil War. In 'Lincoln's Lady Spymaster,' Gerri Willis relates with verve and rich detail the extraordinary story of Van Lew's espionage career. With the help of liberal quotations from Van Lew's diary, the author brings to life her subject's generous yet pugnacious personality and her moral certainty about the dangerous life she chose. Ms. Willis, an anchor for Fox Business, is the author of two previous books on personal finance. Van Lew's pro-Union attitudes grew out of her Northern roots. He father was an 'ambitious New Yorker from Long Island' who established a successful hardware business in Richmond, Va. Her maternal grandfather served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and was one of the first members of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, which, in 1790, petitioned Congress to abolish slavery. Elizabeth's parents sent her to school in Philadelphia, where she was exposed to antislavery views. Her career as a spy began early in the war when she persuaded prison officials to let her deliver food, books and clothing to captured Union soldiers. It wasn't long before she realized that some prisoners had information that could be valuable to the Union's war effort. She also overheard sensitive information from prison officials, who weren't always careful when speaking around a Southern lady.
Fox News
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
The Tale Of A Southern Belle Turned American Revolutionist
FOX Business reporter and New York Times bestselling author Gerri Willis shares her new book Lincoln's Lady Spymaster . Gerri describes her writing process and what it was like to work on a historical non-fiction novel about a fearless woman. The book tells the real-life story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Southern belle with a tenacious spirit who became instrumental in the Civil War. Elizabeth opposed slavery and risked her whole existence to become a Union spy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
