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The Curious Circumstance of Kentucky’s “Humble” Gunsmiths

     For many years it has been thought that high quality, artistic longrifles were just not made in 18^th century frontier Kentucky, even though this style of American firearm has long been dubbed the “Kentucky Rifle”. After the Battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815, the last battle of the War of 1812, a popular song was written by Samuel Woodworth to celebrate the feats of the men of Kentucky who had taken part under the command of Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson.

 The Hunters of Kentucky

YE gentlemen and ladies fair who grace this famous city,
Just listen, if you've time to spare, while I rehearse a ditty;
And for the opportunity, conceive yourselves quite lucky,
For ‘tis not often here you see a hunter from Kentucky.

Oh, Kentucky, The Hunters of Kentucky,

We are a hardy, free-born race, each man to fear a stranger,
Whate'er the game we join in chase, despising toil and danger.
And if a daring foe annoys, whate'er his strength or forces,
We'll show them that Kentucky boys are alligators-horses.

Chorus

I 'spose you've read it in the prints, how Packenham attempted
To make Old Hickory JACKSON wince, but soon his scheme repented;
For we with rifles ready cock'd, thought such occasion lucky,
And soon around the general flock'd the Hunters of Kentucky.

Chorus

  Last stanza:   But Jackson, he was wide awake, and was not scared of trifles;
               For well he knew what aim we’d take with our “Kentucky Rifles” !

   It is generally agreed that this song is the basis for the name applied to the American Longrifle, still used today. Kentucky Rifle, because it was used by Kentuckians, not that it was made or developed in Kentucky. After the war of 1812, the work and businesses of many gunsmiths flourished with the economy of the day, although it was the very distinctive rifles of the Bryan family (cousins to Daniel Boone) and their associates in and around Lexington as well as the work of Jacob Rizer and/or David Weller from Bardstown, that was considered the epitome of Kentucky’s longrifle production. However, these firearms all date well into the first quarter of the 19^th century.

     This “Transylvania” (translates “across the woods”) region of frontier Virginia was early on rumored to be a “promised land” and by 1774, James Harrod had established the first permanent settlement. In the spring of 1775, Daniel Boone blazed his famous Wilderness Trail building a stockade on the Kentucky River near present day Winchester. Nonetheless, by 1777, this land became known as the “dark and bloody ground” and any pioneer heading inland towards this legendary place would not think of starting such a journey without a dependable rifled gun in hand.

Kentucky’s Earliest Gunmaker

   Until recently, at least within the “Kentucky Rifle” collecting fraternity, neither the name nor identity of Conrad Humble, was known or recognized. However, the name of his younger brother, Michael, has been tossed around for many years as conceivably being the earliest gunsmith in the Kentucky region, with a shop at the “Falls of the Ohio” (now Louisville) as early as 1777. In 2001, the first rifle known to be signed by Conrad Humble surfaced and finally in 2007, a rifle by Michael Humble was discovered. These two rifles have indeed proven that fine rifles were being produced in the Kentucky region during the 18^th century.

Map of the Falls of the Ohio, location of Louisville, KY

     Michael Humble is first found in Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky to the General Assembly of Virginia - 1769 – 1792 by James Rood Robertson, signing two petitions. The first, #26, was the request for a town in Lincoln County (Harrodsburg) that would become Kentucky’s first permanent settlement in May of 1774.  This request was granted in an act entitled, “An Act for establishing a town in the county of Lincoln”, in Henning’s Statutes, Vol. 12, page 223. The second petition, #58, and perhaps most important for the Commonwealth of Kentucky was entitled, “Act concerning the erection of the district of Kentucky into an independent state.”  It is also found in Henning’s Statutes, in Vol. 12 page 788 and dated August 1787, almost 5 years before statehood. Numerous constitutional conventions were held at the Constitution Square Courthouse in Danville and in 1790, Kentucky's delegates accepted Virginia's terms of separation. A state constitution was drafted at the 10^th and final convention held in April 1792, and on the 1^st day of June, 1792, Kentucky became the fifteenth state admitted to the union.

     Michael Humble was a Captain in Colonel John Bowman’s Company of the Kentucky Militia in 1777. He is listed on the rolls under the command of General George Rogers Clark and also found on the muster roll of Captain James Harrods’s company in 1779. He established his gunshop near 12^th and Main streets in Louisville on lot # 91 under the protection of the guns of Fort Nelson. He was an “armorer” in the forces of General Clark and he not only made and/or repaired ordinary rifles, but documents indicate that he also made “Fort-Guns” and wall pieces for the protection of the frontier posts in the vicinity of Louisville. Michael Humble took on James Stewart as an apprentice in 1782 and from this existing indenture and the address given in an ad he placed in the Kentucky Gazette trying to find the owner of a stray mare, it is known that he had moved to Mercer County (then Lincoln County) perhaps as early as 1782.        

Fort Nelson – est. 1780 – now Louisville, Kentucky

   Not only was Michael Humble a gunsmith, but also a gaming sportsman with one of the first “race paths” in the region. Lincoln County court records report that:  “April 1, 1783; The first horse race took place at “Humble’s Race Paths,” near Harrodsburg and for betting on a mare worth 12 pounds at the later, Hugh McGary was tried at Oyer and Terminer Court in August and found guilty. The opinion of the court was that said Hugh McGary, gentleman, be deemed an infamous gambler and that he shall not be eligible to any office of trust or honor with in this state.” Maria T. Daviess, historian and author of the Mercer County history book, put it aptly when she wrote about this record, “Such a procedure now [1924] would sweep gentlemen from the track as a cyclone does to the forest!”

     No evidence has been found suggesting that Michael Humble ever left Kentucky after his arrival in the early 1770’s and he died there in 1818. His grave is at the site of his home, race path, and gunshop near the Mercer/Boyle County line, 4 miles north of Danville.

The grave site of Michael Humble and his second wife Nancy

   The posthumous notoriety of Michael Humble as a gunsmith was brought to light by Theodore Roosevelt in 1889, when he wrote on page 138, Volume One of his famous works “Winning of the West” describing the backwoodsman rifle, “His weapon was the long flint-lock rifle, clumsy, and ill-balanced, but exceedingly accurate. It was heavy, and when upright, reached to the chin of a tall man; for the barrel of thick, soft iron, was four feet in length,while the stock was short and the butt scooped out. Sometimes it was plain, sometimes ornamented…”.  This excerpt has a footnote reference that reads; “ ^2.The above is the description of one of Boon’s rifles, now in the possession of Col. Durrett. [Reuben T. Durrett was the founder of the Filson Club Historical Society] According to the inscription on the barrel it was made at Louisville (Ky.), in 1782, by M. Humble. It is perfectly plain; whereas one of Floyd’s rifles, which I have also seen, is much more highly finished, and with some ornamentation.” This document gives us a rather good description of another Michael Humble rifle and has put me on the search for it as well as the rifle described belonging to early surveyor John Floyd.

Discovery

     As above mentioned, only recently have there been any examples known to exist of signed - thus documentable - rifles produced in the Kentucky region during the 18^th century. The first to surface is signed by Conrad Humble, Michael’s older brother of 4 to 5 years. The last will and testament of Conrad Humble, dated January 5, 1791, states: “I, Conrad Humble, of the County of Bourbon and District of Kentucky, Gunsmith; being sick and weak in body but of perfect mind…” In the research and study of the American Longrifle, this type of document along with a signed rifle is rare and exciting. It was at the 2001 Kentucky Rifle Association meeting in Carlisle, Pennsylvania that I first handled the wood boxed rifle signed “C: Humble”. Shelby Gallien, author of the soon-to-be published book on “Kentucky Gunmakers”, was first to recognize the name. From his research on gunsmiths from the Kentucky region he immediately realized that the rifle was indeed by the older brother of Michael Humble. This notable rifle is very well made, has pleasing architecture and is long and graceful. The .56 caliber, tapered and flared rifled barrel is 45 ¼ inches long. The original flint English trade lock is marked “Ketland” on the inside and dates from the 1780’s.

 The first rifle discovered signed: C: Humble

The stock is quarter sawn sugar maple with bold curl and is relief carved behind the tang and behind the cheek piece. It still retains its original wooden patchbox cover which is decorated with two unique wedding band type moldings across the lid that match the molding along either side of the length of the forestock. The mounts are all brass, including the “feather- hole” inlay on the toe of the rifle. Legend tells us this was used to hold a Blue-Jay feather; a bird the pioneers hated and killed at every opportunity as their squawking alarm often warned the Natives of an encroaching intruder. This big bore rifle was made for and in frontier Kentucky at a time there was still large game… bear, buffalo, elk, and Indians.

Getting Acquainted

   To set the stage for the study of the Humble brothers, their father Uriah Humble Jr., was an immigrant arriving in Pennsylvania about 1733. He was naturalized in Philadelphia in 1740, having been in Pennsylvania “upwards of seven years”. Before leaving for Virginia, Uriah lived with either his father (or brother), Martin Humble in Rockhill Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His eldest son Conrad was born during this period, with records disagreeing on the exact date of his birth varying from 1739 to 1740. Conrad’s parents were Uriah and Charity Kuster Humble. They were married in 1735 and were in Brocks Gap, then Augusta County, Virginia by 1751, and were some of the earliest settlers in that area.  This means that if Conrad indeed moved with them, he was in the valley of Virginia by age 13. But it is quite possible that at this age arrangements had already been made for an apprenticeship and that he stayed behind, not joining his family until his training was complete. The first time I find Conrad in Augusta County, Virginia is June 10^th, 1760 when he signed in “teste” on a deed for John Michael Brooks for Thomas Baggs and again on May 3, 1763 on a deed from Benj. Kinley to Martin Humble for 215 acres on Sinking Spring.

     Thus, it is evident that Conrad was in Brocks Gap by his 21^st year of life, just enough time for him to have finished an apprenticeship. His name appears in Augusta County records 1776 - 1777 as Captain in the Militia and again in Rockingham County in 1782, (which was established in 1778 from Augusta) but is not present on the 1783 rolls. This leads me to believe that this is when he moved to Kentucky. 

     Conrad’s brother, Michael, was also born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and was 4 or 5 five years younger. He was born in 1744 and would have been 6 or 7 years old when the family traveled down the Great Wagon Road, moving into the Shenandoah Valley. The name of the patriarch, Uriah Humble Jr., appears multiple times in the Augusta County Records. He is listed as participating in several legal documents and inventories for wills, including the appraisal of the estate of his father-in-law, Conrad Kustar. Uriah lived his life in Brocks Gap, and died there in 1770.

C:Humble signature on the first discovered rifle, along with his younger brothers Mic’l:Humble on a relic barrel.

The Migration                                                                   

     In the early 1780’s there was a rather large migration of several families from the Brock’s Gap region that moved westward into the Kentucky frontier. It appears that Conrad Humble also moved to Bourbon County, Kentucky region, Virginia, about 1782. This would make him approximately 42 years old. There is quite a mystery about these folks; the Humbles, Kusters, Cains, Bryans, Berrys, Mocks, Lehrers, Ruddles, Wests, and others, that moved into Kentucky about the same time. Many members of these families were gunmakers, that had lived their whole lives in the Brocks Gap region of Rockingham County, Virginia. Why the move? Why now? It is apparent they moved soon after British Colonel Henry Byrd’s attack on Ruddle’s and Martin’s Stations. The so-called Ruddle’s Station had been first built by John Hinkston in 1775, on a broad flat ridge above the SouthFork of the Licking River along an old game trail from McClelland’s Station (Scott County) to the Lower Blue Licks. However, Isaac Ruddle enlarged this station in 1779, giving it its name. The settlers that first built the station had put up fifteen crude cabins and in 1776, Simon Kenton and Thomas Williams had helped add a blockhouse; though soon during the year of the “bloody sevens” (1777) Indian threats caused its abandonment. Isaac Ruddle returned in 1779, adding cabins and fortified the blockhouse. About this same time, John Martin also returned to his abandoned cabin only four miles away on Stoner Creek and he and others soon built an additional station. In 1780 the Revolutionary War had made its way into the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky and in retaliation to the exploits of General George Rogers Clark, Colonel Byrd advanced on these two settlements with both British and Indian troops, and for the first time on the Kentucky frontier they brought artillery. Settlers knew they had little chance of holding out against a cannon and promptly surrendered to the British on the condition they would be taken captive, and not killed. Byrd promised his Indian allies part of the plunder in return for not killing the settlers, but twenty were killed and scalped on the spot. Byrd had planned a much larger attack on all of the Kentucky settlements, but realizing that he had lost control of the situation and the Indians, he lost heart and returned to Detroit. The remainders of both settlements were forced to march on foot to the British stronghold at Detroit. Those that survived the march were kept prisoner until the end of the Revolutionary War. If not for this restraint, the 1780 attack could have drastically changed the situation for the future of the Kentucky territory.

     My speculation is that this move, this migration from Brocks Gap to Kentucky, was to try to preserve pieces of property belonging to friends and family members who had suffered this misfortune. Many of these new Kentucky pioneers were gunmakers and passed the trade down in their families, becoming well known names in the ranks of later Kentucky rifle makers. Curiously, most also had family that stayed behind in Rockingham County and continued to pass down the art and mystery of gunbuilding through the generations of their families back in Virginia as well.

   Conrad Humble settled just across the Licking River from Ruddle’s and Martin’s Stations acquiring property from John Hinkston. He had considerable land holdings and an extensive estate in Kentucky when he died and is buried on top of an Indian mound near the location of his home and shop. His will was probated January 5, 1791, a little over a year before Kentucky became a State in June of 1792. His estate inventory contained 20 gun barrels, 10 gunlocks, 22 assorted files, a full set of smithing tools and a vast array of what would have been considered in that day luxury household items; as well as 4 slaves, 5 horses, 18 head of cattle, 8 sheep, 8 hogs, 50 chickens, a watch, a rifled gun, tomahawk and knife. He was obviously a very wealthy and affluent man and his estate inventory suggests that he had been settled in Bourbon County for quite some time.  

Training

   It is only natural for us, as students of these icons of America’s past, to wonder just where Conrad and Michael Humble learned their trade. Their work is similar with some associated traits, yet is very different and after close study of the individual rifles one wonders if they were not taught by different masters. Conrad’s work seems much more refined and graceful and perhaps exhibits a more talented hand. Michael’s work provokes intrigue and his designs were carried off very successfully, although from a gunbuilders perspective he was literally flirting with design disaster. Little can really be assumed about the overall spectrum of their work with there only being one known firearm from each gunsmith. However, Michael’s sole example seems to be a product of the isolated frontier, being influenced by many different rifles that he had seen come through his repair shop and is somewhat radical with the mixing of regional characteristics. Conrad’s simple yet elegant rifle shows a well trained, very seasoned and professional gunbuilder.

     We can wonder if their father, Uriah, was a gunsmith bringing the trade to America with him, but there are no discovered records showing this.  Quite perhaps their Grandfather Kustar, (found spelled, Kustar, Kuster, Kester, Custer, Custard) on their mother’s side was the source of their training?Their mother, Charity Kustar, was the daughter of Conrad Custar, who was also the grandfather of Conrad's son-in-law Richard Kuster Sr. This makes his son-in-law, also his first cousin. We do know that Richard Kustar Sr. was a gunsmith, as was his brother Joseph, and his son Richard Kustar Jr. as well as R.K Sr.’s, son-in-law, William Hevener. When Conrad Humble left Brocks Gap, he sold his farm to Frederick Honaker, also a gunsmith, and only a couple of years later, Richard (this time spelled) Custer Sr. bought this property and it remains in the Custer family till this day. There is at least one rifle suspected to be the work of Richard Custer Sr. with his initials being found on the patchbox lid, and another by Joseph signed, “J.C.” on the lid. There is at least one rifle signed by his son, Richard Custer Jr. and there are several rifles that exist from the Hevener family of gunsmiths. Their work is well documented, as the family continued the tradition of the gunsmith trade throughout the years of the Civil War. There are many existing records giving much insight into their involvement in Rockingham counties gunsmithing industry.

     William Sites debt to William Hevener to boreing and grinding 30 gun barrels  in the year of 1825 and 1826 at $1.75 Cts. Per barrel - $52.50
       Rockingham County September 2^nd, 1826 This day came before me, George Dove a Justice of the Peace in and for said county.

       William Hevener proved the above account to be just and true as it stands stated by the oathe of James Sutherland.

       Given under my and the day date above written.  

         George Dove  

Pennsylvania, to Virginia, to Kentucky

     There is great similarity between the work of Conrad Humble and that of George Schroyer. Several students have suggested that Humble studied with Schroyer, that being the reason for the similarities we see; but I contend they were contemporaries. George Schroyer and Conrad Humble were the same age, being born within months of one another, and I feel it more likely they  trained in the  same shop and their  work shows   

Cheek side of the C:Humble rifle,

influence from the same source. There are records that suggest a George Schroyer worked in Rockingham County for several years and there are rifles by George Sites, and another signed Henry Fister, both from Rockingham County, that strongly relate mutually to Schroyer’s and the Humble brothers’ work. It is suggested by the research of Dr. George Shumway, that George Schroyer at least finished his training in Reading, Pennsylvania and worked there from 1763 to 1768. He then disappears for 6 or 7 years before re-appearing and becoming a noted gunsmith in Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania. Perhaps Conrad Humble, who lived only 40 miles east of Reading, apprenticed at the same time and in the same shop as Schroyer and the embryo forms of these traits were taught by the same master. Conceivably, Schroyer may have been in the Valley of Virginia during those missing years between Reading and York, and I would like to speculate that maybe he was working with his longtime friend and comrade. Possibly, the association between Humble’s and Schroyer’s work was picked up during that time. Regardless of the circumstance, these thoughts are merely speculation.

     The rifle by Michael Humble exhibits elements of design using innovative artistic license taken by a maker not bound by the rules of regional characteristics. It has bold butt-stock architecture provoking a feel that is oft-times related to the Reading, Pennsylvania area.

Rifle signed: Mic’l: Humble with lock marked, “H&K”

However, the brass box, carving and large oval cheek inlay makes one think York County upon first impression. Then from out in left field, he throws in the fantastic cheek piece  molding decoration fashioned from eight sterling silver triangles, each cleanly engraved making a unique and dramatic artistic statement. The hand-hammered, rifled barrel has a Masonic “compass and square” touch mark on under side of barrel probably indicating that Michael was a Free and Accepted Mason. The barrel is approximately .58 caliber, tapered and flared and 47 ¼ inches long. The lock is hand-forged and stamped “H & K” possibly standing for “Humble & Kuster”? Richard Kuster, was Michael and Conrad’s first cousin and also a gunsmith; it is quite possible this early American production lock was produced as a joint business effort of these gunmaking cousins. I have now examined four of these locks and each are filed differently to give a unique outward appearance but the plate and internals are from the same forgings. I may be wrong about my attribution of the makers signature “H&K” but I am confident they are American products made in the 1780’s or 90’s before trade with Great Britain was re-established after the Revolutionary War.  The method of fabrication used in these locks is rather innovative for the time, and the design capitalizes on the best characteristics of cutting edge locks of English, German and French manufacture. Top-quality locks would have been in high demand during this period of time and thisfamily has left much evidence of their impact and business attitude in young America’s gunmaking industry.  

Mic’l: Humble – cheek side

     The double set triggers are also obviously manufactured by the maker and the broad blade of the front trigger is very reminiscent of the single trigger on the Conrad rifle and I feel is a “taught” method of fabrication. Another common characteristic found on both rifles is the technique in which the front lock/sideplate mortise is carved; with the front beaver tail type decorations terminating at right angles to the molding line on either side of

the trigger guard. The alternate beaver tail type moldings at the rear of the lock mortise terminating into the wrist on each of these rifles are completely different and stylistically needed to be. The beaver tails on the Conrad rifle are very large and bold adding to the flowing lines of the architecture of the rifle. This element of design on Michael’s rifle is rather diminutive, helping greatly to combat the awkwardness in the wrist area caused by the tail of the lock being cocked up above the center line.

       Bold relief carving is found in front and behind the prominent cheek piece, and as already mentioned, a unique cheek decoration of 8 silver triangles (four are missing) is found along the edge of the cheek piece, complementing a large silver oval that is inlaid above  and engraved with a  hunters star.   Relief  carving is also  present around  and

behind the barrel tang, although well worn and partially covered by the later added silver thumb escutcheon. The forestock molding and relief carving at the rear entry pipe is almost completely worn away. The elaborate brass patch box has a single piercing in the finial and is tastefully engraved. The side panels of the box seem to be associated with similar designs found on later Kentucky made rifles by the Bryan, Graham, Klinkenbeard, Simpson, West and Young families.

     Most students of the Kentucky Rifle agree this firearm dates from the mid-to-late 1780’s although some feel the Michael Humble rifle could date into the early years of the 19^th century and perhaps it does; yet the butt is just shy of two inches wide and the barrel is much larger in caliber than would have been practical even in the backwoods of the Kentucky wilderness after 1800.  I personally feel this rifle dates from the mid to late 1780’s and can make a good case that its’ original flintlock is also from this period of time. Regardless of when it was made, it is logically evident that it was either made at the Falls of the Ohio, now Louisville, or in Mercer County, Kentucky. Michael was an excellent metal worker and although his engraving hand is a bit heavy, his designs take this in consideration and the decorations are gracefully bold and very pleasing to the eye. His carving is nicely designed and well executed, complimenting all other elements of his creativity. Each of the Humble gunsmiths had artistic imaginations and both rifles show much sophistication. This example of Michael’s work shows some hold over from earlier gunmaking methods, specifically his use of a screw directly into the bottom flat of the barrel, holding the very front end of the forestock to the barrel. A similar characteristic is associated with rifles from the Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania region; however, unlike those examples that depend on this screw to literally hold the nose cap to the stock as well as the stock to the barrel, in this case the extra long nose cap is pinned to the forestock with a copper pin in the same method as the nose cap of the Conrad rifle. The fore-end screw on Michael’s rifle is designed specifically to hold the forestock to the barrel and he has added simple but delightful engraved decorations along both the top and the bottom of the nose cap.

   As a Kentuckian, I have to admit, that I would truly like to document these rifles to be products of the Kentucky region. In view of the fact that there is record of Conrad Humble buying: 500 hundred acres on Clear Creek in Jefferson County, June 21^st, 1780 and 1,285 additional acres - 5 miles down river from the mouth of the Licking River and on the banks of the Ohio River, August 9^th 1784,  a good case can be built. Research highly suggests that Conrad Humble left Brocks Gap moving to Bourbon County, Kentucky Region Virginia between 1782 and 1783.  From comparing this rifle to others that are dated, I sincerely doubt that Conrad’s wood box rifle will pre-date 1782. Thus, I do feel confident that it is a product of frontier Kentucky. As there is no record of Michael Humble ever leaving the Kentucky region after his arrival as early as 1774 and his death and burial in Kentucky in 1818, I also have no doubt that his rifle was produced either in Louisville - Falls of the Ohio, or in Mercer County between Danville and Harrodsburg.

Synopsis

     After more than 5 years of research on these Humble Kentucky gunsmiths, there are still many unanswered questions. Where are the earlier rifles by Conrad Humble? He was over 40 years of age when he moved to Kentucky and spent the majority of his productive years in a gunmaking center in the Valley of Virginia. My research, combined with a great deal of study by Frank House, has revealed information implying that the Brocks Gap/Fulks Run area of Rockingham County was a major gunmaking center and that the Humbles and their Kuster in-laws and other cousins were a motivating force in that areas commerce as they also were in Kentucky.  This subject will be broached and presented in detail in a future publication.

     Looking at these two particular existing examples, it is easy to forget that both Conrad and Michael Humble were early American gunsmiths. Putting this into perspective, Jacob Dickert, George Schroyer and Conrad Humble were all born within 12 months and 60 or so miles of one another. These gunmakers were 7 or 8 years old when Christian Oerter was born in 1747 in Frederickstown, only 20 miles away from Conrad and Michael’s birthplace and J.P. Beck of Lebanon, Pennsylvania was not born for another four years until 1751.

     Most likely, the majority of Michael’s work was repair or the re-stocking of barrels, locks and hardware of broken but cherished weapons that had fed and protected the pioneer settlers pouring into the mythical Promised Land called Kain-tuck-ee. Michael’s productive years were spent serving the needs of migrating immigrants that would have come with rifles in hand and the monetary means to purchase new made rifles would have been scarce until long after Kentucky had established statehood. With this in mind, Michael Humbles total production of rifles was probably much less than most practicing gunsmiths back east. However, there should be a multitude of Conrad’s work in existence and I would think in comparable numbers to the surviving rifles of Dickert and Schroyer, but this was obviously impinged by his pre-mature death at only 50 or 51 years of age.

     Research is ongoing and it is not only focused on the Humble family, but on a whole group of arms that have been labeled “migration guns”, most of which show influence from makers with roots close to Brocks Gap, Rockingham County, Virginia. For years we have classified rifles by the schools that were identified and labeled by Joe Kindig Jr. in his priceless tome, “Thoughts on the Kentucky Rifle in its Golden Age”. As study of Kentucky rifles has continued since Kindig’s foundation book and theories were presented, rifles continue to surface that are artistic statements, exhibiting traits of many different geographic regions. They also display seemingly out-of-place characteristics that have been assigned to specific periods of chronological time. This brings up the point that both Humble rifles appear at first glance to be later than my research insinuates they were actually produced. The heel of the butt-piece on the Conrad rifle immediately implies it was produced after 1800. Upon close examination, the lock, barrel and hardware are all first generation use and with that knowledge along with a death date from his last will and testament, we know the rifle had to be made before 1791. Why the pinched and elongated heel on the butt-plate? This is a trait that we consider much later, but I contend there had to be a “first time” sometime and also that there is definite practical reason for this feature of design.

     In the on-going study of the American Longrifle, we are becoming more and more aware of the utilitarian nature of America’s early settlers. Rifles and companion powder horns give great insight into the inquisitive personalities of the daring and brave who settled our nation winning the liberty and freedom we are blessed with today. Personalities of these pioneers and signs of the times are ingenuously expressed in their artwork. The Kentucky rifle is an all-important tool, made and used to forge our very existence. Borrowing words of John G.W. Dillin, “it was a model often slightly varied but never radically changed”.  Yet, the intrigue and study of the subtle artistic variances by these countless artist and craftsmen has brought so many, so very much, comfort and  pleasure.

                                                                                 Mel Hankla ~ Kentucky ~ 2008

Kentucky Longrifles

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