One reporter described Ferns as "one of the queerest and most eccentric practitioners in a profession that has attracted many freaks". He was born into a coal-mining family in Pennsylvania. In 1880 they moved to Central Illinois and finally settled in Scammon, Kansas in 1886. Many of his early bouts took place in nearby Pittsburg, Kansas thus creating confusion about his early years. He always dressed like a stage farmer in go-to-meeting clothes...Ferns was tall and angular and did not look like a fighter."Rube Ferns Born 39 Years Ago Today", The Bridgeport Evening Farmer, p. 7, Bridgeport, Connecticut, 20 January 1913 According to BoxRec, Ferns began his career by 1896 with six straight knockouts of boxers Jack Dougherty, Tom Mackey, Harry Pigeon, Cass Whitman, Ed Doyle, and Fred Ross. Half of these fights were known to have been in the Southeast Kansas area, in Cherokee and Crawford counties. In 1897, Ferns fought in some larger cities and New England venues, meeting Kid Gardner in a draw in Chicago in February, and Izzy Straus and Lou
