"Over the decades, more than one story of a less visible performing magician or avid conjuring historian has come to light through the insatiable curiosity of those of us who have followed in their path. Sometimes, the result is a book-length biography. Other times, an extraordinary life can be celebrated only in steps, the first of which is by a single brave soul offering what he knows and hoping that others may fill in the details."
[James Hagy, The Perennial Mystics #20 Part 5, August 1, 2007]

Haidee Heller was always mentioned as being either the sister, or half-sister, of the magician Robert Heller (William Henry Ridout Palmer), but was this true? She was integral to Heller’s fame and success in the last decade of his life, and to the disposition of his equipment after his death; but without knowing her identity, Haidee remains a one-dimensional figure, seen only as a blindfolded seer on the stage. Who was she? Was she related to Robert Heller? What was her persona? Were they in a relationship? And what became of her after Heller’s death in 1878? An understanding of Robert Heller’s life and success needs some insight into the person behind the blindfold.

We may not have complete answers, but this story reveals the identity, and as much as we can learn, of the real Haidee Heller. Some pedantic detail is included, of necessity, to create the proper trail of evidence.

Robert Heller’s performing history started many years before he met Haidee Heller. His tours of Australia and New Zealand are documented on this site at Robert Heller in Australia, H.B. Wilton and the Somatic Conjuror, and W.A. Chapman the Sorceror’s Apprentice. Beginning his career in the 1850s as a copyist of Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, Heller began developing a second-sight routine (1) in which a blindfolded assistant on the stage described objects handed to Heller as he walked amongst the audience. The two-person mindreading act, dating back to Robert-Houdin or even Joseph Pinetti, would evolve into one of the most deceptive mindreading acts ever created, due to its use of multiple methods and innovative technology. His assistant in those days, and there may have been more than one, was listed in the programme under the stage name “Ernest Heller”.

Having moved from his native Britain to the United States Heller, during the 1860s, used a number of assistants. The routine actually required Heller in the audience, a medium onstage, and another assistant offstage, and the earliest of these in America seems to have been New Yorker, Morris H. Levett, who worked the secretive backstage operations. According to a reminiscence by Levett (2), “during the Boston engagement he put “Mrs. Heller” on in the Second Sight as an added attraction; she was a very handsome woman, but in the act she was only a mouthpiece, as I took all the cues and prompted her from the wings through a speaking-tube which ran up through a sort of piano-stool on which she sat. Her work was not satisfactory and he took her off after a few weeks’ trial. Haidee, his alleged sister, I did not know. I witnessed her work with Heller, but I have no comment to make [we wish he had!] After we separated [Levett went to be married] he picked up a young man in Cincinnati, Ohio, a son of wealthy parents, who put some money into the show. This man worked in the Second Sight for some time but dropped out for some reason unknown to me, and shortly after exposed the entire code in one of the Cincinnati newspapers. This was before the advent of Dale or Haidee.”

Some other known participants in the Second Sight (or Supernatural Vision, as it would become known) were Fred Hunt Jr (Heller’s 1862 business manager (3), at the time the Cincinnati exposure (4) was anonymously published), Edward Beadle (later a magic manufacturer), a Miss Ross and Charles Hillsden in New Zealand during 1870 along with some child mediums, Edward Jonathan Dale in later years. By 1867 (5) Heller’s assistant was known as “Willie” and William Adam Chapman was the helper in Second Sight and other parts of the programme such as the Davenport Rope Tying.

Robert Heller returned to Britain in 1868, performing mainly in London where he had an extensive run at the Polygraphic Hall, and in Liverpool. There is no indication that he included the Second Sight in his British performances, which probably means that Chapman did not accompany him. Although the secret could be taught, it still required a substantial time to perfect and bring it up to speed.

At the Metropolitan, Miss Heller made her first appearance on May 5, promoted as “Miss Rosie Heller” and some time later the New York Clipper (May 29) would remark “Heller enters upon his last week at the Metropolitan Theatre. He has not proved a success. Miss Rosa Heller made her debut and acted as Soothsayer on Heller’s second night. He goes hence to Australia.”  This was an interesting commentary, considering that Heller had just completed a full five weeks season at the Metropolitan.

It might reasonably be supposed that Robert Heller had met “Rosie” during his time in England, employed her, brought her to America in January 1869 and undertaken her training for several months before introducing her to the public. There is no particular evidence of this, other than Heller’s introduction of a new illusion while he was in England, titled “The Girl of the Period”. In this illusion, a crinoline skirt is magically produced from a hat, followed by a ‘jupon’ (petticoat) and then a young girl, unnamed and described as being from fourteen to sixteen years old (6). In other places it has been stated that Miss Heller was working as a barmaid when Heller met her, but once again we have no evidence.

To begin with, Haydee was mentioned only by name, but newspaper columns as early as November were referred to her as a “sister” of Robert, and earlier in October, promoter George Coppin had advertised (7) “Supernatural Vision! In which Mr. Heller will be assisted by his sister, Haydee.” This would continue throughout her career to 1881, and would be claimed by Haidee herself.

Almost immediately, we see why Haidee became a favourite with audiences, and probably why William Chapman had been usurped from his role in the Supernatural Vision act.

There are performers who are skilled, capable, hard-working, but have no “spark” with their audience. The combination of Robert and Haidee made that essential chemistry, both in Haidee’s obvious attractions but also in the skilful interaction and personal rapport between them. Although she was dependent on the secret assistant to feed her the non-verbal clues, the second-sight routine would stand or fall upon the speed and humorous interplay between the magician and the medium. In October 1869, their promoter George Coppin, almost cancelled the whole tour because Haidee was refusing to perform …. “I spoke to her last night & said that I would telegraph for them to stop fitting up the Hall in Melbourne as I did not believe in the entertainment without the Supernatural Vision.”

Haidee was also something of a singer. In late December of 1870, Heller’s presentation of a playlet surrounding the ‘Artist’s Dream’ illusion featured a song from the statue (Haidee), and she would be noted in later years as singing minor operetta roles.

It is the unfortunate duty of a researcher to refuse to take any stated fact on face value; in particular when those ‘facts’ come from the pen of newspaper reporters who notoriously accept whatever they are fed, and regurgitate it without investigation.

In pursuit of the facts it is often necessary to waste many hours on a search which is already felt to be pointless. Robert Heller had previous assistants named “Ernest Heller” which never required him to publicly pretend that they were related. Many magicians used a stage name to erect a barrier between the public’s knowledge of their stage and personal lives – and of course “Robert Heller” was itself a stage name used by W.H. Palmer.

Almost a majority of magicians of the 1800s made overblown claims to having performed for royalty or travelled to romantic destinations, claims which often collapse under the smallest level of research.  The question of whether Haidee Heller was really a sister, or half-sister, of Robert, could easily be disregarded as unimportant, mere fodder for the press. But Robert Heller was a married man, and the question of his relationship to Miss Heller also goes to the question of his marital status, and the considerable benefit derived by Haidee from his will in 1878. Going by the approximate known birthdates of each, Robert would have been 39, and Haidee 21, when they arrived in Australia, an age gap which might easily set tongues wagging. For propriety’s sake, a family connection would remove the possible scandal which might attach to a young woman travelling the world alone with a married man.

So, for the sake of argument we will try to confirm or dispel the question of sisterhood. Turning to family trees (8) of the Palmer family of Canterbury, England, William Palmer (Heller) was born to father Henry Palmer (1803-1854) and Janette Palmer (died 1841).  

William’s own birthdate is a little contested, sometimes stated as anything between 1826-1833, but most likely to be 1830.  William had a brother, Angelo Crotch Palmer (1831-1912) and a sister Fannie (1835-?)  who became Mrs Fannie Gibbs of Seven Oaks in Kent, and was still alive in 1878 when she was named as Executrix of Robert’s will. We can be confident that, barring any surreptitious fathering of children with other women, that Haidee was not a blood sister to Robert.

Likewise, for Haidee to have been a half-sister under the usual definition, Henry Palmer would have re-married after his wife Janette’s death in 1841, and had more children. Family trees show no such marriage, and Henry died in 1854.

The North British Daily Mail of December 14, 1878 made the claim that Robert’s father had re-married and had a daughter; there is no supporting evidence for that claim.

Another 1879 article about the late magician (10) claimed without evidence that “His marriage was not a happy one, and he undertook a 'magical' expedition around the world, accompanied by Miss Ada Palmer, his stepsister, whom he found, on his return to England, an orphan, alone and poor, and who from that time assisted at his entertainments as Miss Heller."

Was it possible that some close but informal connection existed between the Heller family and some other family, so that a “brother/sister” friendship might have grown? Although this seems unlikely, it should not be dismissed out of hand. We have a single statement, made by Haidee to the press in December 1878 when she wrote to refute statements made by William Adam Chapman the day before.  She wrote, “… [Heller]… never met me first in 1863, as he had generously provided for myself and mother for the 10 years previous.” This statement has some ring of authenticity, suggesting that perhaps Robert Heller had known Haidee and her real family sometime in the past. He was still living in Britain up until 1853. However, there is no available proof to take this statement any further ahead.

It is a reasonable question to ask whether Robert Heller, a married man with children, might have been in a relationship with Haidee Heller. In summary, while each person might make their own judgement, there is nothing to prove this. The most that can be said is that the two performing partners probably came to know each other more closely than did Robert and his wife.

Heller had been through a long period retired from magic, after his career initially failed to take off. As a highly skilled and socially feted pianist, he might well have spent the rest of his life devoted to music, had he chosen. During that period, in 1857, he met and  married Annie Maria Kieckhoefer (b.1845), the daughter of Adolph Travers Kieckhoefer, a partner in the banking firm of Riggs & Co. and a musician. A son, Joseph Henry Palmer (b.1862) and two daughters, Mary Adelaide Palmer (1863-May 5, 1943) and Annie Palmer (b.1864) were born of the marriage in Washington D.C.

The dynamics of a marriage can be impossible to fathom, but in 1878 an anonymous acquaintance of Heller would tell the ‘Public Ledger’ that “… his wife’s jealousy caused a separation. Heller’s popularity in society made him particularly subject to a woman’s jealousy…”

The nearest we can come to an understanding of Heller’s distance from his wife is an article written by his daughter, now Mary Adelaide Palmer Blanchet, in the magician’s magazine “The Sphinx” of March 1943. With the obvious cautions that Mary was a child, possibly just five, at the time, and is writing in a conciliatory fashion, the fact remains that at some stage (possibly 1867 when he worked in Paris at the Exposition, and then England before continuing a lengthy world tour), Robert Heller packed his bags and, without a word, left his family behind in order to pursue his performing career.

Mary wrote, “It was as a musician that my father, William Henry Palmer, more widely known as Robert Heller, was introduced to my mother's home. Her father, Mr. Adolph Travers Kieckhoefer ... was a gifted violinist... my grandfather was amazed by the brilliant performance of his guest (Heller) and a strong bond of friendship was immediately established. Thenceforth, my father became a welcome figure in Mr. Kieckhoefer's home; delighting, not only his host but also his five attractive young daughters. Between him and the youngest of these, my mother, a romance developed that led to their marriage on September 15th, 1857.
It was not long after this, however, that the spirit of adventure and his love of magic in which he had early developed considerable skill, drew him from his fireside to distant lands.
At that time, my sister, my brother and myself were too young to have had any but the vaguest recollections of our father but ... he made a strong appeal to our imaginations. I remember, too, that he had not been with us long before we took him enthusiastically to our hearts, won by his simple charm as by his eager interest in all that concerned us. Our family seemed so united, gay and happy when, one day our father vanished without a word as to his destination or cause of leaving; it was impossible to believe that he had meant to leave us. After some painful weeks a letter came, bearing the stamp of Calcutta; a letter which, while containing no word of apology, was so wistful and tender ... that it was recognized even by us children as a heartfelt plea for forgiveness. My mother possessed great strength of character ...that gave her a true understanding of the restless genius whom she loved until the day of his death ... on his last visit to us, he expressed his regret for the wandering through which, in his own words, he had " lost so much of life, of love and of happiness."

In November 1878, a letter was published by the Cincinnati Enquirer from a Mrs. Richard B. Mohun, in which she accused Heller of having treated his wife very cruelly, and afterwards deserted her; and that her father had to go to New York and bring her home to ‘keep her from starvation’; and that she had died of a broken heart. (11) Heller had instituted legal proceedings for libel, but at the end of the same month, he would die of pneumonia.

Dean Carnegie’s blog (12)  refers to a newspaper rebuttal by Annie’s father, Adolph Kieckhoefer, in which he stated that the family was living quite well in Paris, supported by her husband, and that he would be having dinner with Heller in Washington D.C. that same day.

Also in Heller’s defence, the ‘Public Ledger’ of December 3 (very shortly after Robert’s death) published a column with commentary from a gentleman (unnamed) who said he had been a pupil of Heller’s back in 1858. “I have no interest in Heller," he said, "other than to see him get justice, as I'd want any man to have justice. His wife is not dead with a broken heart, but she's living in Paris with her three children, in comfortable circumstances, provided for by Heller himself, and with her two sisters, both married to titled Frenchmen ... Heller visits his family every year ... Heller went on teaching after his marriage, but his wife's jealousy caused a separation ... after living apart from his wife about four years they were reconciled. He sent her and her children to Paris, where her married sisters were before her, and there he keeps his family in good style. These facts I know. Heller's too good-hearted a man to treat his family badly."

A final reflection on the state of Robert Heller’s marriage comes from his last will and testament. It was reported that in total, Heller’s estate amounted to some $300,000 - $400,000 though, as well will see, that was later completely contradicted.

In the provisions for his wife, Robert invested his money to leave her an annuity of £125, with an additional £375 per year for the support, education and maintenance of their children Mary, Annie, and Joseph. Those amounts would continue to be paid unless the recipient married or (for Joseph) he turned 21. Further generous provisions were made to the benefit of Haidee Heller, which we will examine later.

In the same way, we might examine whether there is any evidence that Robert and Haidee had any romantic connection. Again, the evidence is lacking, although some may choose to place interpretations on the known facts.

As documented in the main essay “Robert Heller in Australia”, the duo’s initial partnership started out on very rocky ground. In private correspondence from promoter George Coppin to his wife, almost immediately after the Hellers arrived in Australia, he wrote of Haidee’s taste for drink on several social occasions. “She has evidently been a very fast young lady”, wrote Coppin, “ and if it were not that it might … [cause unpleasantness]… I should give her the cold shoulder, for I am satisfied that she is not a very reputable associate for my darling young wife - I am very sorry to entertain a bad opinion of her but cannot help feeling a disgust at her conduct.” Haidee and Robert continued to fight privately, Haidee refusing to come to the hall to perform on one night, until almost forced by Coppin, and followed by a screaming match in the hotel ... “She may simply wish to annoy Mr Heller” wrote Coppin in despair,  “if so, she is most successful for I believe it is the anxiety that makes him ill .”

The first Melbourne season was almost derailed and Coppin confided, “It appears that a fellow passenger [on the boat to Australia, one assumes] has proposed to her & is accepted - He is now in New Zealand & insists upon her not appearing again upon the stage.” Nothing further seems to have come of this opportunistic proposal, but it speaks to the wilful nature of the young Haidee.

In early May, 1869, the arguing had worsened to such an extent that Haidee determined to pack up and return home to England; which she did in June. She returned to Australia in six months, and for all we know the differences were patched up, but as it cost her two months to sail in each direction, it must have been a fiery dispute.

Ultimately, the Australian tour succeeded triumphantly, and the Hellers would go on touring the world for several more years. Haidee listed the places they travelled – “India, Bombay, Juthpore, Allahabad, Calcutta; through the Island of Ceylon, Point Galie [sic], Colomba and Kandy. Then we went to China, and played months in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Macao – back again to Singapore, and thence to the Island of Java. We had splendid success in the lovely island, playing in such nice easy named places as Ambaraws, Socrakarta, Djokjakarta, Samarang and Pattekembang. A third time we went to Singapore en route for Bombay. From Bombay to Aden, up the Red Sea into Egypt, staying a long time in Cairo, where he fell ill. Then on to Alexandria, Malta, and Gibraltar.”

A tour of that length and challenge must have thrown them together as vital friends, if nothing more. Haidee’s part in the Supernatural Vision routine was cornerstone of Heller’s fame in the last decade of his career, and depended on that vital charisma between the pair.

Newspaper reports mention occasions where the Hellers were presented with rich gifts of jewellery, and Haidee finally returned from her travels, as she put it, “rich in pocket and wealthy in mind from all our wanderings.”  She was not idly boasting. The Washington Post, interviewing the Hellers on November 16, 1878 (only shortly before Robert’s death), reported seeing (18) “Miss Heller seated at a round table on which were eleven rich India shawls, presentations from Eastern Princes. One of the shawls was splendidly embroidered with gold thread. With the shawls was a magnificent diamond necklace, the gift of an Indian Rajah, which cost in Bombay 60,000 rupees, nearly $20,000. Besides the necklace there were diamond rings, brooches, aigrettes, bracelets, etc. These were some of the ornaments Miss Heller had worn at the theatre in the exhibition of second sight, and were valued at more than $60,000.”

  
Another interviewer (quoted from reference 26) wrote, “At the dinner-table her conversational powers shone to great advantage. Familiar with the topics of the times, her remarks were as entertaining and brilliant as her manner was fascinating.”
 

Upon Robert Heller’s sudden decline and death in November 1878, when Haidee was said to be wild with grief, he left her a most exceptional legacy in his will, drafted earlier in the year. Although Robert’s sister Fannie was the official executrix, it was Haidee who filed for probate, and Haidee who would be given the task of dealing with the show’s props. Heller left for her an annuity of £125 for the term of her life, and almost all of his jewellery. In addition, should any of the annuities left to his wife or children cease to be paid to them “by reason of death, marriage or maturity”, then that money would devolve in whole to Haidee;  potentially a very considerable sum of money.

(Printed in the Evening Star WA, December 28 1878, with attribution to the San Francisco Call)
Heller's Second Sight Feat

“Among the many other things which Heller devised for the mystification of the public was what he was please to term "second sight, " or the suppositious transmission of intelligence of the nature of objects from his own mind to that of another far removed from him. Everyone knows with what success the trick was performed in this and eastern cities. It baffled the investigation of savants and newspaper reporters, and was finally acknowledged to have been so cunningly devised as to be inexplicable. Accompanying Heller was a brown haired lady, who appeared on the stage as a blonde, whom he represented as his half-sister, and who was supposed to possess this mysterious power of second sight, at least to appearances having some supernatural attributes of mind which could not be explained.

On Howard street, in this city, at present resides W.H.A. Chapman, a gentleman who travelled with Heller for upwards of six years over a large part of the world, and who claims to have assisted him in constructing the system on which Haidee Heller, the lady above referred to , was enabled to perform such wonderful tricks. [Since the routine was in use many years earlier, and M.H. Levett was an earlier assistant, it could only be said that Chapman might have helped improve the routine].

In conversation with a representative of the Call yesterday, Mr. Chapman stated that Miss Heller was not Miss Heller at all, but a very smart young woman named Miss Rosa Kitts, who became acquainted with Heller in 1863, while the latter was doing his tricks at the Haymarket Theater. [Not correct; Heller was not in England in 1863]. It was at this time that Heller and Chapman had about perfected the "second sight" mystery, and as the result showed, proved to be a grand success - the mysterious power in a handsome woman having greater fascinations for the public than in a man. In reply to a direct interrogatory as to the "second sight" mystery, Mr. Chapman refused to explain it. He stated, however, that while it was founded on a system of intonations of Heller's voice when he asked Miss Kitts the question as to what he held in his hand, the act that no one had ever discovered the secret showed the system to be complicated. The ability to learn and master the trick he considered a gift, which this lady possessed in an eminent degree, and having which, practice was only necessary to render success certain. At one time, after Heller and Chapman had fallen out, and while both were in Australia, the latter organized a "second sight" entertainment on his own hook and totally regardless of Heller's hook, which resulted in considerable excitement in that country. However, as "second sight" competition proved unprofitable to both magicians, the enterprises were soon mutually abandoned.

Chapman's interview was republished by the New York Times on December 22, 1878. On the following day a letter to the Editor was published (page 3) under Haidee Heller's name:

"As you have copied the article entitled 'second sight' from the San Francisco Call, will you kindly publish a word from me? There is not one particle of truth in that communication from beginning to end. Mr Heller never played at the Haymarket Theatre. Never, in conjunction with anyone, invented his system of second sight. Never 'met me first in 1863', as he had generously provided for myself and mother for the 10 years previous. I don't believe he ever heard of any Rosa Kitts. As for myself, I never saw the name before this morning. The whole statement is a tissue of falsehood, invented by a disgraced employee of my late half-brother, Robert Heller. As you have given place to this Chapman's story, please allow me publicly to deny it in every particular.
Yours &c. Haidee Heller New-York Sunday Dec.22 1878."

In April 1879 there were many reports that Haidee was writing a biography of Heller’s life, to be published by Harper Bros. of New York. Nothing seems to have resulted.  At Haidee’s request (14), the body of Robert Heller was moved in June 1879 from Machpelah Cemetery in Philadelphia to Mount Moriah in West Philadelphia.

Looking at the progression of advertising, by May 1880 the pair were performing only the Second Sight routine, and by September 1880, Wright was advertising the "availability" of the act, running 20-30 minutes only. The last seen of the duo was in The Era, London Nov 28, 1880,  just another advertisement from Wright saying they were available. Mr. Warren-Wright would go on in 1891 to be one of the directors of the Empire, Portsmouth and Brighton Alhambra. A newspaper report that Haidee was assisting Dr. Lynn (Hugh Washington Simmons) at the Piccadilly in October seems to have been an error, based on the fact that Lynn also performed a second-sight routine.

Despite having retrieved Heller’s props from the theatre in which he had last performed, and although Haidee doubtless taught Warren-Wright the intricacies of the Supernatural Vision, the partnership cannot be said to have been other than a failure, reinforcing again that the chemistry between Robert and Haidee held the real key to their success.

We do know that Haidee had assisted Heller’s performance in other parts of his show, which should be recorded. Heller used the “Sphinx” table principle in several of his routines including a “Floating Head” in which Haidee was displayed while singing a song. She also had a featured routine called “Living Pictures” in which Haidee put her head through cut-outs in painted portraits, portraying the characters with mimicry and singing. Author Henry Ridgely Evans (18) insisted that this was also an illusion which he had seen in person, and that Haidee’s body was nowhere to be seen; another use of the Sphinx principle, as was also the “Sculptor’s Dream” illusion which featured Haidee.

Thanks to a letter written by the show’s Treasurer, Charles Hillsden, during the New Zealand tour of 1870, we also have confirmation that Haidee at times had assisted with “tricks under the stage”; in other words, some of Heller’s apparatus effects requiring operation by cords or other manipulation.

As to the “Lady from a Gentleman’s Hat”, we cannot say that Haidee was the lady produced, as several news reports indicate that a young girl of possibly ten years was the person who made an appearance. We have little indication that Heller travelled with such an assistant.

On March 31, 1877, Heller’s spiritualist routine was described by the New York Clipper as “a little dramatic sketch called ‘Mrs. Keptic’, charmingly acted by Miss and Mr. Heller. Its theme was spiritualism, and during its performances exhibitions of table-rapping, chairs tipping and moving, slate-writing, the blood-red writing on the arm, and other so-called spiritual phenomena were given so deftly that the spectators were completely mystified.”

The most intriguing trick performed by Haidee was advertised in August 1873 (19) – “A large box is locked and corded securely, occupying some four or five minutes in the operation. In two minutes the following effect is produced by Miss Heller – she uncords the box, gets inside, locks herself in, and cords up the box again from the inside.” This reverse version of the Corded Trunk Escape pre-dates the famous act of the 1920s by Seamus Burke, which he labelled as “Enterology”.

Haidee’s singing voice was apparently very pleasant, and she made several separate trials of a solo stage appearance with song. Back in Australia in September 1871, Robert Heller’s final two nights at the Theatre Royal on September 4 and 5 included Miss Heller singing the song “The Glass” from Offenbach’s opera bouffe “The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein”. A day later she ventured into her final appearance in Australia, one which was sadly not her finest moment. On September 6 she appeared at the Princess’ Theatre in the title role of the Grand Duchess of Gerolstein:
[‘Australasian’ of September 9, 1871] “It was a bold undertaking, and it proved to be a conspicuous failure … that a young lady with no voice worth speaking of, very little knowledge of music, an indifferent ear, no stage training, and a particularly awkward manner, should venture to attack a part which requires special and exceptional qualifications to enable a vocalist to sustain it properly, is one of those circumstances which would be apt to astonish one … so Miss Heller made a dash at the Grand Duchess, instead of essaying a small part, and as a matter of course, the higher the object she aimed at the greater and the more obvious was her fall … Miss Heller has been perfectly successful in imitating the vocal peculiarities of Madame Simonson [in the Living Pictures illusion]  …. But when she came to present herself as an operatic singer, she speedily demonstrated how much easier it is to copy and exaggerate the defects of others than to create a character by herself.”

It was not the last occasion on which Miss Heller ventured into musical theatre, but the next time she was far more cautious, reportedly singing the simpler role of “Little Buttercup” in ‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ somewhere in the west of the United States, during April 1879. (20)

Some histories briefly record the paragraph by Michael B. Leavitt (note, not the same as Heller’s early assistant M.H. Levett) in his 1912 book ‘50 Years in Theatrical Management’ –  page 506 - “some years after the death of Robert Heller, I entered the Cavour Restaurant, in Leicester Square, London, and was greatly surprised to see Haidee Heller sitting at the cashier’s desk with all the composure of being to the manner born. In reply to questions, she told me that she had an interest in the place. Robert Heller left an estate said to be worth about $350,000 which went to his wife and children.”  

The Cavour was run for about 45 years by Oscar Philippe (unmarried), formerly a waiter who bought out the business. He died 1907 and left a very large estate. He was a flamboyant character whose reputation was intimately connected with the restaurant, so it seems unlikely that Haidee had some ownership of the restaurant.  The German “Puck” magazine of November 1881 states that “The beautiful Haidee Heller, who was once the assistant of the now-deceased [magician] Robert Heller is now employed as a cashier in a London restaurant. Unfortunately, our young people do it the other way round: first they become cashiers and then they let everything disappear.”

The Lorgnette (Melbourne, November 3, 1881) reported “Miss Haidee Heller”, says a London exchange, “has renounced a professional career and is now book-keeper for a London hotel, largely patronised by American pros.”

The North Australian of September 26, 1884 sneeringly wrote, “Haidee Heller, who was not Robert Heller’s sister, but his something else, is getting a good deal of newspaper sympathy, in America, over the death of her mother. Haidee used to be a barmaid, and after a long and prosperous connection with the clever Robert, returned to bar maidenhood three years ago. She practices prestidigitation nowadays with bottles and tumblers in a pub in New York.” Of this we can say that no sympathetic reports of any kind can be discovered in the U.S. or Britain relating to Haidee’s mother, that she was not a barmaid in later years, and she was not living in New York! But this sort of report, filling up an inch or two of space with rumour and pure invention, is typical of the standard of many newspapers, which had on two occasions declared Heller to be dead when he was still alive, and in 1879 claimed that he was alive and heading up the season of “Heller’s Wonders”!

The Evening News (Sydney, July 25, 1885) says “The story of Haidee Heller having been a barmaid in London since Robert Heller’s death is not true. It arose from the fact that she was managing and keeping the books of a small hotel near the Alhambra, Leicester-square.”

The Evening News (Sydney, September 14, 1885) wrote, “Haidee Heller, the mystic, is in England and describes herself as ‘getting too fat to live’ and …  ‘almost as lazy as they make ‘em.’  “

Here we make a diversion to examine what might have become of Robert Heller’s apparatus; Haidee certainly had a large role to play in this.

The original provisions of Heller’s will, which was made in April 1878, some months prior to his death, read “Third – I hereby direct my Executrix [his sister Fannie Gibbs] hereinafter named and under the direction and supervision of Haidee Heller, to destroy, break up and beat out of shape all the secret apparatus, arrangements and mechanical devices appertaining to or in any way affecting or connected with my business, so that no one may have the benefit of my brains after my death.”

This provision was nothing more than pomposity on Heller’s behalf – he was not an inventor, and possibly excepting his electrically-rigged Second Sight sofa there would be no mechanical secrets that other magicians did not already know. During the few days between Robert’s collapse in Philadelphia and his death, he apparently changed his mind and instructed Haidee to sell props  to Joseph Michael Hartz who, in 1870, had founded the "Magical Repository" in New York.

It is known that the Sofa, at least, ended up with magic dealer, Francis Martinka, and historian Henry Ridgley Evans published a photograph of the sofa in his book “The Old and the New Magic”, 1906. It would eventually be on-sold to mentalist Joseph Dunninger for the sum of $35 in the last year of Martinka’s shop (c.1918). He reported (21),  “Accompanied by Harry Houdini, I went one day to the warehouse where I had the piece of furniture stored, along with other apparatus, and removed the upholstery of the top, in order to discover what mechanism, if any, had been concealed inside of the couch. I found a rather rudely constructed, but to all appearances an accurately working telephone receiver concealed in the headpiece. There was also a sort of telegraph lever affixed to the side of the sofa, in a manner such as to cause a hammer to either touch the hand or leg of the clairvoyante.”  If this was correct, it seems that a telephonic device had been added at some very late stage, or even after Heller’s death, since telephones were a more modern invention. In any case, the eventual fate of the sofa is, sadly, not known. “The Sphinx” March 15, 1913, said “Mr. Francis J. Martinka has at his home and in his store a number of Heller's pieces of apparatus, including the couch on which Haidee Heller reclined while answering the second sight questions of her illustrious brother.”

Before we get ahead of the story, however, it is necessary to go back to 1878 when Heller died in Philadelphia while performing at the Concert Hall, of which the lessee was Mr. Lombard. A story published in January 1879 (22), if accurate, gives us some information about the apparatus but also pause for thought on the actual value of Heller’s estate:

"Since Robert Heller died, two months ago, all his traps, machinery and apparatus have remained in Concert Hall, where he performed up to within forty hours of his death. Of course, his estate had against it the current claims, including hall rent, hire of stage hands, agents' due and a few newspaper bills, amounting to something like $750. According to the will the apparatus was to be destroyed. Mr. Heller having passed to the other world, the only security that the proprietor of the hall [Lombard] had for his dues was the apparatus, which was also looked to by other creditors as a property to insure them for their claims against the estate. Various efforts have been made by Miss Haidee Heller to settle these claims, but the executrix [Fannie Gibbs] being in England, and, moreover, a person infirm with age [she was 44!], nothing definite could be settled.

It was generally understood that the prestidigitator had a good deal of money lying at his bankers, but he had, it appears, been something of a stock speculator in a quiet way, and after he had been committed to his last resting-place it was stated that all the money, or nearly all, had gone the way so well known to those who tarry too long in the stock mart. Whether this is entirely true or not, has never been shown, but the claims in Philadelphia against the estate met with no satisfaction at this source, and the claimants were assured that the amount was almost nominal.

Yesterday Miss Heller came from New York, bringing with her a lawyer and they tendered a sum of money to Mr. Lombard that was not satisfactory, as it represented but a small percentage of the claim. The matter was referred to Mr. Lombard's attorney, and an arrangement was finally arrived at. In a few hours the magician's machinery was on its way out of Philadelphia, and the other creditors were left without recourse."

Until such time as the Probate documents for Heller’s estate can be examined, the truth of the alleged shortage of money cannot be proven, but Haidee took possession of the existing apparatus and show fittings. The New York Times (25), in reporting that Haidee had filed a petition in the Surrogate’s office on December 9, states that Haidee declared herself to be Heller’s sister, though the will itself referred to her as just “Haidee Heller”.  Eight months later she would sail to England, where it is expected that she should have taken her second-sight sofa to be used in the Warren-Wright season, but that prop remained in America. The inference that must be drawn is that Haidee and Wright performed as a duo, without a third-party assistant, without the sofa, and presumably using only the verbal cue techniques; a cut down version of Heller’s deviously complex methods.

Heller had reputedly owned some 49 tons of apparatus, and it cannot be expected that all of this was returned to England (but in recent years the only verified piece of Heller ephemera discovered in America has been an attributed top hat which was sold at auction.)

Looking at the programme for the Liverpool appearance of the Haidee/Wright show, it is replete with many gorgeous illustrations connected with Robert Heller’s performances, including the magic punchbowl and the Peacock automaton. ‘The Era’ of October 5, 1879, advertised that “the magnificent and costly apparatus, artistic accessories, and thorough completeness of the performance render this Entertainment unique and unapproachable of its kind….”

But the show was what, today, would be called a “Tribute” show, and author J.F. Burrows  (23) lists this limited repertoire as being performed (though he does not confirm that this was the Heller’s Wonders show)
- Production of a number of eggs from a folded handkerchief.
- Eggs placed into a saucepan change into canaries.
- A borrowed handkerchief cut and restored, then passed into a lemon, next is washed and wrapped in paper, paper then torn open, handkerchief is found dry, folded and scented.
- The harlequin in the box automaton.
- A number of coins passed one at a time from the casket with slits into a glass covered by a pack of cards.
-  The metal cone and production of a plant in a pot.
-  Various articles produced from a hat.
-  The inexhaustible punch bowl.

So, while it is confirmed that these props ended up in Britain, they represented but a small selection of the apparatus from the Heller show.

A tantalising reference is found in an “expose” article of 1885 (24):
“The disclosures herein made come substantially from a well-known young amateur from Brooklyn, Mr. Harry S. Livingston, who learned from Heller's own lips some of his well kept secrets, and from E.J. Dale who was an assistant of the magician on the stage, or a 'confederate' as cynical spectators would say, for some time, and was the assistant of Mr. Livingston for two years. Mr. Livingston, who has followed the pursuit of scientific magic purely from a love of art, and is seen in public only in connection with entertainments for 'sweet charity sake' has in his $10,000 collection of magical apparatus many articles used the Heller in his performances in the old hall in Twenty-fourth-street, now known as the Madison Square theatre.”

Sadly, at this stage, the well-known young amateur has left no trail of his existence. However, Mr. Edward Jonathan Dale, who was Heller’s assistant and electrician in the years leading up to his death, is known to have become a provider of illusions, sideshows,  stage and electrical properties back in England, at 9 Kirby Street Hatton Garden, as late as 1889.

On September 12, 1880, Dale advertised in The Era: “FOR SALE, most of the APPARATUS used by the late ROBERT HELLER, including Handsome Fit-up, Gas Brackets, Tables, Stands, Mechanical Effects &c. -  Address Mr E. Dale, 4 Little Britain, London E.C.”  It might be assumed that this was the apparatus used in the Haidee/Wright production but no further detail is known…

.. Except that on December 26, Dale advertised again: “To conjurers, FOR SALE, Cheap, the Remainder of APPARATUS belonging to the late Robert Heller.”  An advertisement designed to bring grief to the heart of any modern-day collector, more so because it is not known whether any lucky British magician acquired the props … cheap!

We still have not come to an answer of a primary question – if Haidee was not a sister of Robert Heller, who was she? In fact the answer cannot be located during her lifetime, and it is a single definitive document that finally reveals her name.  (25)

"...Notice is hereby given, that all creditors and other persons having any claims or demands upon, or against the estate of Susannah Jane Ravenhill, otherwise Haidee Heller, otherwise Mrs. Hill, of 17A, Percy-chambers, Charlotte-street, Fitzroy-square, in the county of London, deceased (who died on or about the 21st day of February, 1893 at 17A, Percy-chambers aforesaid, a Spinster and intestate, and of whose personal estate and effects letters of administration were granted ... on the 9th day of March, 1893, to Henry George Ravenhill, of 7, East View-terrace, Cowplain, near Cosham, Hants, the natural and lawful brother and one of the next-of-kin of the said intestate .... "

As an official legal document, there can be little doubt that Susannah Jane Ravenhill was the famed Haidee Heller. She was just 45. Her residence was little more than a mile from the Cavour restaurant in Leicester Square, where she had been noted working. She had not married. Administration, on March 9 1893 was granted to Henry George Ravenhill, naval pensioner, in the amount of £969 9s., a comfortable sum.

Her name, of itself, is not particularly important except that it gives us a pathway to learn more about the early life of Haidee, via genealogical sites such as Ancestry.

Susannah, whose name is also seen on documents as Susanna or Susanah, was born on April 2, 1848 to parents Newell Patrick Ravenhill (1790-1868) and Caroline Ravenhill (nee. Barnwell, 1806-1882) at  30 Gr. Windmill St, London, in today’s Soho district. She was baptised on April 21, 1848 at St. James Piccadilly.

Her father, Newell, was a Tailor. In May 1850 he was listed at the court for relief of insolvent debtors (London Gazette May 24, 1850) mentioned as a journeyman tailor and lodging-house keeper. He may have only been owing “small debts” (27). He was married three times, having seventeen children during his lifetime, of whom Susannah seems to have been the last.

Susannah’s brother, Henry George Ravenhill, was born in the parish of St. James Westminster. His naval record gives a birthdate of August 31, 1830. His mother, Elizabeth Ann Pierce (1793-1842) was probably Newell’s first wife, and so would have died before Susannah was born. Henry was also baptised at St. James Piccadilly, on September 9, 1832. He was a retired naval captain, who served in Asia as late as 1888, always with very good character recorded against his name. Henry died on May 21, 1900 at Portsea Island, Hampshire.

So we have a concept of the young girl – a child from a large and possibly not very prosperous family, living in the centre of London where she grew to be a feisty and headstrong person with no great prospects in life, had she remained in that city.

Instead, and whether or not she had known Robert Heller previously, she seized his invitation to travel with both hands, and for the next decade she toured all over the world, being feted and presented with rich gifts, performing and mystifying all her audiences, and becoming forever famous as the mysterious Haidee Heller.

(2) M-U-M, the Society of American Magicians Monthly, Vol 8 No. 74, May 1919

(3) Cincinnati Daily Press, February 8, 1862 and New York Clipper June 7, 1862

(4) Cincinnati Daily Press, February 3, 1862 page 1. The article is by-lined “Observer” and an assistant named “Fred” is mentioned within the text.

(5) Daily Alta California of March 1, 1867 at the Metropolitan Theatre, San Francisco

(6) The method for this illusion is described in HB Wilton’s “The Somatic Conjuror”, 1870, under the heading ‘The Lady Taken Out of a Gentleman’s Hat’.

(7) Sydney Morning Herald October 4, 1869 p.8

(8) Ancestry.com under ‘William Henry Ridout Palmer’.

(9) Letter from Haidee to New York Times on December 23, 1878 in a rebuttal of William Chapman’s supposed revelations about her identity.

(10) Albury Banner and Wodonga Express February 15, 1879 p.15

(11) Lawsuit for libel: refer The Cincinnati Daily Star, November 7, 1878

(12) https://www.themagicdetective.com/2011/01/go-to-hellers-part-2.html Dean Carnegie's informative magic blog.

(13) Jasper Weekly Courier, December 20, 1878 “The Dead Magician”

(14) New York Clipper, June 14, 1879

(15) New York Clipper, September 27, 1879

(16) The Era, London, October 5, 1879

(16a) The original Cunard was Mr. Archimedes Litherland Cunard, but after he left the Kellar troupe, others worked under the title. According to "Kellar's Wonders" (Mike Caveney and Bill Miesel, 2003 Mike Caveney's Magic Words), it was a John Hodgkins working with Kellar at this time.

(18) Biographical sketch of Heller in ‘Melody Magic’ 1932, Harry L. Clapham, Washington D.C.,  and remarks about her gifts of jewellery.

(19) Birmingham Mail, August 8, 1873

(20) Daily Globe (St. Paul. Minn.), April 10, 1879

(21) This source is yet to be confirmed. Heller’s sofa mechanism, and the apparent addition of a telephonic device,  is examined in detail in “Mind Reading in Stage Magic: The ‘Second Sight’ Illusion, Media, and Mediums” by Katharina Rein, Bauhaus Universitat Weimar, September 2015. Dunninger’s quote is said to come from a letter to Henry R. Evans, dated August 3, 1932, which she says is quoted by him in “Mental Magic”; which would imply the chapter ‘Mental Magic’ in the book “Magic Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions” edited by Albert J. Hopkins, 1906. However the quote cannot be located at that source. There is however no reason to suppose that it does not exist.

(22) Grand Traverse Herald January 30, 1879, attributed to the Philadelphia Times of January 24.

(23) Programs of Magicians, J.F. Burrows, 1907

(24) The Swindon Advertiser, March 21, 1885 but likely syndicated from an American newspaper.

(25) New York Times report on Heller’s will, December 10, 1878

(26) It should be acknowledged that Susannah Ravenhill’s name has been mentioned once before, in volume one of “Professor Solomon’s Lives of the Conjurers”, 2014 Top Hat Press, an engaging series of three books on magic history for younger readers. The books are available in e-format, free of charge at ‘Professor’ Steve Solomon’s website, http://www.professorsolomon.com/books.html  or at lybrary.com

(27) See London Morning Herald June 17, 1850.