While metal detecting, we often find lock mechanisms, such as those associated with mortise door locks, door-handle locks and – in this article – padlocks. The excitement comes when unearthing vintage padlocks dating back to the mid-1800s or earlier. Our family of detectorists has found many padlocks over the years and a couple stand out enough to share their story.

A few years back, we often drove to Connecticut to meet up with fellow detectorists. Many Connecticut land owners are very open to saving history and intrigued by metal-detecting finds. My son Jonathan had become good friends with a boy his age named Dakota. Together we would hunt farms, fields, woods and homes. Today’s adventure took us to a small town called Canterbury, full of old historic homes. The home where I found the padlock was built in the 1800s and had a large corn field to the rear of the property. The woman who owned the property I remember well. She was full of stories and made us homemade cookies while we searched for treasures. Metal-detecting is hard enough on old properties, but now we had the smell of fresh-baked cookies to deal with! I, for one, did not mind and I think it helped in the recoveries.

Using my Garrett AT Pro detector, we searched the yard uncovering coins, buttons, old toys and many relics. But one item stood out: It was heavy and impressive. It was a very high tone and was buried deep. I called over the others and they were as impressed: It was a vintage solid-brass padlock with big bold letters, “W.B.” None of us had ever heard of this make of lock and neither had the homeowner, who told us the property had always been in her family. We offered the padlock to her, but she wanted us to take it and share its history with our friends. Instead, we were given delicious cookies and memories we will never forget.

The padlock turned out to be a Wilson Bohannan inverted 9 heavy-brass railroad-style, manufactured sometime between the 1880s to the early 1890s. They are considered a highly collectible antique valued (depending on condition) between $20 and $60 with some a bit higher. Ours is missing the key and the fine printing has faded over the years, but the model itself is in great condition, so we estimate a $40 to $50 value. The company that made this padlock is still in business today and claims, “Wilson Bohannan is the oldest family-owned padlock company still producing padlocks in the United States.”

The lock I recovered was manufactured on Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn, N.Y., probably around 1885. The big, bold-lettered WB padlocks were very popular with railroads, making them the companies’ largest customer. Besides padlocks, WB also manufactured in its early days mortise, door locks, latches, shackles and keys with payment accepted in cash or sight draft. The company became so large that it outgrew its New York location and moved to its current location of Marion, Ohio, in 1927. The owner at that time, Wilson Todd Bohannan, was the son of the original owner. While he was in the Army crossing the country, he exited a train in a small quaint town called Marion, which he fell in love with and decided to move the company there. It would be a decision he never regretted as the company is locked in Marion today, rated as one of the top three padlock manufacturers in the U.S.

Methuen father/son treasure hunters Steve and Jonathan Stewart were the August 2019 MethuenLife cover story. They run YouTube, Facebook and Instagram accounts called Mass Metal Detecting and have followers around the globe. They love to save history and enjoy talking about it. If you’d like to invite them to your property for a hunt, you may be included in a future article! Please drop them a note via MethuenLife@msn.com.