Hi Kathryn:
I grew up in Rangeley and found the build record interesting. Russell's, I believe, was kind of a hardware store/convenience store/ etc. They probably ordered it for a "person from away" during the summer, I speculate. The Russell family also built Rangeley Boats, which were western Maine's version of lapstrake guideboats. In my experience, canoes were not all that common in this part of Maine. The guideboats were more popular and you can still go to remote pond and find some stashed in the woods and rotting away. The preference is probably related to the large windblown lakes in the area more than anything else.
What part of the world did the canoe end up?