Looking for information on 18' Old Town, Serial # looks like 7257
You are most welcome and your recent donation is much appreciated. It may take more than a serial number to identify your grandfather's canoe. The Old Town Canoe with this serial number is 17 feet long. There are no Carleton or Kennebec records for this serial number. Several other Old Town records of 18 foot long canoes with similar serial numbers are shown below. Do you have any idea when and where your grandfather may have purchased it? Can you provide some pictures of your canoe, especially ones showing the serial numbers from each end, the decks, and confirm the actual overall length? You may want to review the information at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?791 to see if any of the suggestions there can help to clarify these numbers. Thanks,
Benson
Benson
Attachments
Benson,
You found it - the first try. You are good. Thank you very much. The first record you attached for #72571 is for a sale to my great grandfather! I was off by one generation. The shipping address also matches. The Canoe has reportedly been at or near the Ausable Club in Keene, NY (shipping address Westport because in the late 19th and early 20th century people and all else came by train and that was (and is) the closest train station. Our family and I still have a camp at the Ausable club. Now it's clear what I have to do - if I can - get the boat (which has been stored in a dry basement for many years) fixed up and back into our camp so it can be enjoyed, and stored in a boat house. Read on if you are interested in a little more of the story here that you have helped me piece together.
My family has traveled to New York's Adirondack Park for vacation since the late 19th century. We have a small camp at the Ausable Club. My wife and I moved to this area full-time last year and we went from being seasonal visitors to year-round residents. We purchased a house from a distant cousin, and found an old canoe in the basement. They said it had been given by a local guide to their family - but they we're not interested in it. It turned out we know the guide who reportedly gave the canoe to them and asked for the story. He indicated he had given it to them, it was old, needed work, and he had no use for it or place to keep it safe. And he mentioned that my grandfather had given it to him for some work he once did for our family. My Grandfather was Ed Janeway, who married Eleanor White, daughter of the A. M. White (which is Alexander Moss White, usually just referred to as A. M. White. He was born 1879, died 1929). He spend much of his summers at the Ausable Club. It is he who is shown on the Old Town record you provided for #72571. It does measure out at 18' and while the serial number is hard to read the 18' is clear.
Thank you for helping to uncover this story. I will wait for a dry day to carry the boat out and take pictures. Ed Jamison (son of well know Adirondack paddling champion Paul Jamison) has advised me of an individual with an excellent reputation for repairs to old wooden boats, here in the Adirondacks. I've been in contact with him and hope that over the next year we can work this boat into his schedule. Thank you again for your help.
Willie Janeway
You found it - the first try. You are good. Thank you very much. The first record you attached for #72571 is for a sale to my great grandfather! I was off by one generation. The shipping address also matches. The Canoe has reportedly been at or near the Ausable Club in Keene, NY (shipping address Westport because in the late 19th and early 20th century people and all else came by train and that was (and is) the closest train station. Our family and I still have a camp at the Ausable club. Now it's clear what I have to do - if I can - get the boat (which has been stored in a dry basement for many years) fixed up and back into our camp so it can be enjoyed, and stored in a boat house. Read on if you are interested in a little more of the story here that you have helped me piece together.
My family has traveled to New York's Adirondack Park for vacation since the late 19th century. We have a small camp at the Ausable Club. My wife and I moved to this area full-time last year and we went from being seasonal visitors to year-round residents. We purchased a house from a distant cousin, and found an old canoe in the basement. They said it had been given by a local guide to their family - but they we're not interested in it. It turned out we know the guide who reportedly gave the canoe to them and asked for the story. He indicated he had given it to them, it was old, needed work, and he had no use for it or place to keep it safe. And he mentioned that my grandfather had given it to him for some work he once did for our family. My Grandfather was Ed Janeway, who married Eleanor White, daughter of the A. M. White (which is Alexander Moss White, usually just referred to as A. M. White. He was born 1879, died 1929). He spend much of his summers at the Ausable Club. It is he who is shown on the Old Town record you provided for #72571. It does measure out at 18' and while the serial number is hard to read the 18' is clear.
Thank you for helping to uncover this story. I will wait for a dry day to carry the boat out and take pictures. Ed Jamison (son of well know Adirondack paddling champion Paul Jamison) has advised me of an individual with an excellent reputation for repairs to old wooden boats, here in the Adirondacks. I've been in contact with him and hope that over the next year we can work this boat into his schedule. Thank you again for your help.
Willie Janeway
Canoes with a family history are much more interesting than anonymous ones to me so thanks for sharing. This could make a great start for an article in Wooden Canoe magazine if you want to send it to editor@wcha.org with some pictures and other details. The Old Town canoe with serial number 72571 is an 18 foot long, GS (Guide's Special or low) grade, guide's special model with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, a keel, and a floor rack. It was built between June and July, 1922. The original exterior paint color was dark red. It was shipped on July 15th, 1922 to Westport, New York.
This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join as a member of 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 details about this canoe from the 1922 catalog are attached below. More information like this is available from http://store.wcha.org/The-Complete-Old-Town-Canoe-Company-Catalog-Collection-CD-ROM.html in the WCHA store. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Good luck with the restoration process,
Benson
This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join as a member of 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 details about this canoe from the 1922 catalog are attached below. More information like this is available from http://store.wcha.org/The-Complete-Old-Town-Canoe-Company-Catalog-Collection-CD-ROM.html in the WCHA store. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Good luck with the restoration process,
Benson
