Grave of Richiardi Sr

This is the grave of Richiardi Sr. He was a Peruvian magician and the father to the famed Richiardi Jr.. He claimed that his father too was a magician. But it appears that his first job in the magic world was working as an assistant and builder for Ricardo Richardine Sr..

Richiardi Sr was killed in Atlanta Georgia 1937 in a car accident while on tour in the United States.

The grave is located in Greenwood Cemetery Atlanta, Georgia.

photo courtesy of “Levent Cimkentli Photo”

Levent is a working magician and a magic historian. His magic instructional DVDs are worth ten times what he charges (in my opinion). His articles on magic history have been featured in magazine and his book Roy Benson By Starlight has received incredible praise by reviewers all over the magic world. His latest book on Richiardi Jr. is still be worked on. To learn more about Levent Cimkentli, go to www.leventmagic.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.

Samri S. Baldwin - The White Mahatma

While doing research for Civil War era magicians, I came across a document which led me to the location of Samri Baldwin's grave.

He was born Samuel Spencer Baldwin on January 23, 1848 in Cincinnati Ohio. His interest in magic began when he witnessed a performance of the Davenport Brothers. He worked on duplicating their feats but the Civil War got in his way. He became the drummer for the 83rd Ohio Infantry Regiment. His regiment fought at the Siege at Vicksburg.

After the war, Samuel Baldwin changed his name to Samri and began his performing career. He chose to borrow ideas from the fake spiritualist mediums of the time and apply them to the stage, thus creating the first Question & Answer Mentalism Act. Many of his techniques are still used today.

He continued working into his 70s. In 1921 he had a short lived spot in the Thurston Show. He had actually brought with him his trunk filled with all the treasures he had collected during his years of performing.  Gifts given to him by General U.S. Grant, King George Bismarck, Emperor Franz Josef and a host of others. These rare treasures were to be a gift to Howard Thurston, but Baldwin and Thurston did not get along and Samri kept these treasures for his own. I assume they came into the possession of his daughter Blanche Baldwin. There whereabouts today are unknown.

He died on March 10, 1924 in San Francisco, CA. He is buried at The Presidio Cemetery also known as San Francisco National Cemetery in San Francisco, Plot A, Section 655.