Mike,
I am NO expert or even a serious student of the German language, except for taking two years of Modern, “High” German in High School over 40 years ago. Thought I would get that caveat out of the way. Oh, I WELL remember my German Teacher, Frau Kinsler, almost beating into us the importance of the Umlaut. GRIN.
In one of the JHAT books, they talk about how difficult it is for modern German reading and speaking people to read 17th and early 18th Century German text. I have heard this from others who were real scholars on the subject in other places as well. It seems it is much more difficult than modern English reading/speaking people have of reading 17th English, though, even to scholars in each language. So I completely understand that some German Scholars might think or believe the name is actually “Huber” instead of “Faber.”
Perhaps looking at what the different surnames mean may be useful or at least interesting. “Huber” in German comes from the word “Hide” meaning a plot of farming land, so the name would have its historic roots in that trade/avocation. The surname “Faber” seems to have been far older and came up with the Roman Empire into France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. In Germany it is considered a “Latin” or “Latin Form” that later evolved into Schmidt or Schmitt or Schmitz and means a Blacksmith and was well associated with that trade. The name Faber was well established in Germany by the middle ages. (Now, just because someone’s surname is Farmer for example, doesn’t mean or meant they followed that trade, of course. In the early to late 18th Century, the surname Farmer was hugely part of the gunmaking industry of Birmingham, UK.) Still the surname Faber is a much more likely name and much longer associated with Blacksmithing and Metal Working in Germany than the surname Huber -IF Faber was the maker and not the owner. Also found out there was not a Virginia Gunsmith by the name of Faber, so it might have been the Owner instead of the maker? .
Not only that, but this link speaks to Germanic Fabers who colonized into early Pennsylvania and their name was not a misspelling or mixed Anglo/Deutsch conglomeration.
http://www.houseofnames.com/faber-coat-of-armsShumway stated the name “Faber” was an old and established name around Staunton, Va.
Finally, here are a couple of Fabers who are listed on Passenger lists:
Johann Henrich Faber - 1749 (Ship) Ranier
[list 136 C] Ranier
Captain: Henry Browning
From: Rotterdam
By Way of: ..., England
Arrival: Philadelphia, 16 Sep 1749
http://www.progenealogists.com/palproject/pa/1749ran.htm and
Johann Henrich Faber
1751 (Ship) Duke of Bedford
[list 166 C] Duke of Bedford
Captain: Richard Jeffreys
From: Rotterdam
By Way of: Portsmouth
Arrival: Philadelphia, 14 Sep 1751
http://www.progenealogists.com/palproject/pa/1751dobed.htmBottom line, while perhaps some things may be seen in the engraved “signature,” isn’t it more important how the Person/Gunsmith who owned or built it considered how their name was or should have been spelled?
Gus
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