Businessman. He is best known for his role in starting the Pony Express and for establishing other stage coach and mail routes in the United States during the 1800's. He also helped start the Pacific Telegraph Company in 1861, which was the last link between the west coast and the east coast. Many people credit him with the idea of the Pony Express, but William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddel are more often credited as the founders, owners, and operators of the Pony Express. Ficklin resigned from their organization over unresolved difference in opinions. During the Civil War, he became the owner of United States President Thomas Jefferson's Monticello when the Confederacy put the home on the auction block; the property had been seized by the Confederacy under its Alien Enemies Act, which authorized the confiscation of property owned by Northerners. During the Civil War, he served as a Confederate purchasing agent in England and as an intelligence officer. In 1865, Ficklin was sent on a secret peace mission to Washington, DC. While there, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and Ficklin was arrested on the grounds of suspicion but was cleared and released upon his swearing loyalty to the United States. He died in Washington D.C. as a result of an artery being slashed by the doctor attempting to remove a fish bone which became lodged in his throat several days earlier. Little is documented about his early life. After being expelled, he returned to graduate fourth from the lowest in the Class of 1849 from the Virginia Military Institute; he claimed to have served in the Mexican War in the time period between being expelled and his return to VMI.
Businessman. He is best known for his role in starting the Pony Express and for establishing other stage coach and mail routes in the United States during the 1800's. He also helped start the Pacific Telegraph Company in 1861, which was the last link between the west coast and the east coast. Many people credit him with the idea of the Pony Express, but William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddel are more often credited as the founders, owners, and operators of the Pony Express. Ficklin resigned from their organization over unresolved difference in opinions. During the Civil War, he became the owner of United States President Thomas Jefferson's Monticello when the Confederacy put the home on the auction block; the property had been seized by the Confederacy under its Alien Enemies Act, which authorized the confiscation of property owned by Northerners. During the Civil War, he served as a Confederate purchasing agent in England and as an intelligence officer. In 1865, Ficklin was sent on a secret peace mission to Washington, DC. While there, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and Ficklin was arrested on the grounds of suspicion but was cleared and released upon his swearing loyalty to the United States. He died in Washington D.C. as a result of an artery being slashed by the doctor attempting to remove a fish bone which became lodged in his throat several days earlier. Little is documented about his early life. After being expelled, he returned to graduate fourth from the lowest in the Class of 1849 from the Virginia Military Institute; he claimed to have served in the Mexican War in the time period between being expelled and his return to VMI.
Bio by: Jon
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