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Crazy Bet by Bonnie Blue Quilts, A Civil War Inspired Quilt. Approx. 79" x 79".
Elizabeth Van Lew, born October 12, 1818, lived lavishly in an elegant three-and-one-half story mansion outside Richmond with her parents. The Van Lews owned a farm opposite City Point that was worked by the dozen slaves they owned. Elizabeth was well educated and quite stubborn. She and her father never agreed on the issue of slavery and she often begged him to free the family slaves. Some considered her an abolitionist, she wrote many years later, after the war "I was never an abolitionist. Abolitionists are fanatics who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. I have always spoke out against slavery, for which I paid dearly in the loss of many friends. But I was never a fanatic."
While working at Libby Prison, she began collecting information on Confederate strategy from the prisoners and guards and then delivered this information to Union secert agents. She concealed messages in an emptied egg that she hid in her egg basket. The citizens of Richmond were not pleased with her visits to the prison or her views on the war. They began calling her "Crazy Bet." She decided to act the part and began taking on a disheveled appearance, mumbling to herself as she walked the streets. In later years, Grant would say to Elizabeth Van Lew, "You have sent me the most valuable information received from Richmond during the war."
Price: $12.00
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