A Brief Biography

Hershel Carmen House was born on July 4, 1941 in the Green River Community of Woodbury, Kentucky. He grew up with a beautiful view of the river, which was the centerpiece of his early life. He spent as much time as he could going up and down the river in homemade canoes, as well as hunting and camping in the woods through which it ran.

Hershel discovered early that he did not appreciate the ways of the quickly modernizing world and preferred the old and primitive ways (hence, the homemade canoes) on which our country and the Commonwealth of Kentucky were built. He learned many of these ways from his fourth-grade reader Singing Wheels. He often spoke very fondly of this book, and it is evident that it made a big impression on him.

His skill as a craftsman became manifest during his early teenage years. One day he was exploring a neighbor’s barn and found a very old percussion rifle that had not seen use or care for many, many years. Most folks would have considered it a piece of junk. He asked the owner of the barn if he could try to restore the rifle? She told him yes and that it was his to keep. Without help from anyone else and with no previous experience as a gunsmith, he was able to restore it to working order. Not having money for percussion caps, he figured out how to use the paper caps for a toy cap gun to fire the rifle. He was very proud of the fact that he took many squirrels with this rifle.

His skill as an artist also began to develop at this same time. His initial drawings were simple pencil and paper sketches and cartoons. Later in life, he painted as well. Some of his most famous drawings are a set of four which he produced for the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association’s (NMLRA) 50th Anniversary in 1984. These sets proved to be a major fundraiser for the Association that year. Our Foundation is in the process of putting together a book that will feature many of his works, some of which we have only recently discovered in his home since his passing on January 10, 2024.

After he graduated from high school, he honorably served his country in the United States Marine Corps. He proved to be an ace shot on the rifle range and was known for topping his commanding officers. During his stint, he served 16 months in Cuba doing guard duty at Guantánamo Bay. There, he spent plenty of time drawing and planning his life back home in Kentucky where he would make a living working with his hands.

After his discharge, he moved to Louisville where he worked in an automobile assembly factory. It took him just a few months to realize “that I hated it!” So, in 1965, he returned to Woodbury to pursue his lifelong dream of setting up a shop and building Kentucky rifles full time. Many thought that he was crazy and would starve to death. Fortunately for him and us, they were wrong! As time passed by, his skills grew and grew to where he became known simply as Hershel. If you had one of his long rifles, pistols, knives, tomahawks, or anything else that he made, you were considered very fortunate. Fess Parker used one of Hershel’s “Kentucky Long Rifles” in his portrayal of Daniel Boone on TV from 1964 to 1970. Others fortunate enough to own one of his long rifles include governors, US senators, and other dignitaries as well as regular hunters and collectors.

It turns out that he was also a trendsetter. Early on, he taught himself how to “age” a barrel so that the gun would look like it was well used. In the 1960s, many older gun makers would say, “A new gun should look new!” Hershel’s reply was, “Well they didn’t look new after a few trips to the woods back in the day.”Today, there is not a single flintlock rifle maker who produces a gun with a shiny, new looking barrel.

One of his greatest sources of happiness was teaching others how to do the things that he had taught himself to do and had learned over the years. Seeing someone else produce something with their own hands using the knowledge that he had shared with them brought him great joy. There is no way to know how many he taught over his lifetime. His students recall the very special bond that they felt working and learning beside him. He was always kind and patient.

His art took him all over the country. This allowed him to meet and work with people from all walks of life. He was proud of that. His greatest legacy will always remain his willingness to share his artistic styles and processes now known as the “Woodbury School,” with others. Once, a man who had been studying with a different master gunmaker called Hershel and said, “I am having trouble figuring out this one step, and my teacher told me that it was one of his secrets and won’t tell me how to do it.” Hershel replied, “I’ll tell you exactly how he does it. I know because I’m the one who taught him!”

One example of his teaching is the annual June Long Rifle making seminar which started in 1982 and is held in conjunction with the NMLRA. The many who had the privilege of visiting his home and the workshops held there could not help but be captivated by the world he had created to grow his craft. Many described it as walking back in time. Between reviving log cabins, restoring antique vehicles, building furniture, grinding cornmeal on his own mill, hunting with his beloved dogs or going to the flea markets, not much grass could grow under his feet. He said, “I’ve had the great satisfaction of living my life exactly the way I’ve always wanted to live it.”

He was featured in numerous magazine articles, featured on TV shows, and was the recipient of not one but two National Endowment for the Arts grants. The grants allowed Mel Hankla, Ed.D and Terry Leeper, Ed.D to each study individually with him. Both are now well known and respected in the Long Rifle Culture for their contributions and accomplishments.

Despite his fame, Hershel remained a humble man. If someone dropped by his shop and had a question, Hershel would gladly stop what he was doing to help that person. If a gun of his developed a problem, even one caused by owner misuse or neglect, Hershel fixed it at no charge.

Prior to his passing, he established the “Hershel House and the Woodbury School Foundation, Inc.” His main goal in establishing this 501(c)(3) was to make sure that his legacy of teaching others how to create the things he did using his techniques was passed on. Fortunately, he left behind very specific instructions, which the Foundation is working diligently to accomplish.