Ralph Green was a Railway Post Office clerk around the beginning of the 20th century. He worked on the train, sorting mail for delivery to all the small towns along the route. He made $75/month, $900/year.

Railway Post Office clerks were considered the elite of the postal service’s employees. Their jobs were exhausting and dangerous, their entrance tests demanding—a passing grade was considered 97%. They were required to sort 600 pieces of mail an hour. To ensure that the clerks’ skills didn’t rust, they were tested from time to time to ensure they could maintain that pace.

Ralph served the US in the Postal Service for only a short time. He was studying to be a lawyer and when he passed the bar exam, the Postal Service was left far behind.

His daughter said that when she was small, her father would amuse them by reciting all the stops on his route between Ottawa and Peoria. I can hear him chanting now: Ottawa… Naplate… La Salle… Peru… Oglesby… Tonica… Lostant… Troy Grove… Mendota… Bureau… Tiskilwa… Wyanet… Buda… Bradford… Princeville… Alta… Peoria.