Postal pioneers

Postal pioneers

he has a rich history of tall tales: stories of the men and women who T helped tame the wilder- Frederick Wolf ness and establish our nation. Think or or —many of these tales are rooted in fact, even as the myths have grown larger and more unbelievable. Letter carriers have their own tall tales of postal pioneers, those letter carriers and others who moved the across this wide country, deliver- ing vital news and important materials. These tales remind us that though letter carriers today wear the same uniform and do the same job, they come from a long line of proud individuals who helped bind this nation with the mail. Frederick Wolf In 1794, Congress officially established the as a permanent part of the federal government and authorized the appointment of this country’s first letter carriers. In those early days of the republic, America’s letter carriers received no salaries but were permitted by Congress to collect a fee of 2 cents for every letter they delivered.

24 The Postal Record September 2020 September 2020 William Carney

Although 2 cents was a considerable into downtown Troy, where amount of money in those days, this a firestorm proceeded to de- fee did not guarantee letter carriers stroy 670 buildings. Though a decent living wage. Recipients of the fire killed eight people, it letters had the option of accepting de- could have been much worse. livery service or visiting the post office For Wolf, however, it was to pick up their mail. Since delivery a crushing blow. Many of the of one’s mail was a luxury few people buildings that had gone up could afford, most chose to just pick in smoke bore the marks of it up. postage due to him. Since Things weren’t much better as the Wolf had no other record 1800s rolled on. Though mail delivery of the amount owed him, became more affordable, as the 2-cent he never recovered his lost fee remained unchanged, not every- wages. one had 2 cents when the letter carrier came calling. For many, that meant William Carney waiting until the letter carrier came William Harvey Carney around again. was born a slave in 1840 in Frederick W. Wolf, a letter carrier in Norfolk, VA. He was edu- Troy, NY, was hired in 1854 and served cated at a “secret school” by for 54 years. Wolf came up with an a local minister, acquiring Carney was awarded innovative way to deliver the mail and rudimentary reading and the Con- make sure he got paid. When he would writing skills at the age of 14. Carney gressional go to a house where the customer escaped slavery through the Under- Medal of didn’t have 2 cents, he would deliver ground Railroad, a network of secret Honor for the mail and make a mark on the door routes and safe houses, and made his his service or the side of the way to New Bedford in the free state of in the Civil Frederick Wolf War. house. He would . He and his father, an- then go to that other escaped slave, eventually earned house the next enough to buy the rest of the family day to collect. freedom from servitude. It was a system Carney worked the docks in New that worked well Bedford, a major whaling port, until for him until a he heard the call for Blacks to join the hot and windy . In a letter to The Libera- May 10, 1862. tor, an abolitionist newspaper, Carney That afternoon, gave this account of his motivations in some sparks joining the 54th Regiment: “Previous setts Infantry. In the midst of withering from the steam to the formation of the colored troops, fire, when the first flag-bearer fell, -Car engine of a train I had a strong inclination to prepare ney took up the regiment’s colors and pulling out of the myself for the ministry, but when the led his fellow volunteers to the crest of downtown Troy country called for all persons, I could the parapet. There, Carney secured the Union Depot best serve my God serving my country banner in the sand as the battle raged. set the Green and my oppressed brothers. The sequel When the federal troops finally fell Island Bridge is short—I enlisted for the war.” back after dark, Carney wrapped the on fire. Strong Carney participated in the suicidal Stars and Stripes around the pole it winds blew assault on Confederate was carried on and carried the banner burning pieces near Charleston, SC, by the all-Black, back to Union lines, despite wounds of the bridge all-volunteer 54th Regiment Massachu- to his chest, head and leg—the latter

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injury so severe that for more than 30 years he would limp every step of the way as he delivered the mail in New Bedford. As he handed the flag over to other survivors of the 54th, he told them, “Boys, I only did my duty. The Mary Fields on her stagecoach old flag never touched the ground.” For courageous action, Carney be- appointment. He was the only Black accepted the post and held the job until came one of the first Black soldiers to carrier in the city and among the earli- his death on Dec. 8, 1908, as the result of be awarded the Congressional Medal est anywhere. Just two years earlier, in an elevator accident. of Honor. 1867, John Curry had become the na- After recovering from his wounds, tion’s first Black letter carrier, working Mary Fields Carney worked a number of jobs before in Washington, DC. Mary Fields was born into slavery becoming a letter carrier in New Bed- Carney carried mail for more than in the 1830s, by most accounts in Ten- ford in 1869. Many early letter carriers 30 years and—just as he had done in nessee, and worked for a slave-owning were military veterans, since appoint- enlisting for the Union cause—the Civil family in West Virginia (then Virginia) ments often were based on local politi- War hero was quick to step forward in the years leading up to the Civil War. cal connections and it was common for when mailmen around the nation de- After she was emancipated following a town’s prominent citizens, including cided to band together in the National the Civil War, Fields left West Virginia the postmaster himself, to have served Association of Letter Carriers. and worked on steamboats on the Mis- in the Union army. The charter of New Bedford Branch sissippi River, eventually making her 18, issued on March 20, 1890, includes There were just four letter carriers way to Toledo, OH, where she went to Carney’s signature as vice president. In in New Bedford at the time of Carney’s work in a convent. addition to the low Fields washed laundry, bought Mary Fields branch number of supplies, managed the kitchen, and 18, the founding date grew and maintained the garden and makes clear that the grounds. But she was no saint, and her New Bedford carriers quick temper was known to boil over. were among the first There are reports of her yelling at any- members of the NALC, one who stepped on the grass after she which had been found- had cut it—intimidating behavior given ed only seven months her 6-foot stature and hefty frame. earlier. She made her way west to Montana, After nearly 32 years where she worked for Saint Peter’s of service, at the age Mission near Cascade, performing of 61, Carney retired maintenance and repair work, gar- as a letter carrier. He dening, laundering and delivering still needed other work supplies needed for the mission. She because, although he was dismissed from the mission for probably received a her crass behavior, unruly temper, and small stipend for his penchant for drinking and smoking war wounds, postal in saloons with men. According to employees had no legend, she and a male mission janitor retirement benefits at got into a fight and both drew guns. all. In 1901, the Mas- After trying many other lines of work, sachusetts secretary of in 1895 and in her early 60s, with the state asked him to take help of the local nuns, Fields obtained the job of messenger at a contract from the Post Office Depart- the state house. Carney ment to be a star route carrier. A star

26 The Postal Record September 2020 September 2020 in a postal railcar route carrier was an independent was on. When the clerks contractor who used a stagecoach to returned to the main post deliver the mail in the harsh weather office after the deliver- of northern Montana. Fields was the ies, not only was a bag first African American woman and the of mail missing, so was second woman to receive a star route Owney. They backtracked contract anywhere in the country. and eventually found Fields, soon nicknamed “Stagecoach Owney lying on top of the Mary” for her reputation of being fear- mailbag. He guarded the less, not only had to deliver the mail mail pouch until some- but also had to protect it from bandits, one from the Post Office After his death, the weather and even wildlife. She showed up to retrieve it. Owney was preserved and is was known to carry both a rifle and a Reports had him now on display at revolver. Despite her temperament, she traveling to Boston; New the Smithsonian’s also was known for her generosity and York City; Buffalo, NY; National Postal kindness to children. Cleveland; Toledo, OH; Museum. After eight years, she retired and Chicago and even into started a laundry business, an eatery Canada. After a lengthy and looked after local children. She trip in Canada, the postal remained famous, even becoming the clerks at Albany became mascot for the town’s baseball team. concerned that Owney She was so beloved that she drank and might not return, so they ate for free in Cascade saloons and bought a dog collar with restaurants. a metal tag that read: Mary Fields died on Dec. 5, 1914. Af- “Owney, Post Office, Alba- ter her death, the townspeople raised ny, New York.” As Owney money to have her buried in a cem- made his trips, various etery on a road she drove frequently railway post offices added that linked Cascade to the mission. individual dog tags. Mary’s funeral was said to have been He got so many tags among the town’s largest. that John Wanamaker gave Owney him a coat to display Owney was a small terrier mix who them all; the coat jingled belonged to a clerk at the Albany, like sleigh bells. Wana- NY, post office in 1887. The dog often maker named Owney the would come with the clerk to work and unofficial mascot of the Another reported that he had ventured sleep on the mail bags. When the clerk Post Office Department. One report into North Africa. Owney’s triumphant quit the post office, he left the mutt claimed that Owney had 1,017 medals return to American shores was covered with the clerks at the post office. and tokens. by newspapers nationwide. Without a permanent home, Owney In 1895, the terrier went from Owney became ill and aggressive in would go with the mail bags, often Tacoma, WA, on a four-month trip his old age. In June 1897, after alleg- riding in the mail car on trains. He was throughout Asia and across Europe, edly attacking a postal clerk and a U.S. considered to be good luck by postal traveling by postal train and ship that marshal in Toledo, Owney was shot railway clerks, since no train he rode carried mailbags, before returning and killed on the orders of the local on was ever in a wreck. to Albany. A report claimed that the postmaster. Another story told of a mail pouch emperor of Japan had awarded the Owney’s remains were preserved, that had accidentally fallen out of a dog two passports and several med- and he is the subject of an exhibit at the wagon during a delivery route the dog als bearing the Japanese coat of arms. Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum.

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John Thompson In 1837, at the age of 10, Jon Tor- steinson-Rue came to the United States from , where his name was changed to John Thompson. His family moved from Illinois to Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin. After gold fever struck, Thompson moved on to and mined enough to buy a small ranch in the . In 1855, Thompson saw an ad in John Thompson the Sacramento Union: “People Lost (r) didn’t use to the World; Needs a Mail what we think Carrier.” The Post Office was having of as snow- shoes, instead problems delivering the mail across using skis (far the Sierra Mountains. Thompson knew r). The route the importance of speedy mail deliv- he traveled ery, having received news too late of delivering the his own mother’s death by influenza. mail is above. He quickly submitted his application swaying his for the job to a contractor and set off balance pole for his first run in 1856. to one side He took three days, going from Pla- and the other cerville to Mormon Station (which later became the town of Genoa, NV). The in the manner return trip took two more days. After that a soaring eagle dips its wings.” his first successful run, he would make Thompson often rescued prospectors he would eventually be paid. “If I do the run up to four times a month for caught in the snow. One well-known my job and get the mail to the people, the next 20 years. incident took place in 1856, when he Uncle Sam will pay me,” he said. Despite his eventual nickname of found a trapper who had been shelter- However, even an 1869 appeal by the “Snowshoe,” Thompson didn’t use tra- ing with half-frozen feet in a deserted legislature to the federal gov- ditional snowshoes, opting for 10-foot cabin for 12 days, with no food or fire. ernment for $6,000 in compensation skis and a single sturdy pole generally Thompson chopped him some wood went unheeded. so he would stay warm, and set out to held in both hands at once. He wore A lasting legacy a Mackinaw jacket, a wide-brimmed Genoa for help. He had to carve skis hat and covered his face in charcoal and give lessons to the rescuers who Whether on foot, by stagecoach, to prevent snow blindness. He carried had agreed to accompany him. Once railway or even on skis, these postal no blankets, but did carry matches to back in Genoa, the doctor reported pioneers fulfilled their duty to protect start fires, and his Bible. He snacked that the trapper’s feet needed to be and deliver the mail. Letter carriers on dried sausage, beef jerky, crackers amputated, but he had no chloroform. continue that tradition today when and biscuits. Thompson set out once again to Placer- they take the oath to perform their His mail sack often weighed up to ville, but there was none to be found, so sworn duties. 100 pounds, as he carried medicine, he continued on to Sacramento before This article shouldn’t be mistaken emergency supplies, clothing, books, returning with the chloroform. for a complete list. These are just tools, pots and pans. Despite his many years of service, some of the stories we’ve heard over Dan de Quille of the Virigina City Ter- Thompson was never paid by the the years. If you know other stories of ritorial Enterprise later wrote of Thomp- government or the contractor for his postal pioneers you’d like The Postal son: “He flew down the mountainside. services delivering the mail. As a Record to consider for a future story, ... His appearance was graceful, subcontractor, he took it on faith that please send them to us. PR

28 The Postal Record September 2020