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Early Years

Van Lew was born in Richmond on October 15, 1818. Her father was named John Van Lew. He was from Long Island, New York. Her mother was named Eliza Baker.

She was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Even though they were from the North, the Van Lews owned enslaved people.

Elizabeth van lew biography

They lived in a mansion on Church Hill. They were part of the Richmond elite. Elizabeth Van Lew went to a Quaker school in Philadelphia. While there, she became fiercely opposed to slavery.

Elizabeth van lew pictures

After her father died, her mother freed some of the family’s enslaved laborers. Virginia seceded from the Union in the spring of 1861. Van Lew was opposed to this idea as well. She did not agree with Confederate beliefs.

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Instead, she began finding ways to support the Union.

Early in the war, Van Lew and banded together with other people in Richmond who agreed with her views. They formed an underground network. This group included John Minor Botts, F.

W. E. Lohmann, and William S. Rowley. They wanted to target the pri