Titanic victim, sea postal clerk, and Master Mason, he died on his birthday when the Royal Mail Ship Titanic foundered and sank after striking an iceberg on April 15, 1912. A native of Roxboro, North Carolina and resident of Clifton Springs, Virginia, he was the son of J. Frank Woody of Roxboro. He was a Freemason and 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. He married Leila Bullard of Dallas, Texas in 1910. On April 2, 1912, he received what were to be his last travel orders for the postal sea service from Edwin Sands, Asst. 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. 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 mailroom 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. According to Fourth Officer Boxhall of the Titanic, the clerks brought all of the registered mail to the boat deck and also much of the ordinary mail. The last Boxhall saw of the mail clerks, they were standing on the boat deck alongside the mail pouches calmly waiting the death they knew was at hand. All five men perished in the line of duty. Woody died on his birthday at 41 years of age. One week after the sinking, the cable ship Mackay-Bennett recovered Woody's body, still wearing a life preserver. 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 and his personal effects were returned to his wife. In 2003, Governor Mike Easley declared November 24th "Oscar Scott Woody Day" in North Carolina. In 2004, Roxboro Mayor Steve Joyner proclaimed July 12 "Oscar Scott Woody Day" and President George W. Bush signed a bill to designate the Roxboro post office as the "Oscar Scott Woody Post Office Building." It is the only Post Office to be named after an employee.

(c) 2009 by Cindy Coffin