The Ficklen Family The best history of a community or State is that which deals most with the lives and endeavors of its people, especially of those who have made a name for themselves. Coming from Virginia, the Ficklen family has long been an influence in the tobacco market, business life and social circles of Greenville. The Ficklen family of Greenville tracks back to James Burwell Ficklen and his wife, Frances Augusta Ann Pannell, of Buckingham Co., Va. In 1859, James B. Ficklen was a member of the “Richmond Howitzers” and was at Harper’s Ferry during the raid on John Brown. James was a merchant, a legislator, and in 1878 was a commissioner from Virginia to the Paris Exposition. James B. Ficklen and his wife had 9 children, of which Ann Eliza (Nannie) Pannell Ficklen Jeter, Ellen Douglas Ficklen Arthur, Willie Letcher Ficklen Hughes Moseley, and Edward Bancroft Ficklen, all became noted citizens of Greenville. Ann Eliza (Nannie) Pannell Ficklen Jeter (b. 1870) was a teacher in Amherst and Bedford Co., Va. She married on Oct. 5, 1892 in Campbell Co., Va. to Gilbert Carey Jeter, in a double wedding ceremony with her sister, Ellen D. Ficklin and L. C. Arthur. After her husband died in 1895, Nannie worked hard trying to educate her three children. She became a housekeeper at Randolph-Macon Institute where she placed her daughters. Her son stayed with relatives and attended Randolph-Macon Academy. After her children were educated she lived in Washington, DC and then came to Greenville and eventually became head of the Home Economics Dept. at East Carolina Teachers Training School. Ellen Douglas Ficklen Arthur (1872-1943) married on Oct. 5, 1892 in Campbell Co., Va. to Louis Chesterfield Arthur of Bedford Co., Va., in a double wedding ceremony with her sister. Louis C. Arthur (1864-1935) moved to Greenville in 1895 and became engaged in the real estate and insurance business. He bought the Patrick House and 150 acres between 14th and 10th streets, which he named “Glen Arthur.” He was a member of various social and civic organizations, and served on the Pitt County Board of Education for 30 years. In his later years he became a gentleman farmer and grew crops like cabbage and sold them around town on a horse and cart. Louis C. and Ellen had 6 children: James Ficklen Arthur (1894-1973) who served in Naval Intelligence during WWI; Louis C. Arthur, Jr. (1896-1924) who was a Capt. in the US Army, serving in the First Division in France in WWI; Ellen Douglas Arthur, (b. 1898);Virginia Ficklen Arthur (b. 1901); Nancy Russell Arthur (b. 1904) and Robert Bruce Arthur (b. 1906-1958). Willie Letcher Ficklen Hughes Moseley (1878-1959) md. 1) George Blackburn Hughes (d. 1900) of Chase City, Va. George was a member of the firm Joyner & Hughes on the Greenville Tobacco market. Willie md. 2) in 1904 to Bennett Williamson Moseley (1874-1942) who came to Greenville in 1899 from Lynchburg, Va. and started business as a cotton buyer and shipper. He moved to Bethel, NC for a time but returned to Greenville where he took a keen interest in the development of the city. 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. In 1924, B. W. Moseley was one of the directors of the National Bank of Greenville, a member of the Kiwanis Club and trustee of Davidson College. Besides being cotton buyers, B. W. Moseley and his brother, Alfred McDowell Moseley were into the real estate and insurance business and in 1907 they opened Moseley Brothers Insurance. In 1908, B. W. Moseley built a new home on Fifth Street (now demolished) which they called “Pine Knoll.” Edward Bancroft Ficklen (1868-1925) was born at Red House, Buckingham County, VA, was educated in Danville, VA., and worked for many years for Messers. Pemberton & Penn, as a tobacco plant manager and tobacco buyer. Ficklen came to Greenville in 1896 as a commission tobacco buyer and bought the interest of R. H. Hayes in the business of Hayes & Roberts. With T. E. Roberts, of Chase City, VA., the company became known as Ficklin & Roberts. They operated a tobacco steam drying plant. In Aug. 1901, Ficklin & Roberts dissolved and Ficklen formed a new E. B. Ficklen Tobacco Company with partners, J. G. Penn, O. W. Dudley and J. P. Taylor. This partnership was dissolved on August 24, 1906. Ficklen acquired buildings to which alterations and additions were made over the years which brought the three-story main block of the factory to its present size. By 1925, E. B. Ficklen had established a branch of his company in both Washington and New Bern. In 1964, the E. B. Ficklen Company and three other tobacco companies merged to form the Carolina Leaf Tobacco Company. The E. B. Ficklen factory building was sold in 1974 to Northrup King, who in turn sold it in 1984 to the U.N.X. Chemical Company, a manufacturer of agricultural and industrial chemicals. On June 6, 1899, Edward B. Ficklen married Elmyra Ward Skinner (1878-1952) of Greenville, daughter of Charles Skinner and his wife, Harriet Cotten. In Jan. 1900, E. B. Ficklen went out hunting with a party of friends and was accidently shot in the corner of his left eye nearly blinding him. In Oct. 1900, a freak accident occurred when part of the floor of his tobacco factory collapsed. In 1902, E. B. Ficklen built a large beautiful home at what became 508 West Fifth Street and named it “Buckingham” in honor of his birthplace in Virginia. A few years later he planted nearly one hundred pecan trees around the house and neighborhood. While attending the Jamestown Exposition in 1907 he was attracted by an exhibit of very large pecans from Georgia. Mr. Ficklen became a member of the National Nut Growers’ Association and wanted to grow larger pecans. In 1910 he cut back 40 pecan trees around his house and 100 trees on his farm near Greenville and had better varieties of pecans grafted onto his trees. Mr. Ficklen claimed he made a small fortune from selling his pecans. E. B. Ficklen was a member and Commander of the Tar River Knights of Pythian Lodge, a member and Elder of the Presbyterian Church, served on the Greenville Graded School board and was on the Greenville City Council. In 1922, he was a Director of the NC State Prison. While on a business and pleasure trip with his wife touring Europe, E. B. Ficklen died suddenly in Brussels, Belguim on May 11, 1925. Edward B. Ficklen and his wife Elmyra had three sons: James Skinner Ficklen (1900-1955), Edward Bancroft Ficklen, Jr. (1903-1914 drowned while playing in the Tar River), and Louis Stuart Ficklen (b. 1918). James Skinner Ficklen (1900-1955) was riding his bicycle on Evans Street in July 1908, and was run over by an ice wagon, but was not seriously hurt. He was a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and became head of E. B. Ficklen Tobacco Co. in 1925. He served as president of the Greenville Tobacco Board of trade, and later as president of the Tobacco Association of the United States and president of the Leaf Tobacco Exporters Association. He travelled to European countries every summer to interest them in buying and using NC tobacco. James served as a director of both the Guaranty Bank and Trust Company and Wachovia Bank and Trust Company. He was on the board of the Greenville Home Building and Loan Association, was a member of the Greenville Water and Light Commission and was a founder of the Greenville Country Club. James was a close friend of the college and established a financial aid foundation, the Ficklen Foundation, to aid students of the college. James married in 1922 to Lucy Warren Myers of Greensboro, N.C., and had two sons: James Skinner Ficklen, Jr. (1924-2001) and Edward Warren Myers Ficklen (1926-1952). On Sept. 21, 1963, the James Skinner Ficklen Memorial Stadium was dedicated on the East Carolina Campus and is now known as Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Louis Stuart Ficklen (b. 1918) was a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and served as a Lt. Commander in the Navy during WWII. He held several offices in the E. B. Ficklen Tobacco Company and the Carolina Leaf Tobacco Company and was treasurer of the Leaf Tobacco Exporters Association for 16 years. He was president of the Greenville Tobacco Board of trade and served a term on the NC Ports Authority. Louis served as a director of both the Guaranty Bank and Trust Company and Wachovia Bank and Trust Company. He was president of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce and the Greenville Country Club. Louis married in 1940 to Louise Glass Dibrell and they had three children. Louis married second in 1960 to Marie Donnelly Arthur. _________________________________________________________________ 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/