Old Town Serial Number 179391 18

lawtongaines

Curious about Wooden Canoes
Looking for info on an 18-foot Old Town, serial number 179391 18. I think it's an OTCA

Thank You
Lawton Gaines
WCHA #4025
 
The Old Town canoe with serial number 179391 is an 18 foot long Otca model with a keel and covered with fiberglass. It was built between November, 1967 and May, 1969. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It shipped on May 1st, 1969 to Brookline, Mass. The back side of this record indicates that it was reported as stolen on August 30th, 1976. Scans showing both sides of this build record can be found by following the links at the attached thumbnail images below.

These scans and several hundred thousand others 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 or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/join.php to join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions or feel that the police need to be notified.

Benson
 

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OT Ser No 179391

Wow. I read the article about serial numbers and what they can tell you in the last issue of Wooden Canoe and thought I’d check on mine. I bought the canoe in 1982 from a reputable seller. I still have the bill of sale showing the serial number and my canceled check. I’ll try to contact the people listed on the backside of the build record or take all of this to the local police and let them follow it from here.
 
I suspected that you had no idea that it had been stolen or you would not have been asking for the build record. The web site at http://anywho.com/ does not show anyone named Nehring who lives in Brookline, Mass. any more. I don't know what the laws require you to do in this case. Please reply here with the results of your investigation so we will know what to do if this situation ever comes up again. It might make a very interesting story for the Wooden Canoe Journal. Good luck,

Benson
 
I also tried whitepages.com and found no phone listing for Adolph Nehring in Brookline. I used the reverse search feature to get the phone number for the current occupant of the Brookline address and called them. After telling the person the reason for my questions, she told me that she had been living at this address for years and did not know of an Adolph Nehring. She expressed surprise that an inquiry was being made after so many years.

Again using whitepages.com and not specifying a city or state, I located the following address history for Adolph Nehring. Whitepages.com listed Adolph C Nehring as 81 years old at each address but one. At that address he was listed as 89. One address listed his wife as Beatrice Nehring. The following is cut/pasted from the report.

Background Report for Adolph C Nehring
Address History for Adolph Nehring includes the following cities:
2 Addresses in WEST HARTFORD, CT
1 Address in EAST HARTFORD, CT
1 Address in BOSTON, MA
1 Address in HOBE SOUND, FL
1 Address in BROOKLINE, MA
1 Address in SOUTH WINDSOR, CT
1 Address in HARVARD, MA
1 Address in WEST ROXBURY, MA

I checked each city using anywho.com and whitepages.com but in every case, no current phone listing could be found for Adolph Nehring. The only nationwide listing for a Beatrice Nehring was a Donald R & Beatrice L Nehring, Augusta WI.

I sought out legal advice before going to the police. I showed the attorney the page from the November 1982 newspaper that carried the classified ad for the canoe, the bill of sale that the seller gave me, which includes the canoe serial number, and my canceled check that also includes the canoe serial number. I had saved these documents along with much other canoe related material over the years. He commented that the documentation was complete and that he believed the couple advertising the canoe would have chosen another avenue for selling it had they been the people who stole it. Since the theft took place in 1976, I was advised that too many years had passed for the police to do any follow up work.

I would like to have been able to locate Mr. Nehring but I don’t know of anything else I can do using the Internet. How nice it would have been for him to know that after all these years the canoe had been located. After purchasing the canoe I restored it and since then it has always been stored inside. It has been used with TLC for many years. I haven’t used the canoe for the last couple of years and would have gladly done whatever he thought was the right thing. If anyone knows how to contact Mr. Nehring, please post it in this forum.

Sincerely
Lawton Gaines
 
Lawton,
You have gone above and beyond! Makes me glad to know there are still good citizens out there.
 
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