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The 1930s were economically challenging
times for most American families, and the
Huskeys were no exception. Though they stayed
within the region, Ferlin’s family relocated
often, going wherever work was available.
When he was still a young boy, the family left
the farm and relocated to St. Louis. They later
returned, but Ferlin bounced around with his
immediate family and other relatives, spending
time in the communities of Flat River, Hickory
Grove, Stony Point, Bonne Terre, and
Farmington.
Ferlin listened to the radio whenever he had
the chance, and showed an early aptitude for
impersonating the voices he heard. He mastered
a routine where he easily imitated both Lum and
Abner with lightning speed, and soaked up the
rural sounds beaming from St. Louis’ KMOX.
He spent hours listening to DJ Roy Queen and
‘Uncle Dick Slack’s Barn Dance,’which featured
fiddle player and local celebrity Wade Ray.
Around the age of ten, Ferlin entered a talent
contest in Leadwood, Missouri, in which he
buck danced, and played the guitar and
harmonica. The star attraction at the event was
one of his KMOX heroes.
“Wade Ray and all
them, they were there,”
Husky recounted years
later.
“They was the featured show. The band
played, but the amateur contest was separate.
Anyhow, I won first prize.
”
Ferlin went to school at Hickory Grove
Elementary near the town of Irondale and
attended middle school at Irondale Jr. High. One
of his first girlfriends was Thelma Sego, who
remembered Ferlin as being focused on music
instead of sports or other extracurricular activities
that occupied most of the boys in the community.
“We went to Hickory Grove Methodist Church
together
,
”
Thelma recalled in 2011.
“This was
just an old-fashioned country church and we’d
have Sunday School. Ferlin would bring his
guitar and stand next to the piano player and
sing. He was just the sweetest thing. Oh, I thought
he was good looking. Of course I was just about
thirteen years old and he was a little bit older
than me.”
When the family moved to Stony Point, Ferlin
attended Frankclay High School.
“I was in 8
th
grade and he was a year ahead of me,”
remembered Erma Lee Dunlap.
“He skipped
school a good bit. A lot of times he was supposed
to be in class, but he’d take his guitar and go
down to this one classroom that was empty. We’d
all go down there and the teacher had to come
after us. There was this girl called Lillian Brewer
and sometimes she’d bring her guitar, too. I
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