Who Was Henry Ridgely Evans?

H. Ridgely Evans

Henry Ridgely Evans is a name I have come across many times over the years. I never knew who he was really, but I always recognized the name. While doing research on another magician earlier in the year I discovered that Evans lived and worked in Washington D.C.. Because this is essentially the area where I live, I decided to see what else I could find out about him.

H. Ridgely Evans was born in Pennsylvania in 1861.  Though born in Penn. it seems he was raised in Georgetown and Washington D.C.. He came from a large family of six other siblings.

In 1878, according to Evans himself, he attended a performance at the Old National Theatre presented by Robert Heller. This performance so captivated the young man that he instantly became enthralled with magic. Or as we say in the profession, 'he was bitten by the bug'. A few months later in March of 1879, Evans sat in the audience at Ford's Theatre for the first appearance of Harry Kellar in the Nation's Capital.

H. Ridgely Evans eventually went to school intending to become a lawyer, but at some point changed professions and became a journalist. His ability to write and record the news was certainly a benefit to us in the magic profession. Evans became  one of our early magic historians before that kind of thing became popular. He was a prolific writer of both books on magic and magazine articles. His most famous book is probably 'The Old and the New Magic' which was published in 1906. But he also wrote none magic books. I've discovered there is a much sought after book called 'Old Georgetown On The Potomac' that he wrote in 1933. There is a copy available right now on Amazon.com for $1,245.00.

In 1892, he married a woman named Florence. They had no children and lived at 1430 V St. NW. This was in 1900. Later in 1930, he and Florence were again living in DC and this time in an apartment building on Eye St. NW. I can find no record of Henry living in Baltimore, at least prior to 1930, though some sources claim he worked for a number of Baltimore Newspapers.

When Harry Kellar was touring with Paul Valendon, it was H. Ridgely Evans who wrote an article for Stanyon's MAGIC that said his prediction for the successor to Kellar would be THURSTON! Imagine that. Valendon was still touring with Kellar and here Evans throws his vote towards Thurston, who as far as we know wasn't even in the running. History proved Evans correct as Thurston indeed was the successor.

Houdini had an interesting connection to Evans. In the Christopher biography 'Houdini-The Untold Story' it describes an incident where Houdini slams Evans in The Conjurers Monthly Magazine for his new book 'The Old and the New Magic'. Apparently, Evans reprinted a description or expose on how the handcuff escape was done and it more than irked Houdini. But on page 210, of the HOUDINI!!! biography by Kenneth Silverman, he describes Houdini as having compiled a history of magic that he called "History Makers in the World of Magic" and gave it to Evans who was writing a similar book. I suppose this was to be a combined project as Houdini remained involved in the editing part of the book. This event would have taken place around 1916-1917. I don't honestly know if it was published.
The next magic history book that Evans published was 'The History of Conjuring and Magic' which he published in 1928. The book does not include Houdini's name as a co-author. A side note, David Price who wrote 'MAGIC-A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theatre' refers often to Evans's writings.

It appears that Evans remained a hobbyist performer but was clearly a professional magic historian. I'm not clear on the cause of death. Magicpedia says that H. Ridgely Evans died at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore on March 29th, 1949. I discovered that he was buried in Washington D.C. at the Oakhill Cemetery recently so tomorrow I'll be heading over to the cemetery to take some photos. Once I get the grave picture I'll post it over at my  http://deadconjurers.blogspot.com

One additional note, Todd Karr's Miracle Factory has put out a CD containing all the writings of Henry Ridgely Evans. That can be purchased at http://miraclefactory.net/zenstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=&products_id=42

Mysteries of the Houdini Grave

We are fast approaching another anniversary (Oct 31) of the death of Harry Houdini. I thought I'd take some time and share with you some information about his grave site. His grave has been in the news quite a bit recently due to the wonderful work of the Houdini Museum in Scranton PA. They have taken it upon themselves to restore the Houdini bust to the grave site.

Let's take a trip back in time. It's 1885 and Houdini's half brother Armin/Herman died of turberculosis. Young Erich offered up his entire life's savings ($10) towards his half brothers funeral. Herman had a typical shaped tombstone with a rounded top. Seven years later, Houdini's father dies in 1892 and is buried next to Herman in the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens NY. The father was given a tall pillar shaped tombstone as can be seen in the photo. Between the Weiss grave and the tree on the right is Herman's tombstone.

In 1913, Houdini's mother Cecelia Weiss passes away. Those familiar with the Houdini story know how this affected him and altered the course of his life. Cecelia was buried in this plot also. Cecelia's name was added to the large pillar like tombstone.

Houdini though was devastated. He visited the grave often and eventually came upon an idea of buying a larger family plot and erecting a monument to the family. This was called the 'exedra' which means resting place. The design however was done by a friend of Houdini's Oscar Teale.

Oscar Teale was an architect by trade. But he was also an amateur magician. He served as the fourth President of the Society of American Magicians and wrote a book called 'Higher Magic'. It's said that Oscar Teale was also Houdini's Ghost writer on a number of project including the tome 'A Magician Among the Spirits'. He designed the exedra for Houdini. The finale cost of the monument was $40,000.00. It was installed at Machpelah Cemetery on October 1st 1916.

One interesting addition to the exedra was the inclusion on each side of the monument of part of the original Weiss Grave. On the far left is the gravestone face for Cecelia Weiss. On the far right is the gravestone face for his father Mayer Samuel Weiss.

Another unique feature is the emblem of the Society of American Magicians which is in the center of the monument just below the bust of Houdini. Harry Houdini served as President of the Society for several years and was the current president when he died in 1926. I can't help but wonder if the emblem was added after Houdini's death. It wouldn't make sense to have it on there in 1916 when the monument was erected. There is one photo in the Silverman Houdini book which shows Houdini sitting on the exedra as it was being built. No circular hole is there for the emblem. So it likely was added later.


Houdini had his family moved to the new site and made arrangements for the rest of his family to be buried there upon their individual deaths. The only spouse however that was accorded a grave was Bess Houdini. Her name was added to Houdini's gravestone, but truth be told she is not there. Because Bess was Catholic and Machepelah was a Jewish cemetery, she was buried elsewhere.

Houdini did not want his brother Leopold buried there because of the personal feud they were having. Houdini felt that Leopold disgraced the family by marrying his brother Nathan's ex-wife on a few days after they divorced. But apparently, Leopold is there, though his gravestone is not. Houdini's sister Gladys is also buried there but her gravestone is missing as well. Those two stones were taken out to be repaired and have never been returned.

There are 9 Weiss's buried in that family plot; Mayer Samuel (1829-1892), Cecelia (1841-1913), Herman (1863-1885), Willie (1872-1925), HOUDINI (1874-1926), Nathan (1870-1927), Theo/Dash Hardeen (1876-1945), C. Gladys Weiss (sister) and finally Dr. Leopold Weiss.

But there is a tenth person buried in the cemetery that never is mentioned. Perhaps people have forgotten about her. Hannah Steiner, Cecelia's mother is buried there. Houdini had her disinterred and then placed next to Cecelia sometime between 1913-1916 as a 'birthday gift' to his mother. Strange, sure, but this was Houdini. There is a gravestone there which reads Grandmother 1821-1887. This was Houdini's grandmother, his Mom's mother. She is between one of the marble benches and Herman's grave.


Houdini paid for perpetual care of his family plot but the care stopped a long time ago. The SAM Parent Assembly #1 was originally taxed with the duty of taking care of the plot or paying for it's upkeep. But for reasons which remain 'cloudy', the Parent Assembly has not paid for upkeep in a very long time and has a strenuous relationship with David Jacobson who takes care of the cemetery. However, others, like the Houdini Museum, have recently contributed greatly to the gravesite and are responsible for the restoration of the bust which now adorns the site once again.  I do have a fear that Machpelah may end up like Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia, some day, and the magic community owes to the memory of the greatest magician of all time to care for his grave.

For those of you interested in a short guided video tour of the grave site, please visit the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LUjyyFyqvG8
This video is from John Cox the man responsible for the incredible site WildaboutHoudini.com. Please watch the video because John shows the back of the exedra which is rarely seen. Enjoy!

Houdini Grave Today

Malini in Washington D.C.

Max Malini was an amazing individual. He didn't perform grand illusions, or spectacular escapes. He was not a great manipulator, nor was he a mind reader or comedy performer. His props were items you could find anywhere. His cups and balls trick was done with drinking glasses wrapped in newspaper and a cut up piece of wine cork used in place of the balls. Everything seemed so ordinary. Yet in it's simplicity, Malini used these things to become a world traveling magician who performed for Royalty and Heads of State.

Malini first appears in Washington D.C. in January of 1902. Upon the steps of the US Capital building, Malini encountered Senator Hanna. The brazen magician reached forward and bit off a button from Hanna's jacket. Before the stunned Senator could react, Malini apologized and magically restored the button back to the jacket. This stunt so impressed the Senator, that he invited Malini to perform at his home for some invited guests.

Senate Marble Room

According to a March 3, 1902 article in the Washington Times Newspaper, Malini next showed up in the Marble Room of the Capital Building. The Senators were so excited to see Malini they encouraged him to put on a show. The Marble Room became Malini's  own impromptu theater. One congressman threw an orange to Malini requesting he do something with it. Malini instantly changed the orange into a lemon. Next, a card was selected by another congressman and Max instructed the gentlemen to tear up the card keeping one piece for himself. The other pieces vanished and Max Malini told the congressmen to go into the next room, find a particular book and turn to a certain page. The congressman did exactly this and found his restored card in the page, minus the one piece.

Malini finished his performance with his signature Card Stabbing routine where four cards were chosen and lost in the deck. Malini would be blindfolded and then using a pen knife, would stab at the backs of the cards and locate the selected playing cards. This impromptu show garnered Malini several newspaper articles. One was a full page spread that would make even Houdini jealous.

Washington D.C. seemed to be an ideal place for Malini to work as he came here often. In 1922, he performed at a public reception at the White House. This time he bit off a button from the coat of none other than President Warren Harding. According to the Malini biography by Dai Vernon, following this performance Malini received a front page article in one of the Washington D.C. papers.

I did find other places besides the Capital building and the White House where Malini performed. The Roosevelt Hotel 2101 16th St NW Washington. The hotel has since been converted into apartments, but below is a photo of the location today. When Malini performed there he used one of the banquet rooms to put on his show and would sell tickets. He apparently also performed at many of the clubs and guilds in the area as well. No doubt he used these to gain access to high society individuals and quickly established a name for himself. Another location was the Willard Hotel 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest  Washington, DC..

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that one of the newspaper articles discusses an unusual trick where Malini had a card selected and lost in a deck of cards. When he tried to find it he was unable. So he told the congressman to check his pockets but there was no card. Then he suggested he check inside the lining of the jacket, and lo and behold, there was the card, inside the lining of the jacket! I wanted to point this out because this very effect was mentioned in the Malini Book, but not as the finished effect, instead HOW he got the card there. Fascinating character.

Location of Roosevelt Hotel, today they are apartments.