The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
"REMINISCENCES OF
 COLONEL PARKER
Tells How Girl Aided the Union Men to Escape
 Prison

l In his recently published reminis-
 cences ''"A Chautauqua Boy in '61," Col David B. Parker tells how the fall oi Richmond resulted in his acquaintance
 with that remarkable woman, Miss Bet
 ty Van Lew, who aided many Union
 officers to escape from Libby Prison. About noon," he says, q rode to
 Church Hill and found Miss Van Lew's
 residence, fine place, her father, who
 had died within few years. having been one of the old and wealthy mer- chants of Richmond. Miss Van Lew's
 mother came to the door and cautiously inquired who was When I told her
 the door flew open and the daughter,
 Miss Van Lew, who was about 60 years
 of age, welcomed me warmly, I told
 her what General Grants instructions
 were, and she said, want nothing
 HOW. I would scorn to have a guard now that my friends are here She in-
 Vited me to supper and to remain that
 night. We were seated at the table
 with a number of gentlemen to whom we were introduced. One of them was
 the clerk of Libby Prison. named Ross,
 and all of the others occupied promi-
 nent positions in various departments of the Confederate government. Mir Ross sat next to me and said:
 You must think 1t little strange
 to meet me here, but don't dare to be
 anywhere else. If went on the streets
 of Richmond perhaps some officer who
 had been a prisoner in Libby Prison might recognize me and put stop to my career
 | Would you be so unpopular as that
 with them?'
 Oh, yes he said. ] have cussed them up and down in the prison Miss Van Lew then said. Don't you believe all he says. have had him in Libby Prison for years doing my bid l ding These other gentlemen have been in affiliation with me, and you probably know that have been in com munication with General Grant all the time.
 That Ross was heartily in sympathy with the union cause and riske ed his life working in secret, under the very eyes of his superiors, is attested by an incl dent related by Captain Lownsdowne to the author after the war:
 T was prisoner in Libby" said Cap tain Lownsdowne. and Ross was the clerk who called the rolls and superin- tended the prison under Major Turner. He never called the rolls without swearing at us and abuscing us and calling us Yankees, etc We all hated him and many a man said that the time might come when he could get even with the little scamp. Our attention had been frequently called to the fact that officers had been called out and never returned. We had no knowl- edge of what became of them, and one evening at roll call Ross struck me in the stomach and said You blue bellied Yankee, come down to my office. have a matter to settle with you. We were in line at the roll call, and some others whispered Don't go you don't have to- but I followed Ross down to his office in the corner of the prison. There was no one in the office, but guard stood in front of the door on the sidewalk. Ross pointed behind a counter, this office being a counting room of the old Libby tobacco factory | stepped behind the counter and found | a Confederate uniform, and I lost no l time in getting into it, although it was too small for me. Then I walked out
 Inc door. It was just after dark and Ross and the sentry were walking down the sidewalk. I ran across the street to a vacant lot which had brush
 growing upon 1t. As I did so a colored man stepped out and said, Come with
 me, sah. know who you is. and he took me to Miss Van Lew's house on Church | Hill. Miss Van Lew told me the roads and where to take to the woods to es- cape the pickets and to go down the James river and I could perhaps before | morning reach place of safety where I l could escape to our troops. Now want to send Ross a box of fine cigars" and Colonel Parker took them to him at Richmond.