Denton “Dent” Ferrell was born in Crainville on November 11, 1889, the son of Hosea V. Ferrell and Mildred Cassandra Davis. His father, Hosea, was a physician and prominent citizen in Carterville. Of his many siblings, a brother named after his father, Hosea V. Ferrell, became a leading attorney and prominent citizen of Marion for decades.

In the 1900 federal census, Dent was 10 and living in Carterville alongside his siblings Caesar, Katie, Hosea V., Mike S., Barney, Minnie and Nora.

In the 1910 census, Dent was 20 and still living at Carterville with his parents and siblings, Caesar, Katie, Barney and Minnie. He was likely in and out of the home while attending college at the U. of I.

Ferrell received his B.S. Degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana in the Class of 1913. He then studied under Charles P. Steinmetz, consulting engineer for the General Electric Company and later went on to do graduate work at Harvard University.

According to Denton’s obituary, he was the inventor and held the patent rights on Cardox. Cardox was attributed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines’ and Minerals as being the most outstanding contribution to the safety of mining, as this was the first use of compressed gas to the shooting of coal rather than by the use of black powder.

The Cardox System was first developed in 1914 and was used in the coal mining industry. Cardox was an ideal solution as it uses liquid Carbon Dioxide (CO2) which is an inflammable gas that poses no harmful risk to the highly flammable environment inside the coal shafts.

As the years progressed, so did the Cardox System. Today, the Cardox System is used in more than 150 countries worldwide across a variety of applications in the mines, cement and silo industry.

On June 5, 1917, when Dent registered for the WWI draft he was still living in Carterville, 27 years old, single and working as a coal mine engineer for the Chicago and Big Muddy Coal Company and a mine called the New Enterprise Mine both near Marion, Illinois. He was described as short, stout and blue eyes with dark hair.

Ferrell was a veteran of World War I. He enlisted on October 1, 1917, and served in the Aviation Section of the Army.

Dent was married to Mariam Blakeslee September 3, 1927 at Vallejo, California. Their first and only child, Denton Blakeslee Ferrell was born while in California on August 14, 1928.

By the time the federal census of 1930 was taken in Marion on April 10^th, the Ferrells had returned to live in Marion and were paying $45 a month in rent to live at 700 S. Market Street. He was employed as a coal mine engineer. Dent was then 40, Mariam was 35 and Denton was 1 year and 6 months of age.

A 1934 directory for St. Petersburg, Florida indicates that the couple lived there temporarily during the depression while he worked as a mining engineer.

Before the close of the 1930’s, the Ferrell’s appear to have migrated back to Marion and purchased a permanent home at 201 E. Boulevard. This is the address that appears on his WWII registration filled out in April of 1942. At the time he was 52 years old and described physically as 5’6”, 170 lbs., blue eyes, gray hair and a light complexion.

His obituary indicated that he was also connected with the Central Illinois Public Service Company at one time, but the dates are unknown.

Ferrell, a retired electrical engineer and inventor, died at 12:03 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, 1966, in St Mary’s Hospital in Evansville, Indiana.

He was a member of the Marion B.P.O.E. No. 800, American Legion Post 147 and World War I Barracks, all of Marion.

In addition to his wife, he left a son, Dr. Dent Ferrell of Eldorado and one sister Miss Kate Ferrell of Marion.

Funeral services for Dent Ferrell, 76, 201 E. Boulevard, were held Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Mitchell Funeral Home.

Reverend Bruce Patton and Rev. Thomas E. Morton conducted the services. The body was cremated and the ashes interred in private services in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in DuQuoin at a later date. Funeral arrangements were made by the Mitchell Funeral Home in Marion.

Mrs. Miriam (Blakeslee) Ferrell, born on November 12, 1894, passed away on September 4, 1984 at the age of 89.

Sam’s Notes:

Dr. Denton Blakeslee Ferrell was born on August 14, 1928, in Yolo, California. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on November 2, 1945 at Fort Jackson, Colombia, South Carolina, as a private with enlistment for the Panama Canal Department. He later graduated S.I.U. in 1951 and went on to the University of Illinois to become a doctor. He was a member of the Alpha Kappa Kappa and graduated in 1955, University of Illinois At Chicago / College of Medicine. While traveling to Chicago to med school on the “City of New Orleans” he became acquainted with a waitress in the dining car named Kathy and she later became Mrs. Denton Ferrell. He practiced as a family doctor in Eldorado, Illinois and after retirement moved to Maryville, Tennessee.

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(Data extracted from Marion Daily Republican obits; Federal Census Records; S.S. Death Records; City Directories; compiled by Sam Lattuca on 11/20/2013)