Ferdinand "Fred" Hummel was born in Prussia in 1828 and trained as a gunsmith and mechanic. He got into political problems in 1848 and had to flee to America, where he settled in Lebanon, PA. Most of his known work dates to his PA period.
In 1861 he moved to Paducah in McCracken County, KY, where he worked until his death in 1907. He favored the Union side in the Civil War, and his shop was raided by the Southern Army. After the war he continued working as a gunsmith, but also sold imported arms and related materials in his store on Broadway Street in Paducah.
Interestingly, Hummel seemed to prefer importing his gun-related materials from Germany, rather than England or Belguim as most other later gunsmiths did. At least one high grade double barrel shotgun carries his mark on the barrel rib, yet was made in Germany. Several Lebanon, PA, marked guns are known, all finely made in fit and finish, with Germanic engraving on mountings. In later years he worked as a gunsmith in addition to owning/running a sporting goods store that sold a range of goods. He was involved in local civic affairs in later years, and received two patents in 1880 and 1882 for breech loading gun improvements. Shelby Gallien
