Morris Thwarts

[Fitz]

I will be working on a Morris in the near future. It is in pretty good shape except for a kink in the inwales (at a rib pocket) and likely the result of historical monkeying with the thwarts. The canoe is 17 ft plus long and has a 12xxx serial no. It appears to have originally had three thwarts based on carriage bolt placement. The canoe has one wide mahogany thwart that is assumed original near the stern, and a replacement ash thwart now behind the bow seat. The wide thwart was historically moved forward presumably to allow more leg room for the stern paddler. The center thwart is currently missing.

My questions are as follows:

1. Is the wide thwart a Morris thwart? Were wide thwarts an option? Do other folks have wide thwarts in their Morris Canoes? I just don't recall seeing a wide thwart in a Morris and thought it is potentially a replacement or option. It is old and could be original.

2. If the wide thwart in the stern is original, what did the other two thwarts look like? I assume the other missing quarter thwart may have been wide too, and the missing center thwart could have been a more conventional carry thwart designed for quick removal with wing nuts? Do catalogue pictures exist of such a thwart configuration?

Many thanks for your help.

 

[Dan Miller]

Here is a catalog page that shows an open gunwale Morris with a wide thwart. Shape is different, but shows that a wide thwart is not necessarily unexpected.

 

[Dan Miller]

Bad form to follow ones' own post, but I need to pad my post count

Here is another from 1917 with a very similar thwart shape.

 

[Fitz]

Wow, that was fast! Thanks Dan.

So, I guess I am thinking about reproducing the wide bow quarter thwart and installing center carry thwart option "No. 23", and that may be the way to go??!

Cheers,

Fitz

 

[Greg Nolan]

Fitz --

The Morris carry thwart as shown on page 28 of the 1917 catalog looks a lot like one that has been offered by, I think, Old Town.



I presume that Morris used the same "L" bolts and wing nut for the carry thwart as he used for the removable center thwart (item 13 on the catalog page Dan posted):



If you have carriage bolt holes, I think someone was messing with things, because I don't think Morris ever used carriage bolts.

The modern carry thwart has a clamping bolt similar to the Morris L bolt:



The usual thwart made of mahogany, is shaped like these (from my Morris 6466):



I've saved lots of photos of various Morris canoes, and none has a wide thwart, so you have something a bit special with yours.

The catalogs don't say what wood is used for the carry thwart, and a lot of the other accessories such as seat backs are made from spruce or maple, as well as being available in mahogany. Neither do they show the shape of the thwarts in a fancy Morris at the Adirondack Museum boat warehouse that is tricked out with back rests, deluxe oarlocks, and thwarts that are carved a bit differently than usual:



I expect to start work on my Morris next year some time, so I'll be watching for any photos you post.

Greg

 

[MGC]

Possible historical interest aside, don't you think that wide thwart is sort of ugly? It's a beast. I can't imagine filling a Morris with those. The "normal" thwart is so much more elegant.

 

[Treewater]

That wide thwart I found on an Old Town war canoe, about a 25 footer, in the Havre de Grace museum in Maryland. the canoe has no seats but about six thwarts all wide like shown above. Maybe they sat on them.