The Grave of W. D. LeRoy

William D. Le Roy was born in LaSalle Illinois August 5th, 1862. In his youth, he studied music and

the violin. By the age of 19 he was living in San Francisco and was giving classes on the violin. This appears to be where he picked up the magic bug and began to learn the trade. But, whether he met someone or discovered it from a book is not known.

In 1885, he made his first professional appearance as a magician at the Fountain Theatre in San Francisco according to the Feb 1909 issue of The Sphinx. He also appeared on the cover that month. 

In 1887, he relocated to Boston and by 1893 opened the Boston School of Magic on 103 Court Street. According to the website Auspostalhistory.com, Le Roy altered the way his name was spelled in 1906 from Le Roy to Leroy. I would guess because it was easier to remember or to distinguish himself from Servais Le Roy.

He is credited with having the largest and most up to date magic catalog of it's time. Besides selling magic he was a big advocate of magic fraternities and was instrumental in signing up many people to the Society of American Magicians.

Le Roy passed away on June 10th, 1919. He is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Gloucester Mass.

Wyman the Wizard's Grave

Here lies a great 19th Century Conjurer John Wyman, known professionally as Wyman the Wizard. He was born in 1816 in Albany NY and according to several magic history books, he was the most successful magician of his time from a financial perspective. I think that Signor Blitz would take the honor of being the most well known of that time, especially with his dozen + imitators. Though a number of newspapers dispute that fact and say that Wyman was THE most popular. Either way Wyman apparently made the most money, and unlike Blitz, Herrmann, Anderson, Heller and others he was American born!

He had the honor of having performed for President Abraham Lincoln four times. Apparently Mr. Lincoln was a big fan of magic as he had seen, Blitz, Compars Herrmann and now Wyman the Wizard! David Copperfield has in his museum, the very coins that Wyman the Wizard used to pass through the hands of Abraham Lincoln during one of his performances before the President. Wyman lived on 6th St in Washington D.C. for a period of time. And his regular performance spot was a place called The Odd Fellows Hall, which was located at 419 7th St N.W Washington, almost exactly half way between the Capital Building and The White House. I assume that his close proximity to the White House and his celebrity status helped him obtain his numerous appearances before not just President Lincoln, but also President Martin Van Buren and President Millard Fillmore.
According to Houdini, Wyman had one particular attribute that made him popular, he was honest! This is an important fact to remember because Wyman presented what were called 'Gift Shows'. Basically, all the tickets that were sold to his shows had numbers on them and every ticket received a prize depending upon the number. Wyman apparently gave out some really good quality items, among them, watches, table sets, family bibles, silver plated ware and more.

To read more about the life of Wyman the Wizard, please visit the following link
http://www.themagicdetective.com/search/label/Wyman%20the%20Wizard

Wyman is buried next to his wife in Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River Mass. His grave is in Lot 105, Oleander Path. John Wyman died July 31st 1881.

Photos courtesy of fellow magic historian Gary Hunt!

The Grave of Cesareo Pelaez

Photo used with permission of Eric D. Cade

 Cesareo Pelaez was the founder, creator, producer and choreographer of the longest running resident magic show in the U.S.. The show was called Marco The Magi present Le Grand David and His Own Spectacular Magic Company. Cesareo played the part of Marco the Magi and the show ran for 36 years.

Born Oct 16, 1932 in Santa Clara Cuba. As a boy, is father took him to see many of the traveling theatrical shows that would visit the island. These included shows by FuManchu, Richiardi Sr. & Jr., Change and Dante. These grand productions had a profound effect on Cesareo and they would later become the inspiration for his ultimate theatrical dream, a resident magic company.

In the 1960s, as Castro was taking over Cuba, Cesareo decided to flee his homeland in sake of a better and safer life. In time, he would become a professor of Psychology at Salem State College and he would remain in this position his entire life until retirement.

But while he was busy teaching young minds about psychology during the day, in the late 1970s, he was putting together a group of people who would buy a theatre, refurbish it and eventually put together their own unique magic show based on the types of shows Cesareo saw as a boy.

In 2005, Cesareo suffered a stroke. He did eventually recover and return to the stage for a short time, but his health was in decline. On March 24th, 2012, Cesareo finally passed away. The company of performers who had stood by his side for so long finished the season without him. Then a few months later they decided to put the Cabot St. Cinema Theatre up for sale. In February 2014, the props, costumes, posters, curtains and everything from the incredible show went up for auction, thus ending any hope of a return of this once grand show.

Cesareo is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Beverly MA. His stone is located in the back at the top of the hill, just along the center trail.

Margery the Medium - Cemetery

Mina Stinson Crandon, better known as Margery the Medium was born in Canada in 1888. She became famous as a Boston Medium who came up against Harry Houdini. Controversy still exists today as to exactly what took place. Margery claimed Houdini tried to sabotage her and did things to make her appear fake. He denied it.

However, some claim that Jim Collins admitted after Houdini had died that he placed a ruler in the 'Margery Box' to try and make it appear that Margery was a fake. On top of that he claimed Houdini told him to do it. But I don't know if Jim Collins actually said this. It's terribly out of character for him.

Margery died on November 1st , 1941 in Boston. She is buried in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston. Below is a map showing where she is buried in the cemetery. X marks the spot, approximately. Update: The red X on the map should move over to the right slightly. The grave is next to the roadside on Birch Ave.

The Grave of Anna Eva Fay

Here is the private mausoleum of famed mind reader and medium Anna Eva Fay. Though not a traditional magician in the sense we think of, she did use magic techniques to accomplish her feats. She admitted in her later years that she was a fake. Though during her time she fooled everyone!

Joe Karson's Grave

Joe Karson was the inventor of one of the classics of magic, The Zombie. Joe was also the inventor of a number of other magic effects which include 'The World's Fastest Card Trick and a one man floating handkerchief routine called "Voodoo". Magician Mike Rose wrote a biography about Karson a few years back which is sold out but available in e-book format through www.lybrary.com

Apparently, Mike Rose also took it upon himself to start up a Memorial Fund to raise money for a marker for Joe Karson's grave. Through his efforts we now have the headstone that you see above.

Joe Karson died on November 6, 1980 and is buried in the St. Michael's Cemetery in Springfield Mass.

To find out more about Joe Karson and the history of magic please visit: www.magichistorybooks.com