Dates: 1900-1905; ca. 1917-1919; n.d.

 

Biography:
Frank Ferrell, Sr., M.D.

Frank Ferrell was born in Maury County, Tennessee, on November 8, 1831. He was the son of John M. and Harriet Saunders Ferrell. The Ferrell family moved to Marshall County, Mississippi, in 1839 and began farming. Frank Ferrell attended St. Thomas Hall Episcopal School in Holly Springs, Marshall County. He enrolled at the New Orleans School of Medicine in 1858. After graduation, Ferrell established a medical practice near Ashland, Benton County, Mississippi, in 1860. Ferrell enlisted in the Confederate service in 1861 and was stationed at a hospital in Corinth, Alcorn County, Mississippi. He joined the Thirty-fourth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, in 1862 and served as assistant surgeon until 1864. Ferrell was then commissioned as regimental surgeon and held this position until the end of the war.

Ferrell returned to Mississippi and resumed his medical practice, this time at (Old) Salem, Benton County. Ferrell married Mary Frank Ayers, daughter of Dr. A. M. Ayers, in 1867. The couple had four sons: Frank, Jr. (b. November 8, 1869), Augustus S. (b. ca. 1873), Carl (b. October 1878), and Choppin (b. May 1881). The family resided at (Old) Salem until 1871, when they moved to Ashland, Benton County. Mary Frank Ayers Ferrell died in February 1883. Frank Ferrell later married his sister-in-law, Sallie J. Ayers. They had five children: Charles Chaille (b. February 1, 1887), Seth Maples (b. June 13, 1888), Lucile Ayers (b. March 12, 1890), William Maury (b. August 8, 1892), and Claude B. (b. October 7, 1895). Dr. Frank Ferrell died on September 13, 1910, and was interred at Ashland Cemetery. Sallie Ayers Ferrell died on August 7, 1920, and was also interred at Ashland Cemetery.
 

Frank Ferrell, Jr., M.D.

Frank Ferrell, Jr., was born at (Old) Salem on November 8, 1869. He was the son of Dr. Frank and Mary Frank Ayers Ferrell. Frank Ferrell, Jr., was a graduate of the University of Mississippi, Oxford, Lafayette County, and of the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. He began practicing medicine in 1898. Ferrell was residing on the family farm near Ashland, Benton County, by 1920. He served as public-health officer of Benton County for twenty years and completed one term as county treasurer. Ferrell also served as sheriff of Benton County from 1936 to 1940. He continued practicing medicine until his death from cancer on March 31, 1941. Ferrell was interred at Ashland Cemetery.

Charles Chaille Ferrell

Charles Chaille Ferrell was born in Ashland on February 1, 1887. He was the son of Dr. Frank and Sallie J. Ayers Ferrell. Charles Chaille Ferrell was serving as district attorney of Benton County when he was drafted by the United States Army during World War I. He served as a private, first class, in Company D, Twentieth Battalion, United States Guards, and was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Ferrell obtained a furlough to attend the funeral of his half-brother, Dr. Carl Ferrell, who had died on October 20, 1918. While attending the funeral in Athens, Texas, Ferrell contracted influenza and died of pneumonia on October 31, 1918. His body was returned to Mississippi and interred at Ashland Cemetery. Ferrell and his wife, Jonnie Byrd, had one daughter, Chaille L. (b. ca. July 1919).

Seth Maples Ferrell

Seth Maples Ferrell was born in Ashland on June 13, 1888. He was the son of Dr. Frank and Sallie J. Ayers Ferrell. Seth Maples Ferrell enlisted in the Sixth Squadron, Twenty-first Balloon Company, in December 1917. He attended balloon corps training school in Newport News, Virginia, and apparently served in World War I. Ferrell was living on the family farm near Ashland by 1920 and was employed as a cotton factor until at least the 1930s. Ferrell died at the veterans’ hospital in Kerville, Texas, on August 13, 1973. He was interred at Ashland Cemetery.

William Maury Ferrell

William Maury Ferrell was born in Ashland on August 8, 1892. He was the son of Dr. Frank and Sallie J. Ayers Ferrell. William Maury Ferrell attended Ashland Academy and the Soule Business College in New Orleans, Louisiana. He volunteered for the United States Army in April 1918. Ferrell was assigned to the medical corps of the Eleventh Infantry, Fifth Division (Red Diamond Division), and was trained in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He arrived in France in May 1918 and was wounded during the Meuse-Argonne offensive on November 5, 1918. For extraordinary service in action while attending the wounds of a comrade on the battlefield, Ferrell was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and a Purple Heart. After his discharge in January 1919, Ferrell returned to the family farm near Ashland. He was a retail salesman by 1920 and was serving as postmaster of Ashland by 1930. Ferrell married after 1930 and had at least one child, Patricia, with his wife, Lillie Norris Ferrell. He died on December 12, 1977, and was interred at Ashland Cemetery.

Claude Bernard Ferrell

Claude Bernard Ferrell was born in Ashland on October 7, 1894. He was the son of Dr. Frank and Sallie J. Ayers Ferrell. Claude Bernard Ferrell registered for the draft in either 1917 or 1918. He was sent to Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Mississippi State University) for military training around May 1918. Ferrell also trained at Camp Johnston, Jacksonville, Florida, and at Camp Merritt, New Jersey. He was apparently deployed overseas around September 1918. Ferrell had returned to Ashland by 1920 and was working on the family farm until at least 1930. He also served as mayor of Ashland. Ferrell married Valena Autry of Benton County on June 30, 1934. They had at least four children: Claudette, Elaine, Sondra, and Yvonne. Ferrell died on March 18, 1982, and was interred at Ashland Cemetery.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of a medical ledger, a diary, correspondence, military documents, photographs, and printed materials of the Ferrell family of Benton County, Mississippi. The ledger was apparently kept by Dr. Frank Ferrell, Sr., and Dr. Frank Ferrell, Jr. It is unclear which Frank Ferrell kept the diary.
 

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Ledger. 1900-1905. 8 folders. 

Dating between 1900 and 1905, the medical ledger contains an index that is subdivided by race. The entries record patients’ names, services rendered, and amounts paid. Patients would often pay their bills with commodities such as chickens, oats, potatoes, and sorghum or with services such as chopping wood. Ferrell occasionally noted familial relationships, occupations, and locations of patients. There are several entries listing black and white inmates whom Ferrell treated at the jail and poor house in Benton County. The services rendered by Ferrell and the amounts paid by the county are also noted. These entries were probably kept by Dr. Frank Ferrell, Jr., who was the public-health officer of Benton County for many years. There are several loose items accompanying the ledger, such as notes from patients requesting Ferrell to visit, and a 1904 letter from Augustus S. Ferrell to his father, Dr. Frank Ferrell, Sr.

Box 1, folders 2-9

 

Series 2: Diary. 1903. 1 folder. 

The 1903 diary contains entries that primarily record the weather. Ferrell occasionally mentions personal activities such as buying staple goods, hauling hay, and mending fences. He also notes medical services he has performed such as removing a sewing-machine needle from a patient’s finger. There is also a double-entry ledger for cash and sundries in the back of the diary.

Box 1, folder 1

 

Series 3: Correspondence. 1917-1918; n.d. 4 folders. 

The World War I correspondence dates from 1917 to 1918. Most of the letters were written by Seth Maples, William Maury, and Claude Bernard Ferrell to their mother, Sallie J. Ayers Ferrell, sister, Lucile Ayers Ferrell, and brother, Dr. Frank Ferrell, Jr. Seth Maples, William Maury, and Claude Bernard Ferrell wrote the letters while they were serving in the armed forces. They discuss war preparations at various locales, including an early balloon corps training camp at Newport News, Virginia, and training camps at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and in Florida. William Maury Ferrell describes government-issue gas masks in detail. He relates his experiences while stationed in a small war-torn town in France, including resting in a barracks that was once occupied by Napoleon and some of his officers. The actual location of the town was redacted by a military censor. Seth Maples Ferrell seldom refers to his training, except to remind his mother that the balloon corps is not as dangerous as the artillery or infantry. In one of his letters, Claude Bernard Ferrell encloses an undated photograph of an airplane that had flown from West Point, Clay County, to Starkville, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, and had damaged its wings while landing. The photograph depicts the airplane with its wings folded and tied to a truck.

Jonnie Byrd Ferrell wrote one letter to her mother-in-law, Sallie J. Ayers Ferrell, in 1918. She offers news of her husband, Charles Chaille Ferrell, who was then serving in the United States Guards. An unsigned letter was addressed to Jonnie Byrd Ferrell and relates news of mutual acquaintances in 1918.

Box 2, folders 1-4

 

Series 4: Photograph. n.d. 1 folder. 

A captioned photograph depicts members of the Eleventh Infantry, Ambulance Corps, posing in front of an ambulance around 1918.

Box 2, folder 5

 

Series 5: Military Documents. 1918; n.d. 1 folder. 

The military documents consist of a furlough and a furlough train-fare certificate of Charles Chaille Ferrell. The furlough authorizes Ferrell to travel from Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, to Athens, Texas, on October 21, 1918. The undated certificate is for a special rate on a one-way train ticket from Athens to San Antonio.

Box 2, folder 6

 

Series 6: Printed Materials. ca. 1917-1918. 2 folders. 

The printed materials consist of pamphlets, booklets, newsclippings, and a flyer. The four pamphlets are entitled “Thrift-Day Speech,” “Vardaman’s Attitude Toward President Wilson: The Democratic Administration and the American Government,” “The War, the Farm, and the Farmer,” and “War with Germany,” and they date from about 1917 to 1918. The Vardaman pamphlet bears a handwritten note to an unnamed recipient. The handwriting on the note is similar to that of Jonnie Byrd Ferrell. The two booklets are entitled “Army Song Book” and “Psalms: Army and Navy Edition” and are dated 1918. The newsclippings and flyer are from Charlotte, North Carolina, and were sent to Sallie J. Ayers Ferrell in Ashland. They concern a camouflage unit stationed at Camp Green, Charlotte, North Carolina, and were possibly sent by Seth Maples Ferrell.

Box 2, folders 7-8

 

Box List:

Box 1, folder 1: diary, 1903.            

Box 1, folders 2-9: ledger, 1900-1905.

Box 2, folders 1-4: correspondence, 1917-1918; n.d.           

Box 2, folder 5: photograph; n.d.           

Box 2, folder 6: military documents, 1918; n.d.            

Box 2, folders 7-8: printed materials, 1917-1918.