Help id

[SWEETWATER]

Found an 18' canoe, canvas over wood, but cannot id it. It has painted interior and solid gunwhales the person who restored it did , i think to just make it seaworthy. It has heart shaped decks. Really rounded edges with the pennant brackets diamond shaped. The serial no. On both ends is 2289. And it is very shallow maybe 12 or 14" thanks for the help

 

[SWEETWATER]

Sorry the serial no.s are stamped pretty small, and the canoe seems old but being painted hard to tell. Also has the old town diamond bolts on the thwart. But only one thwart. And the seats were morticed together, but not to the gunwhales. The gunwhales were definitly replaced sguare edged. And i have no pics.

 

[normsims]

With a stamped serial number and diamond-head bolts, I thought it might be a Carleton canoe. But the serial number 2289 would be very early, perhaps 1911. I could not find a build record for that number. I also think that's too early for diamond head bolts. You might try a closer examination of the serial numbers. Was there a two-digit number following the serial number that would correspond to the length of the canoe?

Could you post some pictures of this canoe?

Norm

 

[SWEETWATER]

I only saw the 4 numbers. I am pretty sure there were onle 4. The gunwhales were all replaced, he did a good job with bending them to the profile but he didnt bother rounding the edges so they are very sharp square edges. He just kind of screwed them all together. The decks look like the only original pieces. Theribs look good from what i can tell. Everything is painted on the inside so its hard to tell. The thwart is new so i dont even know if the diamond bolts are original because the seats are installed with some kind of angle brackets to the gunwhales not original obviously. I will try to get a couple of pics.

 

[SWEETWATER]

The serial number could also be 2239

 

[normsims]

Pictures would help, especially of the stems, the decks, and the ribs. The Carleton records have only one canoe in the 2000 series, then the numbers jump to 5000. If possible, you might try carefully removing some of the varnish from the stems to see if another digit appears.

The canoe may have had closed gunwales originally, and it's always possible the diamond-head bolts were used when the gunwales were replaced. I dunno...

Norm

 

[Benson Gray]

My guess is that you may have a Kennebec canoe. Their serial numbers 2239 and 2289 were both issued to 18 foot long Kineo models in 1911. These had heart shaped decks, closed gunwales, and were listed in the catalogs as being 25 inches wide and 13 inches deep. The diamond headed bolts were probably added in a previous repair.

Benson

 

[SWEETWATER]

That what i figured about the bolts.the decks are not heart shaped like the careltons. But the ends of the deck are fully rounded like a completr heart but they could have been reworked to get rid of some rot from the gunwhales. I dont know . He sent me some pics ,but i dont know how to download them from email. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Kathryn Klos]

See if it works to right-click on the image-- if you get "save as" as an option, you can save the picture anywhere in your computer and post it here.

 

[SWEETWATER]

Hope this works

 

[SWEETWATER]

Kathryn ,as usual to my rescue. Thanks so much

 

[Robert P. Ross]

This is a classic example of why photos are a crucial element in assessing a canoe. This appears to be Rushton Indian girl.

Robert P. Ross
Ross Bros.
PO Box 60277
Florence, MA 01062
413.320.2306

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Yeah, that's what I just told Denis... but was waiting for someone like you, Robert, to jump in first.

Cool.

 

[Dan Miller]

I'm with Robert...

 

[SWEETWATER]

So i think it definitly is a rushton serial no 2289 or 2239. How do i find out when it was made. And are these fairly common

 

[Dan Miller]

There were somewhere on the order of 5500 - 6000 Indian Girls built, by current data... Not common, yet someone wanting to own one certainly has a reasonable chance to...

A 2200 series serial number puts it in the transitional period around the time J.H. Rushton died - 1905-1906.

Assuming it is an Indian Girl, you should find a brand on the upper face of the stems, which would indicate J.H. Rushton, Canton, NY, or, J.H. Rushton, Inc., Canton, NY. This wlll narrow down the build date.

 

[normsims]

The decks look right, but was the Indian Girl built in an 18-foot length?

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Our IG is an 18 footer...

 

[SWEETWATER]

How are the 18' ig to handle and paddle. And would it make a good canoe for me and my son to take on maine northwoods trip.

 

[SWEETWATER]

Doing some research everything looks right. Decks, rear seat, single center thwart,gunwhales. But i am going to have to strip some paint and replace canvas.