The first Kennebec canoe with number 2174 is a 16 foot long Kennnebec Kineo model with closed spruce rails, cedar stems, and western red cedar planking as shown on pages 54 and 55 of volume one in the Kennebec ledgers. It was planked by Morgan on March 25th, 1911. The decks were "15-M" (15 inch maple?) and the canvas was "58-10" (58 inch wide number 10?). The canvas covering was applied by Stens(?) on the same day. Carrigan(?) applied the first filler coat on the April 1st, 1911 and Smith applied the second filler coat on April 15th, 1911. The keel was "A" (ash?) while the braces (thwarts) and seats were "M" (maple?). It was railed by Knuth(?) on July 1st, 1911. The original color was M. (medium) green which was first applied by Wood(?) on July 8th, 1911. It appears to have been repainted by someone else on December 16th, 1911 and shipped to Stalknedt(?) on April, 19th, 1912(?).
The scans of these build records can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below. These original Kennebec records are reproduced through the courtesy of the Maine State Museum.
The microfilms and scans of these records were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA). I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See
http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and
http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
The links at the end of MGC's message have a good summary of how to value a canoe like this. You can also see some similar canoes at
http://wcha.org/pp-classifieds/ for comparison. This is the time of year when the prices of wooden canoes usually start to go up so negotiation may not be easy. $500 for an early Kennebec that just needs new varnish, canvas, filler, and paint may be a reasonable price. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
