Sea Post Clerk John Starr March's pocket watch

Object Details

John Starr March, American, died 1912

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.

1912

Object number

1998.2021.1.1

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

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

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm842e2e639-94d1-4200-9f4c-b5a0f5e83d8c