Rural Postmasters and Missing Persons

Rural Postmasters and Missing Persons                 by Alan Borer

            Relatively little has been written about the rural postmaster and their role in rural society.  That role is changing, and the change is accelerating.  Postmasters tend not to be “locals” anymore.  In the days of the USPO, they were appointed mainly for their political connections.  Often the village shopkeeper or owner of the local newspaper, the village postmaster received his appointment due to their work for whichever political party they belonged.  This system was loaded with corruption and malfeasance, but at least led to the appointment of resident citizens of wherever the postmaster was located.  Since the 1971 advent of the USPS and the closing of many small town post offices, the postmaster is whoever passes a civil service test, whether they have local connections or not.

            One of the tasks that settled on rural postmasters was that of an informal “missing persons” bureau.  In a mobile society, it is nearly impossible to track members of a population, missing persons bureau aside.  Fifty years ago, before forwarding addresses and the various “people-finding” websites, the local postmaster was often one’s only choice.  Even the smallest towns had runaways, soldiers who disappeared without a trace, and families looking for lost members.  The postmaster, who saw so many faces and knew where so many people lived, was worth a try.

            Take this example.  [Figure 1]  A big city resident contacted the postmaster of New Riegel in Seneca County:

Post Master

New Riegel

Ohio

Louisville, KY Mar 9, -52

Dear sir,

I am writing to you in regard to my Mother Catherine XXX.[i]  The last letter I received from her was November 7 -51 and she told me that my Brother Sylvester was going to sell the house and Every thing Nov 29, -51 and she was going to stay with him on the farm and I have wrote to her Every week or two since November Return address and all But never heard From Her.  As you may Know my Brother and I have not spoken since 1920, so I thought maybe she did not get my letters.  Hoping that you will let he hear from you once and send me her address, and tell me where She is at for I am awfully worried about her. . . .

            The answer to this query has not survived, however much we might like to know why two brothers refused to speak to each other for over thirty years!  But the answer is beside the point; it shows that one of the roles people saw for the postmaster was to provide information on the whereabouts of missing persons.

            Lest anyone presume that this was a phenomenon of the twentieth century, here is another example.  Just south of New Riegel, straddling the Wyandot-Seneca county line, is the village of McCutchenville.  Like New Riegel, its reason for being, at least originally, was to serve as a market town for a rural hinterland.  McCutchenville (originally McCutchinville) began life in Crawford County, before Wyandot County was established.  The two hamlets are roughly five miles apart, but the queries are chronologically distant.  From 1951, we jump back to 1839:

The Post Master

McCutchenville

Crawford Co

Ohio

Bucyrus May 9, 1839

Dear Sir,

A note has been left with me for collection against a man by the name of Henry Solatt [?].  I am informed that he lives near your place   If you are acquainted with a person of that name I shall esteem it a favor if you will inform me where he resides & what are his pecuniary circumstances.  This note was given for 30$ some four years ago

Very Respectfully

Yours Etc.

Franklin Adams

            This time we have a reply, partly because the reply was written on the same sheet:

McCutchenville O May 23 – 1839

[Illegible] reply to the above inquiry I briefly say that Mr. Slott [?]  resides about two miles from this village; & that his “pecuniary circumstances” are pretty good I believe

Yours &c

W. M. Brinkerhoff

            There is a bit of sarcasm in the postmaster’s reply.  But the query was answered, and presumably this “missing persons” case could proceed..

            It is unfortunate that New Riegel (and perhaps McCutchenville; data is missing) no longer has a postmaster.  On the USPS website, a statement reads:

On January 10, 2015, [New Riegel] converted to a Level 6 (6-hour)

Remotely Managed Post Office under the direction of the

Postmaster of the Tiffin Post Office. The Postmaster position remained
ultimately vacated.

          I'm sure the USPS had good reason to do this.  Villages all over Ohio have lost their postmasters.  But when a rural community loses its postmaster, it loses a community hlper, a familiar face, and even a finder of missing persons.

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[i] I have removed the name for the privacy of the family, many of whom still live in Seneca County.