Woody/Wooddy Mail Contractors
         

            Congress was given the power "to establish Post Offices and Post Roads" by the United States Constitution in 1787. This led to the establishment of the U. S. Post Office Department as a federal agency and the office of the Postmaster General. Benjamin Franklin was the first Postmaster General. Although a few postal routes were specifically designated as "Post Roads" (e.g. Boston Post Road), most were simply a collection of shorter routes interwoven into a connecting system for the movement of mail. The Post Office Department defined these routes and advertised for private individuals to submit bids for route contracts that typically had a duration of four years. These individuals became known as "Mail Contractors" and the routes, bids and successful bidders were published by several publishers. The famous "Pony Express" of the 1850s and 1860s is a well known example of a Mail Contractor system. In the early days of the business, the Mail Contractors used horses, gigs and coaches, depending on the route and the amount of mail. Later, steam boats and railroads took over the long distance Mail Contracting business and, still later, the airlines. Some of the early Mail Contractor records have survived and can be an important source of information in areas that suffered from a catastrophic loss of pre-Civil War records.

            Members of the related Woody/Wooddy families of the Hanover, King William and Loudoun Counties, Virginia entered into the Mail Contractor business in the early 1800s and this business connection lasted at least through 1885. The business was probably initiated by John Wooddy (c1760-1822) of King William, since on December 23, 1806, John advertised a passenger coach service between Richmond and Tappahannock. This service was probably an expansion of his Mail Contractor business, but it is possible that the passenger service led to the Mail Contractor business. The earliest official record of Woody/Wooddy Mail Contractors is a 1816 list that includes John Woody, born Virginia, James Wooddy, born Virginia and William Woody, born, Virginia. A list of successful 1822 contract bids includes J. R. Wooddy (Richmond to Charlottesville route), James Wooddy (Hanover Court House to New Kent Court House route) and William Wooddy (Snicker's Gap, Virginia to Uniontown, Maryland route). A 1824 list of Mail Contractors has James Wooddy, born Virginia, John Wooddy, born Virginia, William Wooddy, born Virginia and James M. Wooddy. Based on the 1816 and 1824 lists, the 1822 J. R Wooddy was very likely John Wooddy of King William. A similar 1825 list omits John Woody/Wooddy and, since John of King William died in 1823/1824, we conclude this the same person. Also, since William Wooddy is included on the 1825 list, we conclude that this person was the son of William Wooddy Sr., the Post Master of Loudoun, who died 1821/1823. William Sr. had moved to Loudoun County, where he was Post Master from 1802 until 1823. His son, William Jr., moved to Baltimore, Maryland about 1816, so William Jr. probably continued with his father's business for a period. In addition to these individuals, bids for latter contracts were submitted by D., James Jr., John T., Pleasant D., Augustine D. and John P. Woody/Wooddy.
 
            On the left is an image of a newspaper advertisement from the January 4, 1831 Richmond Enquirer. Pleasant D. Woody was the son of James P. Woody, the brother of the above mentioned John Woody of King William. Note that Pleasant D. had contracted for the transportation of mail between Richmond and Tappahannock and that he would also transport passengers and their baggage in "new stages" with "good gentle horses, and steady, sober drivers". The stage was scheduled to leave Richmond on Tuesdays and Fridays at 5 A.M. and arrived in Tappahannock at 7 P.M. It returned to Richmond on Wednesday and Saturday at the same times. Today's road distance for this trip is about 45 miles, so the trip averaged about 3.5 mph if an hour lunch stop is deducted from the fourteen hour schedule. The one way fare was $3.50.

            One very interesting connection relates to an October 28, 1809 Augusta, Georgia newspaper advisement shown on the right. This is the area that Henry Talley Wooddy is first found. Henry Talley died at a young age in Chesterfield County, Virginia, across the James River from Richmond. Henry T. was surely related to John and it is possible that he first went to Georgia when he was employed in the Mail Contractor business. We do not know why Virginia Mail Contractors were in Georgia, but we assume that they had been employed by other holders of contracts.
 

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Revised Jan 14, 2012