Titanic's Mail Clerks

Titanic's five Mail Clerks joined the vessel at Southampton on 9th April, 1912. There were three American clerks, William Logan Gwinn, John Starr March, and Oscar Scott Woody, and two British clerks, John Richard Jago Smith and James Bertram Williamson. Like the members of Titanic's band, they were not actually employed by the White Star Line, but representatives of the New York and Southampton branches of the sea Post Office.

They all worked in a well-equipped sorting office located forward on the starboard side of G-Deck, complemented by a mail storage area directly below on the Orlop Deck. This sorting office was also provided with a secure compartment for storing the 200 or so registered mail sacks in.

3,364 bags of mail had been loaded aboard Titanic, 1,758 at Southampton, 1,412 at Cherbourg, and 194 at Queenstown, and this equated to approximately 400,000 individual letters, all to be sorted before arrival at New York. On top of this, there were the numerous letters and postcards despatched from Titanic's own passengers too.

The mail clerks on Olympic had complained about the accomodations on the ship, and on 9th April, representatives from the service came aboard Titanic to see for themselves the problems faced on Olympic.

"Messrs. March and Gwinn, U.S. sea sorters, and Mr. Rabley of the British service were on board, and they represented many features of the sleeping and dining quarters which they regarded as objectionable. Some of their representations were merely frivolous and maybe disregarded, but their complaint regarding the noisy condition of their sleeping cabins should perhaps be brought to the company's (White Star Line) notice.

The cabins are situated among a block of Third Class cabins, and it is stated that the occupents of these latter, who are mostly low class continentals, keep up a noisy conversation sometimes throughout the silent hours, and even indulge in singing and instrumental music. There is, too, a door on the other side of the inboard bulkhead of the larger cabin through which the steerage passengers are constantly passing and the sorting clerks complain that this door bangs at night and keeps them awake. These remarks were prompted by their experiences in the Olympic where the accommodation is similar...... if their work during the day is to be performed efficiently it is essential that they should enjoy decent sleep at night.

They complained about their dining room and desire to be established in the saloon with the passengers, but I consider that the mess room provided is suitable, convenient and in accordance with the understanding between the U.S. post office, and the company, and no change is required. It might be suggested, however, that the doorway leading from the (passengers) 'valets and ladies' maids' dining room should be fitted with a door in order to prevent the present practice of using the mail sorters' mess room as a thoroughfare. The accommodation is far in excess both as regards size and fittings of any other British Packet carrying a sea post office on the Atlantic."
(G.P.O. Records Memorandum 11th April 1912, 355/768/11)

The Head Postmaster approached White Star Line on the 13th April, too late to affect the men aboard the Titanic, however, the men on Olympic were moved, although this was more to do with them being trapped in the event of an emergency, in the light of Titanic's sinking.

Shortly before the collision, the five men were all helping American Mail Clerk Oscar Woody to celebrate his 44th birthday, which fell the next day, April 15th, 1912..........

After the collision, the five Mail Clerks all worked ceaselessly to try to keep the mail sacks out of the steadily rising water. At first, they were engaged in recovering mail sacks from the mail storage area on the Orlop Deck, and taking them up to the relative safety of the sorting office on G-Deck. This proved to be in vain, as the water was not long in arriving on G-Deck, so, rather than try to save all of the mail, they began to move all of the registered mail.

All of the Mail Clerks were lost in the sinking, and only two of the men's bodies were recovered, those of William March, body number 225, and Oscar Woody, body number 167. Woody was buried at sea because of the poor state of his corpse.

Related Reading: Titanic's Crew | Titanic's Engineers | Titanic's Band