[pat in Santa Cruz]

The preferred wood used by coach builders back in the day was ash. It was plentiful, strong and flexible. Today its hard to get, especially since the infestation by the ash beetle, and white oak is often substituted. I believe Morgans are still framed in ash. Henry had large forests of ash, oak, maple and birch. Maple was used as frame and top bow wood on station wagons, with the floors made of ash and/or oak planking and panels of birch plywood. Most original A sedan framing and sub framing I have seen is ash, which looks very similar to oak. I would not be surprised to find any of Henry's lumber stock used in coach framing. If they ran short of one kind of lumber, I'm sure they would substitute another in order to keep production going.