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himself, claimed to have been married just four
times, though it’s not clear why he would skew
the numbers. A remarkable entertainer, Husky
liked to keep people guessing and, even more
so, keep them talking.As much as Ferlin enjoyed
entertaining others (on and offstage), he also had
fun entertaining himself.
Given the challenges in stringing together the
various pieces of information, what follows is an
attempt to chronicle Ferlin’s story, with particular
emphasis on the side of his musical personality
that wasn’t afraid to rock and bop. Call it a
preliminary profile, subject to future revision!
* * *
Ferland Huskey was born on a farm near
Cantwell, roughly two miles from Flat River,
Missouri. Technically, neither place still exists.
Cantwell has since been absorbed into the city
of Desloge, and Flat River merged with the
nearby towns of Elvins, Esther, and Rivermines
in January of 1994 to form one unified city
called Park Hills. The entire area, located in St.
Francois County, is the center of a mining region
known as the Old Lead Belt.
Ferlin’s Missouri roots ran deep. His great-
great-great-great grandparents, John and Rachel
Huskey, moved from South Carolina to Jefferson
County, Missouri in the early 1800s. That’s where
their children and their children’s children
remained for generations. Though the mines
loomed large in the lives of many area families,
Ferland’s father, Louis Huskey, was a barber and
part-time sharecropper who farmed to supplement
the family’s income. Louis’wife, Daisy Fern, was
a deeply religious woman who worked as a
seamstress to help generate additional income.
Their first child, Harold, was born in 1921.
Margaret came along in 1924, Ferland appeared
at the tail end of 1925, and Doris - the Huskeys’
fourth and final child - was born in 1928.
Louis and Daisy named their second son after
Ferland Prather, a successful local businessman
who was a customer at Louis’ barbershop.
“They
gave me the name Ferland, which was F-E-R-L-
A-N-D, and that’s the name I used ‘til I went into
service,”
he told John Rumble in a 2001
interview.
“At the time, I always thought my
middle name was Eugene, and I always spelled
it U-G-E-N-E. I never could understand why they
put an ‘E’ in front of it, if it’s Eugene. But that’s
the way it’s spelled, anyhow. But I was Ferland
and Ferdinand, Fertilizer, whatever they, you
know - kids made fun of me. You know how the
children are. So it is a funny name, peculiar.”
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