Morris Bros Canoe

[David Tabor (sailordave)]

I have a lady friend who's Dad is cleaning out the house/garage. Back in the 40's he bought a Morris Bros (?) wooden whitewater canoe (circa1926) at a garage sale. Used it for a few years and then hit a rock and put a hole in it (on a date w/ her mom!) For the past 55 years he's kept it; 43 years in the same garage. Never fixed it.

Any details available about this canoe? Supposedly he has some of the materials to fix it but never did.

I've asked for digi pix to put up here. Should be coming soon.

[reddog]

Hey David;
Before anyone touches the canoe you should check out this site:http://www.wcha.org/
Lots of very knowledgable people who could help with this potentially valuable boat.

Earl

[Canoez]

Yeah, the other place to check is Dan Miller's website (Dragonfly Canoe) - he's got a section on canoe brand identification. There was a company called BN Morris up in Veazie, Maine. I've not heard of Morris Brothers, but it doesn't mean there wasn't such a company. If it's a BN Morris boat, they're usually fairly easy to ID the boats if the decks are in good shape - they were labeled on the deck itself.

Bert Morris's business went up in flames sometime around 1920 or so and there were a few "Morris" boats built later - I think at the Old Town company where Morris worked as a foreman from forms salvaged from the fire.

Most of these boats of this vintage had closed or capped gunnels and had rot issues at the tops of the ribs and the stems. You definitely don't see one of these every day. Might be worth a professional restoration.

[Steve Lansdowne]

You might also try researching this on this link.

http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html

[Greg Nolan]

Check the canoe identification guide at Dan Miller's Dragonfly Canoe Works.

http://dragonflycanoe.com/id/index.html

The section on B.N. Morris has a photo of the splayed stem foot -- if it has a stem with such a splayed foor, it is pretty certainly a Morris (although, as the id guide notes, there are a few others that have such a stem), and if it doesn't, it's something else.

Those of us who have a B.N. Morris would love to see pics of your boat, and if you don't have a splayed stem foot, the pics would help identify whatever it is you have.

And you certainly should post the pics on the WCHA site -- lots of very knowledgeable people there who can help, not only with the id, but with restoration.

You also should check out the "bible" of canoe restoration, "The Wood and Canvas Canoe" by Jerry Stelmok and Roland Thurlow.

[Canoez]

The Morris that I have had rivets to hold the stem band on. If I remember correctly from Dan's site, that was one of the hallmarks of the brand.

[David Tabor (sailordave)]

I may have been BN Morris... I'm awaiting pics...