Very special deliveries for the ’70s

By David Maurer

Published: October 19, 2008

Two major milestones in local mail delivery occurred during the early 1970s.

First, Everett Morris announced his retirement in the spring of 1970. For more than 40 years he was the smiling postman who delivered letters and packages to homes from Ruckersville to the boundaries of Shenandoah National Park.

Aside from his cheery personality, what made Morris stand out was the fact that he never missed a day of work in all those years. True to form he allowed “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night” keep him from his appointed rounds.

Morris shouldered his first leather mail sack in 1929 when he started substituting for his father, who was the official carrier. In 1954 he took over the route fulltime.

Long, long route

Back then Morris would pick the mail up at the train depot in Barboursville. From there his route stretched all the way to Stanardsville.

The route followed mostly narrow dirt roads that threaded up to and along the Blue Ridge Mountains. During good weather the roads were often rough and, when it snowed or rained, they became downright treacherous.

Even during snowstorms Morris wouldn’t think of not delivering the mail. He simply loaded heavy steel bars on the bed of his truck to give him extra traction and away he’d go.

When spring came, he’d start delivering small boxes with screens. These packages contained the bees that would soon be making honey for local farmers.

Another service Morris provided was selling postage stamps. This was a great convenience for rural folks, because it saved them a trip into town.

When Morris decided to end his mail-carrying career, he didn’t think of retiring. His plan was to open a grocery store on U.S. 33, and supply his many friends with other necessities of life besides their mail.

First female

A few years after Morris set his mail sack aside, Doris Ripley Overcash picked one up. She has the distinction of being Charlottesville’s first female mail carrier.

Overcash started delivering mail on Dec. 10, 1973. Not only was it the busiest time of year for the Postal Service, she got the university route, which was one of the toughest in town.

The widow and mother of two school-aged children was hard at it in early February, 1974, when Antonia Dul, a reporter with The Daily Progress, interviewed her. Overcash exuded warmth and good cheer, and had to laugh when talking about her first month on the job.

“Right in the Christmas rush,” Morris lamented good-naturedly. “It was

really hectic then, but things are sort of coasting now.

“I think they gave me that [the university route] to see if I would really take it.”

Overcash had been working as a bank clerk when she applied for a clerk’s position at the Post Office. As it turned out, a position as a mail carrier opened up before a clerk position.

According to the rules, applicants must be informed of any job opening regardless of the original position being sought. So Overcash was asked if she was interested in being a carrier.

“I asked, ‘Do I have to decline?’ ” Overcash said. “They said ‘no,’ so I took it. But I don’t think they thought I would.

“The job is not that simple, but I really enjoy it. There’s such a feeling of accomplishment when you get rid of all that mail.

“I also like being outside.”

Overcash made it clear that she didn’t take the job to be the first female mail carrier in Charlottesville.

“The pay is good and that’s the only reason I took the job,” Overcash said. “I needed the security. Some people wait for years for this kind of job.

“It’s primarily a daytime job with a few nighttime special deliveries.”

Overcash said a lot of people were surprised to see a woman delivering mail. She often got the question, “What do they call you?”

Other than some stares and doubletakes, Overcash said she didn’t experience any resentment from her fellow male carriers. In fact, she was treated exactly as she had hoped she’d be.

“They haven’t shown me any favoritism,” Overcash said. “My work is no lighter or heavier than the men’s.

“The people here are just great. They treat me like one of the guys.”