15' (Possibly) B.N. Morris Canoe Company ID

[Dustin Lindsey]

Hi all,

My grandfather always talked about his project canoe that he kept tucked away for years. Unfortunately, like many others, so many projects leads to certain ones never being finished. I went down to check out the canoe, and it might be a B.N. Morris canoe. I'm not certain, but it has a brass plate ID #13926, closed gunwales, floor deck, and seems to be mostly original (if not entirely original). It is a certainly a project canoe. No canvas remains on exterior, and it has two holes in the planking. Any information you all could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

 

[MGC]

It certainly does look like you have a Morris.
Follow this link to The Wooden Canoe Museum site B. N. Morris | Wooden Canoe Museum.
There you may read about Morris and his canoes and also determine an approximate build date for it. The brass tag is a serial number.
You can be quite sure that it is a Morris. Your photo shows the splayed inside stems that are a Morris identifier as well as several other features.
It's interesting that it is a 15 foot canoe...

 

[Dustin Lindsey]

Thanks for the reply. Based on the serial number, I’ve dated it to 1916 (it falls within the correct range).

 

[MGC]

Dustin, dating a Morris canoe is not an exact science.
The Morris dating table was constructed using a number of assumptions and a handful of known dates.
Some recently obtained information about another SN 13XXX canoe suggests that I have the table slightly shifted for the years of 1914, 15 and 16.
I am currently considering/reviewing a revision to the table that would shift some if not all of the 13XXX canoes into 1915. You might say that your canoe is built circa 1915/16 and be fairly confident that it is from 1915.

 

[Dustin Lindsey]

Thank you very much. That would line up with what I have found in the documents my grandfather has in handwritten notes. He had written 1915. There are many canoes on the property (a few are now only really for parts, mostly hardware). Three of the Old Towns (there are 6 in total, but 3 are not salvageable) are from the 20s, and we have matching construction slips with matching hull IDs, but this one has been a little trickier to track down.

 

[MGC]

Dustin, I should have mentioned that there is a book about Morris available from the WCHA. Here is a link to Kathryn Klos book The Morris Canoe. The Morris Canoe: Legacy of an American Family | WoodenCanoeHeritage The content available from the Wooden Canoe Museum is amplified in Kathryn's book.