There has been some interest in Hart traps, I am related to Chauncey Hart and his sons and have collected some of their traps. Chauncey Hart was a blacksmith in Unionville, CT and made traps from about 1845 to 1875. Chauncey had 5 sons, 4 of them worked with him in the blacksmith shop.

Some of the early Hart traps were all hand forged, no cast parts and had square jaws with riveted jaw posts.


Later the square jaws had bolted jaw posts. This trap, marked "4 C. Hart & Son" also has a stamp BBH and a crown. I did some research and found that this is an iron brand of an English steel company, Bradly, Barrows & Hall. At least at that time, Hart was importing steel from England. Interesting, I also have a #4 Newhouse slick pan with the same "BBH crown" stamp on the base.


This trap marked "Chauncy Hart 3" on the base has an unusual spring and cast jaws.

These traps sized 6, 3 and the smallest unmarked, all have an oval lower spring eye.

Here is a trap with cast jaws, almost 6" jaw spread and 22 small cast teeth, 11 on each jaw.



This is the largest Hart trap that I have seen, it is not marked but is identical to a 5 Hart that is marked. The large trap is almost 29" long and 12" post to post.



Here are some very special Hart traps. The 3 on the left have sheet metal springs with a cast upper eye that is bolted on. The 2 traps on the right were patented by two of Chauncey's sons, George and Hubert Hart in 1864. they are a dog-less design.


Latter models started to look like the Newhouse trap to compete in the market. A lot of Hart traps did not come with chains, so you will find them with what ever the trapper put on them, though, some did come with chains attached.


To compete with Oneida Community's Newhouse trap, some traps were advertized as "Oneida Pattern", a few Hart traps were marked on the spring "Oneida Pattern".

This trap has a spring that is cut from sheet metal but has a forged upper eye.

This is the only trap that I have that is stamped on top of the pan.

Some of the round, cast pan models have "C. Hart & Son and the size #" cast into the bottom of the pan. This is most times not readable, as it was not stamped but cast in the pan mold.

Here are the 3 different Hart trap name stamps, "C. Hart", "Chauncy Hart" and "C. Hart & son"



The Hart Brothers also patented several mouse traps, this one is patented 1870.

Wow! I mean WOW!

There are no words. That collection is impressive and the explanations provided are outstanding. Thanks

great traps

Impressive collection and even better made by family relatives!

Were the traps sold through out the states or did they mainly stay to the eastern part of the country? That is one trap manufacture I haven't come across in this area.

Great collection -especially like the sheet metal springs with the bolted on cast eyes. A few of the old trap makers turned out pieces that are like artwork. Enjoyed looking at these.

backroadsarcher, I have not found any advertising for Hart traps, so, I would have to think that they were sold locally or as contract sales. Traps were not a full time product, they were blacksmiths and made a range of items.
If you are familiar with the raid at Harper's Fairy in 1859. John Brown was an aballishanist and wanted to start an uprising and free the slaves. He needed weapons and ordered 1,000 pikes, (a steel blade on a 6' wood handle) from a blacksmith named Charles Blair. He paid half of the money up front but needed to raise the rest, Blair made 500 of the pikes. Brown did not return for some time and Blair told Brown that he did not have time to finish the order, so Blair passed that work on to Chauncey Hart whos shop was only 10 miles away. Chauncey made the second 500 pikes and Brown took them to a farm house for later use. Brown also wanted guns and so he planed to raid Harper's Fairy, a US military armory. This is were Brown was caught, tried and hung. Chauncey Hart was arrested for making the pikes but was release, claiming that he knew nothing of their intended use. This is thought to be one of the events that started the Civil War.

Impressive. Thanks for sharing.

Great info... thanks to all that shared.

Outstanding post Dean! Thanks for sharing information.

Great traps, did I see some 1864 early Harts ?

Yes you did, 2 variations.

Very impressive, thanks for posting.