Oscar Scott Woody was a Postal Clerk onboard the RMS Titanic. Woody was one of several Titanic passengers and crew who would have been celebrating his birthday on April 15 and his fellow postal workers were planning a modest celebration for that morning.
Background[]
Oscar Scott Woody was a native of Roxboro, North Carolina and resident of Clifton Springs, Virginia. He was born on April 15, 1871 as the son of J. Frank Woody of Roxboro, who was was a freemason. Oscar was "raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason’ in Acacia Lodge No. 16 in Clifton Springs on August 30, 1903.
Prior to joining the postal sea service in 1910, he worked for 15 years as a railroad mail clerk on trains running between Washington and Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1910, he married Leila Bullard of Dallas, Texas.
Titanic[]
On April 2, 1912, he received what were to be his last travel orders for the postal sea service from Edwin Sands, the assistant Superintendent of Foreign Mails. He was to proceed from New York to Plymouth, England on the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and to return to New York from Southampton on the RMS Titanic.
Fellow sea postal clerks also stationed on the Titanic were Americans William Logan Gwinn and John Starr March and Britains John Richard Jago and James Bertram Williamson, both of Southampton. On April 10, 1912, the Titanic left Southampton to begin its Maiden Voyage. Aboard were over 3,300 sacks of regular mail and 200 sacks of registered mail, each weighing up to 100 pounds. As a postal worker, he was employed separately from the rest of the ship's crew, by the postal service.
The Post Office occupied two deck levels: stowage for the mail on the Orlop Deck and sorting just above on G-Deck. When the ship struck an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, the mailroom was one of the first areas to take on water. Within minutes of the impact, the postal workers were working in water up to their knees as they attempted to save the 200 sacks of registered mail by dragging them up the stairs to G-Deck. Only five minutes later, the sorting space on G-Deck began to flood. The men refused to leave their post and continued to carry sacks of mail from G-Deck to C-Deck to try to save them. Woody died during the ship's sinking while trying to move the post to a safer place.
One week after the sinking, the cable ship Mackay-Bennett recovered Woody's body, which was still wearing a life preserver. He was number #167. He was identified by a letter to his wife. Other personal effects recovered were his pocket watch, his key chain with three keys to the mail room, the Post Office Department letter assigning him to the Titanic, mail routing slips from the ship's post office, two fountain pens, cuff links with Masonic symbols, a Masonic pocket knife, and two Masonic lodge dues cards. He was buried at sea on April 24, his personal effects were returned to his wife. This is his the description when the Mackay-Bennett's crew had hauled him in.
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NO. 167. - MALE. - ESTIMATED AGE, 38. - HAIR, VERY FAIR. CLOTHING - Grey striped suit. EFFECTS - Watch; fob; chain and clip; 2 fountain pens; letters; knife; cuff links; 1 gold ring; keys and chain; $10.02. POSTAL CLERK. NAME - O. S. WOODY, U. S. Mail Clerk. Washington, D. C. |