The Grave of Montraville Wood

 

Who is Montraville Wood? He was a magic builder/inventor who created a slew of tricks. These include: The Disappearing Handkercheif from the side of a Gun, Vanishing Cards on Top of a Gun, A Coin Dropper used by T.Nelson Downs, A Second Sight System, and more. OH, and maybe his greatest creation was Houdini's Milk Can escape. 

He was born in 1860 in Catteraugus NY. He eventually settled in Berwyn Illinois. In the last years of his life he was working on a Monorail system for St. Louis. He is often listed in the magic periodicals as M.M Wood, as opposed to Montraville Wood.

He died at the age of 62 on January 6th, 1923. He is buried in the Mount Auburn Memorial Park in Stickney Illinois. in the Fairlawn plot section. 

Photo from FindAGrave.com, link below.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/139065797/montraville_m-wood/flower#view-photo=113365633

Max Malini Grave

Max Malini was born Max Katz on August 14, 1873 in Ostrov, which was near the border of Poland and Austria. According to information in the new article about Malini in Genii Magazine, Max got inspired to become a magician after watching a performance of Alexander Herrmann.

He began his professional career in Washington D.C. and eventually became a performer for royalty and high society. He chose a performing style different than most of his contemporaries. Where Houdini and Thurston and Kellar traveled with huge amounts of apparatus and props, Malini developed an act mostly on sleight of hand routines. But he learned that it was his personality that was the real selling point. His ability to garner publicity was similar to that of Houdini's. He did do rely upon exciting dangerous escapes however, rather his small close-up effects bordered on the miraculous and he made sure to present them before influential people.

Max died in Hawaii on October 3rd, 1942. He is buried in the Waldheim Jewish Cemetery 1400 Des Plaines Ave, Forest Park, IL 60130, Gate 47, Lot 137, Section D, Row 11, Grave 6. He is buried next to his first wife Lizzie Katz, though his grave is unmarked.

IN the October 2012 issue of Genii Magazine there is a fantastic article by David Ben about Max Malini, I encourage you to pick it up as it contains a wealth of new information on Malini.

IF you have a photo of the grave you'd be willing to share, please email me at carnegiemagic@aol.com

Edward Maro - Prince of Magic

Born on September 9th, 1869, Walter Truman Best was his real name but he changed his performing name to Edward Maro. He began his entertainment life as a musician, but later learned conjuring from Dr. A.M. Wilson.

Mike Caveney wrote about Maro in the September 2011 issue of MAGIC Magazine and a photo of his gravestone caught my eye! His tombstone is a 5.5 ton boulder which has a plaque mounted on it. Caveney mentions that he was buried in a family cemetery in St. Charles IL, but doesn't mention the name of the cemetery. Fortunately, other curious magic types have searched out the grave and discovered it's whereabouts. At the Chicagomagic blog, there is a photo of the gravestone on it's side. Apparently since that time, the stone has been lifted and a permanent cement foundation put in place to keep the boulder from falling over.

Edward Maro, the Prince of Magic died on February 26, 1908 of Typhoid Fever, he was only 39 when he died. He is buried in the North Cemetery in St. Charles IL. His is the only 5.5 ton boulder marking the grave so it's not difficult to find. In front of his grave are the graves of his wife and his mother. There are better photos of the grave at FindaGrave.com

To read an interesting article about the grave and why it looks as nice as it does today, check out this link http://saxo.dailyherald.com/article/20100917/News/309179941/   My friend Terry Evanswood, was instrumental in getting the large boulder reset. It's a great story.

A proper biography of Maro will appear at my Magic Detective Blog later in the year.

Grave The Great Reno

Above is a photo of the grave of Reno the Great. I was unaware but there were apparently two RENOs in the magic world, not related. This Reno is Edward Burdick and he was a magician and also part owner in the Reno & Alvord Circus. The photo is courtesy of the grandkids who are keeping his name alive with a website at www.ed-reno-magician.com.

Below is a printing block that I saw in Ken Klosterman’s Musuem that appears to be for a Reno Poster!

Edward Burdick (RENO) died in 1949 and is buried in Mound Grove Cemetery in Kankakee Il.