Mr Oscar Scott Woody was born in Roxboro, North Carolina on 15 April 1871 1.
He was the son of John Frank Woody (b. 1844), a farmer and merchant, and Nancy Cole (b. 1846), both natives of North Carolina 2. His known siblings were: Pattie (b. 1873), Rosa (b. 1876) Ninnie (b. 1879) and James M. (1882-1951).
He first appears on the 1880 census living with his family in Holloways, Person County, North Carolina. By the early 1890s he was working for the US postal service, serving the railways between Greensboro, North Carolina and Washington, DC. He was listed on the 1900 census living as a boarder in the latter city and was described as an unmarried postal clerk. He was from the office of the Third division of the Railway Mail Service in Washington but left that city to reside in New York around 1909 when he was put in the marine service.
A Freemason, Woody was later married in Washington on 5 October 1910 to Leila M. Bullard (b. 1877), a native of Dallas, Texas and niece of the Central Mail Office Detective Harry Warren. The couple remained childless and maintained a holiday home in Clifton, Virginia where they spent extended periods when Mr Woody was not at work.
He travelled to Europe aboard Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, arriving in Plymouth and was instructed to join Titanic on her maiden voyage. He joined Titanic on 10 April 1912 as part of the postal group and whilst aboard was due to celebrate his 41st birthday on 15 April.
On the night of the sinking, Woody and his fellow postal clerks, assisted by several other crewmen, struggled to bring some 200 sacks of mail up to a higher deck from the flooding mail rooms.
Mr Woody died in the sinking. His body was recovered (#167) and buried at sea.
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NO. 167. - MALE - ESTIMATED AGE, 38. - VERY FAIR HAIR 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. NAME - O.S.WOODY |
His widow Leila, who had been staying at their holiday home in Virginia, hastened to stay with her uncle Harry Warren to await news of her husband. She apparently never remarried and was living in Washington, DC by the time of the 1930 and 1940 census records.
She died on 14 April 1965 in Silver Spring, Montgomery County (Montgomery), Maryland. She was buried at Glenwood Cemetery, Washington D.C.
Comment and discuss
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Hi everyone, I stumbled across this article on wral.com while searching for news on my other obsession, Raleigh native Clay Aiken. I did not know there was a Titanic exhibit at the Museum of Natural Sciences, now I have even more motive to visit Raleigh. It's wonderful that the museum recognized Woody, the postal carriers of the Titanic are some of my favourite unsung heroes. There is also a picture of Woody at the link. Museum Honors Roxboro Man Who Died On Titanic POSTED: 7:46 p.m. EST November 24, 2003 UPDATED: 7:59 p.m. EST November 24, 2003 RALEIGH, N.C. -- Monday was Oscar Scott Woody day. It was proclaimed as such to honor a Roxboro native who died on board the Titanic. Oscar Woody died while trying to save the mail. He was one of five sea postal carriers killed that night. Monday, at the Titanic artifact exhibit in Raleigh, a commemorative envelope was unveiled and dedicated in Woody's honor. A special postal...
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Hi Alicia, Thanks for posting that. It's great to see that Oscar Woody has not been forgotten. Best regards, Jason
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Nice to see a different photograph of the man as well. Thank you for the link.
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