Remembering Moseley Brothers Insurance Moseley Brothers, was the style of one of Greenville’s leading insurance and real estate firms. The firm was composed of brothers, Bennett Williamson Moseley and Alfred McDowell Moseley, two of the best known men in town. They won an enviable reputation throughout the community for their ability as representative underwriters and as progressive citizens. They built a highly successful business and were considered among the foremost insurance agencies in eastern North Carolina. Bennett Williamson Moseley (1874-1942) and Alfred McDowell Moseley (1879-1948) were natives of Bedford Co.,Va. and were the sons of Rev. Bennett Williamson Moseley and Louise Jane Venable of Bedford Co., Va.. Rev. Moseley was a chaplain in James Longstreet’s Division in the Civil War. B. W. Moseley attended New London Academy in Bedford Co., Va. and came to Greenville in 1899 from Lynchburg, Va. and started business as a cotton buyer and shipper. He soon took a keen interest in the development of Greenville. In 1904, B. W. Moseley married Mrs. Willie Letcher Ficklen Hughes (1878-1959) widow of George B. Hughes and daughter of James Burwell Ficklen and Fannie A. Pannill. In May 1906, B. W. Moseley was elected one of the first directors of the Home Building and Loan Association and was a member of the board of alderman in 1906 and chairman of the Street Committee and Water and Light Commission. He joined the Presbyterian Church at an early age and served as an Elder in the Church. He was later a member of the Kiwanis Club and trustee of Davidson College. In 1902, Alfred McDowell Moseley moved to Greenville from Lynchburg, Va. and joined his brother in cotton buying business. A. M. Moseley represented Rodgers, McCabe and Company of Norfolk, Va., extensive buyers of cotton for the mill and export trade. By 1907, A. M. Moseley was elected as a director of the Greenville Bank and Trust company and was elected the vice-president of E. B. Ficklen Tobacco Company. Alfred McDowell Moseley was married to Nell Skinner, daughter of Harry Skinner and Ella Monteiro. Besides being cotton buyers, both brothers were into the real estate and in 1907 they opened Moseley Brothers Insurance and had their office on the first floor of the Rialto building (Courtside Cafe). As insurance agents they represented such companies as the Hanover Fire Insurance Company of New York and the Royal Exchange Assurance of London for fire insurance. For accident and liability they represented the Travelers of Hartford, Conn. and for bonds, they represented the American Bonding Company of Baltimore. For life insurance they represented the largest North Carolina life insurance company, the Security Life and Annuity Company of Greensboro, NC and the Continental Insurance Company. In real estate, the Moseley Brothers handled city and farm properties and by 1907 handled the sale of 40 acres west of Greenville to the United States Development Corporation, which had developed it into one of the finest residential sections of the town. On July 2, 1908, B. W. Moseley and Mrs. Nell Moseley attended the now famous groundbreaking exercises for the East Carolina Teachers Training School. Ex-Governor Thomas J. Jarvis, his wife and an informal group of citizens went out to the site of the new school and broke ground for the first six buildings and were in the now famous photo of the event taken by R. T. Evans. In May 1958, Mrs. A. M. Moseley, one of five who were present at the groundbreaking still living, was invited to attend a Golden Anniversary Pageant entitled “East Carolina’s Spade.” The opening scene of the pageant was based on the photograph of the event taken by R. T. Evans. In 1908, B. W. Moseley built a new home on Fifth Street (now demolished) which they called “Pine Knoll.” In June 1915, Mrs. B. W. Moseley held a luncheon at her home for Mrs. Gen. George Pickett. Known as “Mother Pickett,” Mrs. Sallie Pickett was the widow of Major Gen. George Pickett of Confederate army fame who came to Greenville with the Chautauqua. Mrs. Pickett wrote several books about her husband and traveled speaking about him. About 1915, A. M. Moseley had a large bungalow home built at 402 West Fourth Street, which still stands and is one of the finest examples of its style left in Greenville. On Aug. 1, 1915, Moseley Brothers moved their office to the old National Bank building at 430 Evans Street on the corner of Fifth and Evans Street (now the new part of Starlight Cafe). In 1924, B. W. Moseley was one of the directors of the National Bank of Greenville and A. M. Moseley was one of the directors of the Greenville Banking and Trust Company (later the Guaranty Bank). In 1938, Bancroft Ficklen Moseley, son of B. W. Moseley, joined the business and in 1940-41, they had moved their office across the street in one of the stores of the White building on Evans Street. Bancroft Ficklen Moseley (1916-1973) who later became the President and manager of Moseley Brothers, Inc., was a native of Greenville and graduated from Greenville High School. He earned a BS degree from Davidson College in 1937 and continued with additional study in business and accounting at Smith-Deal-Massey Business College. He sold insurance until he served for four years on a U. S. Naval destroyer in WWII. In 1956 he organized and was secretary of the Sentinel life Insurance Company in Greenville, which merged in 1960 with the Allied Security Insurance Company in Charlotte, NC. Bancroft was a charter member the Greenville Jaycees in 1938 and served as a director of the Greenville Merchants Association. He was also president of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce and the Greenville Rotary Club. He served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church and was an active member of the Board of Trustees of Davidson College. According to a feature in 1965, Moseley Brothers, Inc., had their offices at 425 Evans Street, with Bancroft Moseley as president and manager, Mrs. A. M. Moseley as honorary vice-president and Mrs. Evelyn B. Smaw as secretary-treasurer. They had grown to employ six people and had added apartment rentals and a washerette operation to its business. _________________________________________________________________ Proud to be a PC? Show the world. Download the “I’m a PC” Messenger themepack now. hthttp://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/119642558/direct/01/