People who know how to pick locks

You can buy a lock pick from these guys for about $20:

www.[B]Duluth[/B]Trading.com

I know how to pick locks.You can find all the the information you need at www.lockpicking101.com/ If this is too much information, let me know and I will give you a simple explanation.

you might find some additional information here:

http://www.lysator.liu.se/mit-guide/mit-guide.html

19 th cent lock way diff (easier) than modern. Cheap modern takes me up to ten seconds. Good modern, I can't necessarily do it at all. (No great shakes at the skill.)
On the usu modern tumbler lock, I can feel each pin in the torsion wrench (held in non-dom hand) while I lift pins w. a pick or rake w/ my dominant hand. I can hear it, too. Once all pins are lined up, voila, the locks turn that second due to the torsion wrench pushing.

But if your 19 th cent lock just uses an old ward key, that's easy bobby pin territory. Sounds and feels pretty much like using the key.

There are youtube videos about picking locks, like the locks on handcuffs and others. I'd watch the videos.