The tragedy of Titanic is full of personal ironies, and some of the cruelest involved the American sea post clerks assigned to the ship. Oscar Scott Woody was happily celebrating the approach of his 44th birthday at the stern of the ship with his colleagues when it struck the iceberg. Woody died on his birthday.

A native of Roxboro, North Carolina, Woody was ordered to travel to Europe aboard S.S. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, that sailed from New York on April 2. Upon arriving in Plymouth, Woody was instructed to make his way to Southampton. From there, Edwin Sands, Assistant Superintendent of Foreign Mails, ordered him to “return to New York as a clerk in the sea post office on the S.S. Titanic, sailing from Southampton, on April 10th.”
 
Oscar Scott Woody’s Travel Orders
 
 



Oscar Scott Woody

American sea post clerks, like Oscar Scott Woody, earned about $1,000 a year.  This salary was considered a small fortune by the standards of the times, especially since sea post clerks traveled aboard luxurious vessels, took  their meals in a separate dining room and were allotted an allowance for their board while in a foreign country.
 
Woody’s Pocket Watch

On loan from the Miotell Collection of San Francisco through W. John Miottel, Jr.
Pair of Masonic Dues Cards



On loan from the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Maryland.

 
Masonic Pocket Knife


On loan from the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Maryland.
Woody’s Chain and Keys