B.N. Morris info

[EarleVermonter]

Last Summer I acquired a free canoe, just take it away. It was in St Albans VT and he rembered it being in the family since the 60's. What the owner thought was a cedar stripper was apparent to me a wood canvas boat, somewhere underneath the badly done fiberglass and many layers of paint.
I had no idea what it was. After some research on this site and dragonfly, I am quite sure I have a B.N. Morris. It has heart shaped decks, pocketed closed gunwhales, and a splayed stem. Thwarts, seats and inwhale appears to be mahogany. Missing center thwart. Could never find any evidence of a serial number tag on the stem though.
I recently discovered Kathryn's Morris ID video and went back to look closer at it. There are two cant ribs ahead of the first full rib. I found the oval serial #tag on the right gunwhale over the first full rib. Number is 77.
I hope to begin stripping the glass and paint this summer.
Questions: 1)Approximately how old is this canoe?
2) Canoe has a keel, but no apparent outside stem or stem band. How should this be restored?
3) Two item appear to be repair addittions. A wire type connector right before the deck. A cap over the end of each deck. Any chance these actually might be original.
4) What Model? Ol is 17' 6" but reprint catalogue only shows 17' or 18'. The position of the thwarts indicate it is a 17 footer. Width outside the gunwhales is 33 center depth is 12" to maybe 12.5". These dimensions don't match the catalogue. Am I measuring wrong? Canoe is structurally sound and I don't think the the shape has changed significantly.
I hope something in this information contributes to Morris understanding and would appreciate any feedback.

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Thank you thank you thank you

You have provided significant information to our database and I hope to do you the same sort of favor in kind!

You have the lowest numbered Morris canoe in the database. Your canoe appears to verify my belief that they began numbering at the beginning--- with "number one"... and that numbers were consecutive.

1.We believe Morris began numbering the canoes in about 1900. Canoe #1876 was shipped in June of 1903. #77 is likely to have been produced the first year that Morris began numbering. Your canoe is approximately 110 years old and appears to be in fantastic shape for its age.


2. Looks like it may have had outside stems which were removed when it was glassed (looking at the taper of the keel). So, put back outside stems (oak) and a stem band on top of that. Morris stem bands extended only 3/4 inch over the top of the deck. They were riveted on--however, most folks use screws now, and file the slot off so that it appears to be a rivet. Rollin may have a better answer.

3. Wire connector and cap are later additions and can be dispensed with.

4. Yours is a 17' Morris Special Indian, first grade. It may be the "extra beam" version, but the dimensions in catalogs must be taken with a full teaspoon of salt, with added pepper.

It wasn't until about 1905 that Morris began calling his models A-D, and began calling all his canoes "first grade", eliminated the second grade of canoes and made up a separate company (Veazie Canoe Co) to cover the second grade and factory direct versions.

I will attach images from the 1901 Morris catalog, available on CD from dragonflycanoe.com.

Would love to see a profile of the canoe-- at least of the bow or stern.

Thanks so very much. Any more questions very welcome...

Kathy

 

[MGC]

Morris pile-on

1.We believe Morris began numbering the canoes in about 1900. Canoe #1876 was shipped in June of 1903. #77 is likely to have been produced the first year that Morris began numbering.

Kathy,

I looked at that tag over and over again to see if I was not seeing a number. What a tag.....!!

I located 6586 this weekend. When do you suppose that was built? The owner thought it was an OT but I set him straight.
He is trying to sell it. It will soon be in the classifieds.

After looking it over and comparing it to mine, I was quite certain that it was older than mine due to both lower number and numerous differances in the construction.
Do you have an idea what year the tag went from the rail to the stem?

Mike

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Morris 6586 probably dates from 1908, and I'd love to know the location of the serial number plate. The plate was moved from the inwale to the stem between canoes numbered 6466 (on inwale) and 6981 (on stem), so knowing where it is located on 6586 may help us narrow that down a bit more. Morris needed to go to the larger, more rectangular plate as the numbers approached five digits.

Kathy

 

[MGC]

Tag location

The tag on 6586 is located on the rail.
You can see it at the top of the 4th rib on the port side.

 

[Kathryn Klos]

This is great to know! 6586 is now the highest serial number (in our database) placed on the inwale. Thanks for getting us that information, Mike.

Kathy

 

[EarleVermonter]

Profile pictures

Attached some profile pics. This will be the biggest job I've tackled. Looking forward to it, but a lot I don't know. Inwhale is fair, I hope to make use of it with some repair. The topwhale and side strip, though are pretty well gone.
What wood should I use? Spruce? Would ash be ok? Does it have to be flat, or would the rounder profile be ok.
I suspect there may be some broken ribs as there are metal strips that appear to be a repair. How much can a rib be cracked before it can't be repaired and needs to be replaced?
Would this have had a floor rack? I would like to build one which is histroically accurate, but haven't seen much info on them. What type of wood are they made of?
How can you tell this canoe is Special Indian model? I've seen Indian names from numerous manufacturers from that period. Is that a unique shape or just a popular name?

 

[Kathryn Klos]

I'll start with your last question first. "Special Indian" was the name Morris gave to his canoe, in the early 1890s. Later, he made a beamier model called the "Special Indian, extra beam", which is the logo of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association. The Morris canoes which show no sign of having had a serial number appear to be from this early period.

Yes, many canoe companies used the name "Indian" or different Indian-esque names for their canoes, because Indians and canoes are associated in the human mind (and rightly so). Some canoes actually were modeled on native craft types... some are fairly "generic". The lines of the Morris may be the most generally copied of any non-bark-canoe.

Morris built three grades of Special Indian. The reason we know for a fact that Morris #77 is a Special Indian and not a Model A or B (etc) is that we have the receipt for Morris #1876 which was a Special Indian. It was described as "one 17' No. 94 First Grade Canoe."

No. 94 translates as a Model D. We know this because many of the Morris catalogs are on CD (available through dragonflycanoe.com) and Morris continued to use this numbering system in addition to A-D. You may be able to figure out what model your canoe would have been by comparing the dimensions of your canoe to the catalog descriptions, but the numbers are fairly inaccurate. We have a canoe we know is a Model B because it's a size that only came in the Model B. Determining one model of Morris from another isn't as easy as eyeballing an Old Town and knowing it's an Otca and not an HW.

Morris switched from calling his canoe Special Indian to Model A-D in approximately 1905. We arrived at this date because we own a Veazie (second-grade Morris) trimmed in maple which lost its tag (evidence of s/n on the inwale) with two pairs of cant ribs. Morris #3502 (circa 1905) has three pairs of cants; Morris #2972 has two pairs of cant ribs. All Morris canoes 3XXX and higher (which are in the database) have three pairs of cant ribs. So, the decision to only make one grade of canoe happened with the 2XXX to 3XXX serial numbers (the Veazies being given a separate set of numbers). And that was about 1905... or a bit less... the word "circa" works wonderfully as it means "around the time of...".

These were business decisions. Morris wanted to say he only sold one grade of canoe-- a canoe trimmed in mahogany. And he dropped the "Indian" name--- perhaps he felt it was too commonly used by other builders.

Through the Veazie Canoe Company, Morris sold his same canoe but trimmed in less expensive hardwoods and available factory direct (to cut out the middleman).

The Special Indian dates from about 1893, according to some communications between Morris and his customers. The canoe changed little... except around 1905 a third set of cant ribs were worked into the ends.... and over the years, the canoe developed a bit more recurve (and by the mid-teens, one could order "special ends", which were torpedo stems).

I will attach a description from the 1901 catelog. As with later Morris models (A-D) the gunwales on a standard Morris were spruce unless the customer ordered the mahogany upgrade... and then the outwale was mahogany but the inwale was spruce. The inwale has pockets for accepting the rib-ends.

Floor racks usually were included. Look for toggles on the floor (made from pieces of stem band). Some people make floor racks-- others don't bother. It's up to you. The 1901 catalog doesn't specify wood species so I will look through other catalogs.

Others here have more knowledge re how bad a rib should be before it needs to be replaced... but in general, if you are going to the trouble of removing fiberglass and refinishing the interior and replacing planking and wales... well, my thoughts are to do the ribs too. You may find that after stripping the interior, there are more cracked ribs--- and the ones you thought were insignificant may look a lot worse.

Your biggest pain will be fiberglass removal and wood stripping... by the time that's accomplished, others here will have lots of helpful ideas for you.

The fiberglass removal tip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXILZU6Jm-s

Morris usually stained the interior a mahogany color and stained the gunwales mahogany too. I believe Denis has the magical formula he used, so when you get to that point, and Denis hasn't already ponied-up with the formula, just ask.

There are many others here who have restored Morris canoes and undoubtedly have tips and tricks to share.

You have a very interesting canoe! Will you be taking it with you to the Assembly in New Hampshire (hint hint)?

Kathy