A mud clerk was a helper or all-around worker aboard a steamboat during the period before and after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, particularly aboard steamboats on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. According to Mark Twain in his autobiography, "Mud clerks received no salary, but they were in the line of promotion. They could become, presently, third clerk and second clerk, then chief clerk -- that is to say,

purser A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...

". Mud clerks were always male, and typically in their early teens or younger. Duties included such things as running errands for the officers of the steamboat, carrying messages around the ship, and fetching food or beverages. As the name itself implies, mud clerks would often be given the dirtiest jobs aboard ship.

See also