unusual Morris

[Rollin Thurlow]

Here's a nice 1912 B.N. Morris with a bit of unusual building characteristics. The serial number is 9107,closed gunwale, 24" extended decks.
The rowing station and the tip of the outside stem are rather unique.
There is the standard narrow rail cap on top of the closed gunwales but for the rowing station the cap has been greatly enlarged to support the oarlock socket. I thought this might of been a add-on after the construction but it certainly looks original and there are no extraneous fastening holes in the inwale that would indicate that a different cap was there before this one. There is no indication of a special rowing seat and its kind of hard to see how it would be comfortable rowed.
The tip of the narrow outside stem has a nice flare so the sides of the stem will meet the outside rail caps. To make this little detail would require a bit of extra planning and extra shaping which most canoe companies would not do. I've seen this detail a few times but its still nice to see.
Lastly there is picture of removing the outside "D" shaped rail that was fastened with the long steel nails, fastened from the inside rail. Anyone that has tried removing a good rail that's been fastened with steel nails and not break the rail knows what a trial in patience this operation is.

 

[Michael Grace]

That’s a special one. Thanks for sharing, Rollin. So how is that top cap made? Is it a single piece of wood that has been somehow cut down from full thickness at the oarlocks to make the rest of the rail? Love the stem tip detail! It’s little things like that that really make for special craftsmanship.

Michael

 

[Dave Osborn]

I restored a 1912 Morris with similar oar locks, but no other unusual features. It’s in the Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum.
It was said to have been restored previously by Joe Seliga, but found no evidence of it. There is another name on the hull, but I don’t recognize it.

 

[Dan Miller]

These wooden oarlock mounts are shown in the Morris catalogs of the teens. Attached is an example from the one with the red-on-red cover dated circa 1911-1912.

 

[Dan Lindberg]

It looks a lot like "pick up Ely" is written on the planking.

It was said to have been restored previously by Joe Seliga, but found no evidence of it.

 

[smallboatshop]

I saw a Morris with oarlocks some years ago. It had a small 4 legged caned stool and the owner said they once had the short oars.

 

[MGC]

I restored a 1912 Morris with similar oar locks, but no other unusual features. It’s in the Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum.
It was said to have been restored previously by Joe Seliga, but found no evidence of it. There is another name on the hull, but I don’t recognize it.

Looking back at this, the first name appears to be Louis Zayak followed by PU (pick up?) E Cy(r?).

 

[Dave Osborn]

Good call Mike. I’m certain that it is Ely. Oral history said that Joe Seliga worked on it at one time. Probably belonged to Louis Zayak.

 

[MGC]

I’m certain that it is Ely.

I can see that.... and that makes sense if Seliga worked on it.