Daisy White's Final Resting Place Found

 

Daisy White, whose real name was Gertrude Nickerson, is buried in the St. Michaels Cemetery in East Elmhurst NY. She was an assistant to Servais LeRoy, Frank Ducrot, and possibly Houdini at some point. She was a demonstrator for Frank Ducrot and also worked as his secretary. Daisy is the model for the illusions in the Jarrett Book by Guy Jarrett. 

I wrote about her on my blog and spoke about her on my podcast. BTW, the podcast has the incorrect information about her grave. THIS is the correct info. It's been so difficult to track her down, but someone did independent of me. Thankfully we have the information. She died July 20th, 1957.

There is a gravestone which was dedicated in 2017 with her name Daisy White and also Gertrude Nickerson on it. It says 'Vaudeville Dancer' and mentions her associations with magicians. I do not have a photo of the grave, nor do I have the exact location. Prior to the gravestone she laid in an unmarked grave.

The cemeteries website is:  https://stmichaelscemetery.com/

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

The Grave of magician Paul Valadon

 

Here lies the remains of magician Paul Valadon. The famous story of Valadon begins when Harry Kellar was in search of the secret to the Maskelyne Levitation. Unable to obtain it, he hired away Paul Valadon in the hopes that Mr. Valadon could help him build the incredible illusion. There is quite a bit of conjecture surrounding the events, but one thing is for sure. Valadon did eventually go to work for Harry Kellar, and Kellar did end up with a version, though vastly improved version of the Maskelyne levitation.

Paul Valadon died in Phoenix Arizona on April 23rd, 1913 at the young age of 45. He died from Tuberculosis. He is buried in the Greenwood Memory Park Cemetery in Phoenix. 

To learn more about Valadon, watch for an upcoming episode of The Magic Detective Podcast.