Sea Post Clerk John Starr March's pocket watch
Object Details
- Description
- This pocket watch with an engraved gold-plated case was found on the body of John Starr March (1861-1912), an American sea post clerk assigned to the RMS Titanic. The watch’s hands point to 1:27, probably having stopped on the morning of April 15, 1912, as the ocean liner sank in the North Atlantic. Eyewitnesses stated that the postal clerks worked to rescue the mail as the ship was going down. None of the five postal clerks survived the disaster, including March and the two other American clerks, Oscar Scott Woody and William Logan Gwinn, and the British postal clerks James Bertram Williamson and John Richard Jago Smith. March’s body was recovered, and his effects, including this watch, were returned to his two daughters.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- 1912
- Object number
- 1998.2021.1.1
- User
- John Starr March, American, died 1912
- Type
- Employee Gear
- Medium
- metal; glass
- Dimensions
- Height x Width x Depth: 6 x 3 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (15.24 x 8.89 x 3.81 cm)
- Place
- New Jersey
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- On View
- Currently on exhibit at the National Postal Museum
- Carrier
- Steamship RMS Titanic, April 14-15, 1912
- Topic
- The Gilded Age (1877-1920)
- Postal Employees
- Record ID
- npm_1998.2021.1.1
Related Object Groups
