The grave of Dr. Henry Slade

Henry Slade was not a magician, nor was he a real doctor. He was a Victorian era Spirit Medium who according to Mahatma Magazine "was the originator of spook slate writing." He was from the same area of the country that produced the Fox Sisters and the Davenport Brothers, also famous spirit mediums.

He was so popular that he traveled the world presenting his seances and spirit sittings. However, in London he was exposed as a fraud by Professor Ray Lankester and sentenced to several months in prison. However, upon appeals the case was dismissed and Dr. Slade returned to America.

He fought exposure his whole life from scientific investigators and magicians, but it wasn't until he was robbed and beaten one night in NY that his career came to a halt. He ended up partially paralyzed and struggled to continue his sittings. He was penniless and ended up in a Sanitorium in Detroit.

He died September 8, 1905 and is buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Albion Michigan. His grave is in Block 22, Lot 19.