Hello –
I recently purchased these handcuffs (or shackles?) and would like to know if anyone could help me date them. They appear to be all handmade forged iron and, while the tag indicated that they were slave shackles, I didn’t think so when I bought them. However, after closer examination, the locking mechanism appears to be a spring and pin which, from a novice point of view, seems to be fairly easy to pick – although I haven’t tried it. So I’m not ruling out possible use on slaves. In any event they appear to be very early.
Any information will be greatly appreciated and it would be great if anyone can point me toward some good reference material for this type of locking mechanism.
Thanks,
Mike

Hmmm. I can't seem to figure out how to actually post my photos on the forum but I did save some in an mtita2 album on photobucket.com

http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj113/mtita2/

I used to own this very set.

I traded them to a buddy of mine here in Canada and no doubt he sold them in the states as he often goes there to gun shows, etc.

This set were found in the basement of the Meaford Opera House in Meaford, Ontario, Canada.

The antique dealer I got them from said that as Meaford and many other points here in Ontario were Underground Railroad destinations he felt it was likely these had slavery connections.

I tend to agree especially when one sees the drill holes where one has violated the lock case in an attempt to gain freedom.

These work on the spring wedge locking system.

Nice to see them again!

Steve Santini

Hi Steve and thank you for your reply. You’re right the sales tag stated that they came from Meaford although the tag stated that they were from the town hall. I purposely excluded that information so that I might be able to get independent confirmation of their origin. Thanks!

Can you tell me what period of time that type of lock was in use? Would these have been hand cuffs (seems too large) or leg shackles?

Thanks again,
Mike Tita

most slave irons were leg shackles,do to the fact the owners wanted the slave's hands free to do work,or in transit to town and back, which was most likely the only time they left the plantation to have their hands free to carry stuff!

I expected to see Eastern Indian repro junk.....what a nice suprise to see these beautiful old leg irons! No big suprise to hear that Steve once owned these....they look like something he would have in his display. Nice find Mike!!!

Cheers, Mike

Yes, I can just imagine some poor soul, on the Underground Railroad, waddling all the way from the Southern slave states, up to Canada, wearing those things. Then, crossing Lake Erie, or Lake Ontario, or doing a land crossing at Niagra Falls, waddling another many more miles northwards to Grey County, reaching the shores of Nottawasaga Bay, and then finally having those "slave shackles" struck off and then secreted away in the basement of an opera house in Meaford where they will be found over a hundred years later by some antique dealer.

Old shackles? Yes. Slave shackles? I don't think so.

You know more about Canadian history and in particular the history of this region than Canadian historians do.

Give yourself a pat on the back.

Steve Santini

First thanks for your comments.

While I agree that these were not likely worn nor carried by some poor escaped slave who took the perilous journey north on foot; that is not to say that slave shackles could not be found in the north. Otherwise one may suggest that one would never find slave shackles, cuffs, etc. very far north of the Mason-Dixon line because they would have been discarded by then. In reality, abolitionist used such props (whether they were in fact from a Southern plantation or made by the local blacksmith) to spark the emotions of the audience and solicit funds for the cause. These could be shackles that arrived in the Meaford via some production [Uncle Tom’s Cabin? ] for the opera house.

It would be near impossible to classify any item such as these as to specific purpose such as slave restraints. (Hmmm – I wonder if I can create provenance by hanging them in a former plantation in Southern Maryland and ‘find’ them later?) My question was really: Would this type of locking mechanism be MORE LIKELY used on slave shackles? It appears that my answer is not really because this type of locking mechanism was very common; right? Although I’m still unclear during what period of time the spring wedge lock was popular for items such as these. 1700 until 1850?

Personally, I just like finding out more history about the items I buy. I don’t plan to sell them, I don’t think that I over-paid for them (<$150) and they just spoke to me when I saw them.

Thanks for everyone’s help and input.

Please let me know if anyone would like more detailed photos.

Mike

When I owned these I felt they were likely wrist irons as they seemed small for leg irons.

It is not at all beyond possibility that a runaway slave could travel on foot with these locked on the wrists.

Steve Santini

P.S. Nor, if they are leg irons, is it beyond possibility that a slave could have had half of the irons struck off in the USA and remaining half removed here in Canada.

The spring wedge and screw key locking styles were certainly used on many slave restraints of the period.

Steve Santini

Two reasons for a former Slave to move to Owen Sound

1) It's beautiful country
2) It's the Home of Steve Santini ...one of the very Best to learn from to NEVER be restrained again!

C

I reckon those Canadians be Owen us some slaves – LOL!

mike, i don't think thay were made yesterday,steve could be right in opened one in states and one in canada,that would explan the diff. size hole made at lease that's what it looks like in the photo's, also thay could have connected two slave's either hand are foot,but my own opinion is thay are at least 1860's or more!!! doesn't the wedge system go back to the roman's STEVE?

Really, it is not critical for my piece of mind to have a slave connection associated with these shackles. However, another possible origin is that they were used on slaves in Canada. I was under the mistaken belief that slavery was abolished in Canada earlier than 1834 but thanks to Steve for the link to that very fine and informative article I am now properly informed. These are all theories which are just fun to postulate.

I do think they are in fact leg irons and would fit properly on a pair of nineteenth century ankles. Given the clothing I’ve seen, I believe a nineteenth century person’s wrists would slip through these.

Nonetheless, thank you Steve and everyone else for your comments and help. My particular area of interest is the American Civil War and these shackles will look proper with the rest of my collection. (Hmmm … maybe they’re from an escaped Confederate prisoner. )

I know of a pair of handcuffs in a museum in southern Maryland that is using the spring wedge as it has been called here. I have always attributed that style lock to the asia and wouldn't be surprised if it found it way through north Africa. Anyone know the origin and history of this type of lock?

-Dorson

Roman shackles have been exccavated with these type locks.

I have seen many US made 1800's shackles with the lock style and I have seen many Medieval period irons in Europe with the same lock.

Steve Santini

Hi Mike:

You’d asked for information about spring wedge locks. Maybe this will help.

Spring wedge locks were invented independently by the ancient Romans and Chinese. They were developed for use in padlocks or other portable mechanisms, such as your fetters, in which the earlier type of gravity actuated pin tumbler lock (invented by the Egyptians) was unsuitable. You can pick up novelty locks of this type on eBay that are still being made in China and Tibet, like this:

The principle is rather simple. A locking wedge with attached leaf springs is passed through cuts on the end of the shackle bow (or in the lock body) which compress them, and when the wedge is fully in place, the springs return to their original configuration to hold the wedge in place, securing the lock.

The key acts as a wrench to compress the springs inside the lock body, allowing the wedge to be removed. Here’s what I think is a rather nifty example of the type of lock mechanism you have:

This one is a bit unusual in that the three springs on the top and sides have to be compressed while the two on the bottom have to be expanded in order to unlock it. It’s actually a rather secure lock, not so much because of the spring configuration, but the amount of brute effort it takes to force the key onto the wedge to compress and expand the various springs.

The large key slot on this style of lock presented a problem in that multiple small rods and levers could easily be inserted into the lock body to manipulate the springs and pick the lock open. So, to reduce the size of the keyhole to hamper picking, some enterprising person way back when came up with a modification that used a screw-type key, like this:

The key first has to be threaded into the lock body; once in, you just slide it down onto the wedge to compress the springs.

Another variation uses what looks like a warded lock key, but is actually a spring wedge design with the wedge permanently attached to the lock mechanism. In this example, the key works to compress a total of 6 springs.

Because of the cost of manufacture, fetters using a spring wedge lock usually have only one keyed lock coupled with a puzzle or cam lock on the opposite end, like these:

In case you’re not familiar with it, perhaps this illustration will explain how that type of locking mechanism operates, with the chain itself securing the shackle in place.

Your set of fetters is rather unusual in that it has two locking shackles (I trust it’s okay to borrow your photo).

Have fun with your set. With some patience and ingenuity, you should be able to get them open. Making the key for your style of shackle is easy; just duplicate the configuration of the hole that’s in the end of the shackle bow, making it just a tad smaller.

Franklin

Franklin,

Another outstanding post! You really need to think about whipping up an article for HCA 08. This one is a great start.

Brad

Excellent photos and descriptions!

There was also an interesting pair of shackles that used this antiquated locking mechanism here.

Thanks for sharing…

Jason

I tend to agree especially when one sees the drill holes where one has violated the lock case in an attempt to gain freedom.

I'm not so sure I buy the holes being an attempt to gain freedom. I suspect they were picked or slipped early in the escape. God knows why the runaway didn't just toss them in a ditch (to our loss). Running all the way to Canada in shackles would have been a feat, and once in the North abolitionist blacksmits should not have been hard to find.

Hole drilling was a sophisticated technique in the mid 19C. Anyone who had that technology, a blacksmith or gunsmith, would have had a much easier way to remove the shackles. A hammer, cold chisel, and anvil. I suspect some friendly smith picked them. He probably had made or repaired similar cuffs, so he knew the trick. Again, why they got all the way to Canada is a puzzle. Maybe he thought of tham as a souveneir of the bad old days, or a political prop.

My guess, and it's no more than that, is that the drill holes were an attempt to gaff the cuffs for theatrical use, possibly with abolitionist intent, or just for some play. Given they were found in a theatre, that makes sense.

They are marvelous cuffs, no matter how we try to finesse the story behind them. I have a pair of spring lock puzzle cuffs. I'm afraid to try to unlock them, fearing for the condition of the springs. They're worth more to me perpetually locked than with the springs broken off.

When I owned these I noticed the holes in the lock case were more likely punched in than drilled.

They seemed to me to be not perfectly circular.

Also, the position of these holes is not right for gimmicking or any other use.

They are in the wrong positions to try and get wires to depress the springs.

I tried myself to open the cuffs with wires fed through these holes to depress the springs.

No go.

The fact that these were found in the basement of the town hall which also happens to have an Opera House on the main floor in no way implies they were ever used as stage props.

Nor does it imply that these were hidden in the basement after a slave was freed from them.

They merely ended up there in time.

The building they were found in was constructed in 1907 and it's basement was once home to the very small Meaford Police force.

I know this because a few years back I escaped from one of the historic jail cells located in the basement in what used to be the old Police station there.

The fact there was a police station in the basement of the Opera House/ Town Hall does not help us either because the building dates to 1907 and these shackles are certainly much older than that.

All that is certain is that these shackles are certainly the right age and manufacture to be from the period of slavery in the USA and they ended up in a region which was by and large the nothernmost terminus for the Underground Railroad in Canada.

Steve Santini

I forgot to mention that the cuffs used by the Meaford Town Police during the time they operated out of the Opera House were Towers cuffs and leg irons.

Examples survive and I have seen them so it is very unlikely these crude irons were used by them.

Steve Santini

Hang on to those. It's the onely known ones the Great Santini, the DarkMaster, never got out of, by his own admission on this very forum.

No, I think what he meant was he couldn't open them using the two holes that aren't part of the restraints design while on the workbench - not the same thing.
I don't usualy have an interest in the hand wrought restraint stuff, but this has been an interesting thread.

NOT to all of us.

Franklin; thank you. Do you have other pics and things you could share with us. I find what you have VERY interesting.

We were fishing on the banks of the White River in Southern Indiana and my friend found a set of shackles. Is there any site anyone can recommend where we can research this item

If you can show us some pictures we can tell you a whole lot more about them...

HI !! all ::: speaking of shackles, i have a couple on EBAY that i just listed yesterday..... i have SEVERAL that are scheduled to start on EBAY this coming MONDAY - TUES & WENS... so if you are interested in any be sure to check out my auctions next week as there will be some commoner ones & a few super RARE ones..... take care.... joe tanner



This is a superb leather covered set of shackles


These are marked with --- a D B with a CROWN over the D B .... BOTH end links are marked.

Can anyone can tell me what the markings mean?


More detailed pictures