Bob-
Hard to tell from the photos--and I may have said the same thing when you first showed pictures of this boat--but those lines look more like something related to a Rangeley Boat than a freighter canoe to me. Twenty feet would be big for a Rangeley, though, and all the ones I've seen are lapstrake. Maybe a case of convergent design by boat builders in different parts of the North Woods trying to design a boat for fishing big ponds and lakes. The original Rangeley's were double ended row boats, and then the sterns were squared off as outboards became common. Over in Eastern Maine, the same needs drove development of the Grand Laker canoes.
They remain the best boat I've ever used to chase big lake brook trout with a fly rod--quiet, stable, and very seaworthy. A 16 footer will easily allow two anglers to both stand and cast, and with the oars you can sneak right up on rising fish. They row beautifully--especially the few double enders that are still around.
Yours looks like a great project.