Well, the Old Town with this serial number is 16 feet long and shipped in 1911 but there was no mention of extended stems and it probably didn't have heart shaped decks or a carry handle in the bow. The Kennebec with this number is 18 feet long from 1923 so that isn't likely to be yours either. The Carleton canoe with serial number 17550 is a 16 foot long, CS (common sense or middle) grade, Carleton model with red western cedar planking, open spruce gunwales, birch decks, birch thwarts, birch seats, and a keel. It was built between December, 1922 and March, 1923. The original exterior paint color was dark green. It was shipped on April 2nd, 1923 to New York City. A scan showing this build record can be found by following the link at the attached thumbnail image below.
This scan and several hundred thousand others were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. 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/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and
http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description don't match the canoe. The characteristics that you described all seem like a Carleton. There is no mention of unusual stems so they may be the result of the previous repairs. Look for nail holes in the bow deck from a missing brass tag. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
Benson
