LEWIS DRAKE

Poulin Auction Company together with myself, Jim Julia, are exceedingly pleased and proud to have the honor in marketing the Lewis Drake Collection. The offering includes the inventory of Lewis Drake’s business together with some personal items. After approximately 40 years in the business, Lewis has decided to close his business and we will be selling many of his items in the Premier Firearms Auction in May. Other items will be dispersed at various online sales throughout the year also.

I have known of Lewis Drake and his wonderful reputation for a number of years and had done business with him on occasion but never had the chance to spend an extended amount of time with him until we were preparing for this auction. I am only sorry that Lewis was not my next-door neighbor. He is such an interesting and honorable man. Lewis is a lifelong resident of Kentucky and in his youth attended Columbia Military Academy graduating in 1961. He then went directly to Murray State University and eventually graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1966, receiving his BS degree in Chemical Engineering. Although many of the members of his family were physicians, Lewis initially decided he wanted to become a chemical engineer. He initially worked with the Ashland Oil and Refining Company in Catlettsburg, Kentucky. Then he went to Penwalt Chemical Company in Calvert City, Kentucky. Lewis has always been passionate about flying and obtained his commercial flying license in 1968 and later got his ATP license. After working as a chemical engineer during the day, in the evening, he would fly freight for Skyway. After a number of years working as a chemical engineer, Lewis decided he would like to enter the medical field and despite his age, he was able to get into a medical school and get his MD degree from the University of Kentucky in the 1980’s. He practiced as an Ob/Gyn in Murray, Kentucky for approximately 20 years. Lewis always loved firearms and started his business in the mid-1980’s. As a youth, he had spent a fair amount of time with Turner Kirkland, who was an old-time dealer who had a vast knowledge of all types of muzzle loading firearms. Lewis’ passion has been for muzzle loaders both percussion and flint and later he became an expert with the long bow and over the years harvested a vast number of animals including a huge black bear which is listed in the Manitoba, Canada record book (this exact black bear will be included in the auction). Because of his great passion and love for guns, all during the time he was a doctor, he bought and sold from time to time but in early 2000, Lewis quit his medical practice and went to work for his wife!

Ruth Ann was the absolute love of his life. They met and married in 1989. She was a beautiful woman with an incredible work ethic and she was sharp as a tack. She as well as Lewis developed a great reputation for business and success in the firearms world. Initially, a great deal of their business dealt with very high-end accessories associated with quality sporting arms. (A number of examples of these things will be included in our various sales). Once Lewis left his medical practice, he then became full-time in the acquisition and selling of fine firearms and sporting accessories but flying continued to be a passion. After the Deep Water Horizon oil spill, Lewis went to work in the Gulf of America flying the DC-3, DC-3T, DC-4 spray planes that helped to disperse the oil spill and continued working part-time flying in the Gulf, for the next 8 years, after which he returned to Murray State University and earned his B.S. in Biology in 2017. As a side note, Lewis’ father during WWII flew the C-47 which is the military designation for the DC-3. His father unfortunately died in the service of his country flying the C-47. Lewis is a detail-oriented person and skilled machinist. As such, he could repair firearms, making cartridge casings, and bullet molds for the 8-bore and 4-bore rifles. Over the years, Lewis and his wife made an incredible amount of friends through his business and together annually they would host a special gathering of many friends and clients at their Kentucky home.

In addition to developing a vast amount of friends and clients in the business, Lewis has always been noted as handling quality firearms and during his lifetime he has handled a vast array of very impressive firearms. Lewis explained one of his early exciting discoveries was a rare 4-bore rifle that belonged to H.M. Stanley, “Dr. Livingston, I presume”. This was the very gun that Stanley carried with him in the search for Dr. Livingston. Lewis shared with me that a valued client of his who frequently purchased firearms from him, one day called up and indicated that he wanted to sell a few firearms. They discussed the various guns he wanted to sell and prices and one of the items was this 4-bore rifle. Lewis agreed to purchase the items over the phone for the client’s asking price but when he arrived to pick up the guns, the seller mentioned to Lewis, “By the way, I forgot that 4-bore supposedly used to belong to H.M. Stanley and was used when he found Livingston”. Lewis had not previously known this and indicated to the client that he probably wanted more money in light of this information but the client said that he was sticking by the price he quoted and happy to sell it to Lewis. After a great deal of research, Lewis was able to positively identify and prove that the gun was Stanley’s and eventually sold it to one of his very special clients. It now resides in the NRA Museum. 

 We are most proud to have been selected by Lewis to handle his firearms and we join with Lewis in hoping that all of these wonderful items will find a great home with many of you.

COLLECTION INDEX

Below are the lot numbers of the items from this collection to be featured in our May 8-11, 2025 Premier Firearms & Militaria Auction

1064  |  1065  |  2105  |  2106  |  2107  |  2108  |  2109  |  2110  |  2111  |  2112  |  2113  |  2114  |  2115  |  2116  |  2117  |  2118  |  2119  |  2120  |  2121  |  2122  |  2123  |  2124  |  2125  |  2126  |  2127  |  2128  |  2129  |  2130  |  2131  |  2132  |  2133  |  2134  |  2135  |  2136  |  2137  |  2138  |  2139  |  2140  |  2141  |  2142  |  2143  |  2144  |  2145  |  2146  |  2147  |  2148  |  2149  |  2150  |  2151  |  2152  |  2153  |  2154  |  2155  |  2156  |  2157  |  2158  |  2159  |  2160  |  2161  |  2162  |  2163  |  2164  |  2165  |  2166  |  2167  |  2168  |  2169  |  2170  |  2171  |  2172  |  2173  |  2174  |  2175  |  2176  |  2177  |  2178  |  2179  |  2180  |  2181  |  2182  |  2183  |  2184  |  2185  |  2186  |  2187  |  2188  |  2189  |  2190  |  2191  |  2192  |  2193  |  2194  |  2195  |  2196  |  2197  |  2198

2183
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