William Wood

By the start of 1891, Wood was touring as part of "Steen & Wood's World of Mystery and Novelties" with Martha E. Steen, a telepath, and Charles N. Steen, "the world's greatest exposer of spiritualism". Their three-month tour included stops in Vancouver, Los Angeles, and El Paso. Wood and his wife then set out on a multi-year world tour. A notice that Wood placed in a London-area newspaper in October 1895 said they had recently arrived from South American and were about to tour Spain. In February 1896, Wood placed a notice in the same newspaper, mentioning that the group had performed in 20 countries including Nicaragua, Ecuador, Argentina (Santa Fe, Rosario, and Buenos Aires), and Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco).

An October 1901 newspaper advertisement in Pennsylvania announced Wood's first American tour, which appears to have continued until January 1902. In June 1906, The New York Times ran a half-page article about Hastings Clawson, who served as Wood's tour manager for a three-year tour through South America that began in Mexico City in April 1903.

During the height of his career, Wood was widely publicized. Edna joined him during his South American trips until 1906, when failing health forced her retirement. Wood brought in a replacement, who was later an assistant in his show. His most famous effect was the "Pistol Shot Vanish", in which he would cause his assistant to vanish with a pistol shot. However, after his wife's retirement, his career began to decline.

Death In January 1908, Wood, then aged 46, (Other reports give Wood's age when he died as 43.)

One newspaper reported they were killed by pirates,

Investigation In March, it was reported that Hastings Clawson requested assistance from the State Department after being unsatisfied with reports from the U.S consulate and the captain of the tug. Wood's wife claimed that Wood was carrying English bank notes worth $14,000 at the time of his death.

The Magician Monthly reported that the Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.) adopted a resolution urging government authorities and President Theodore Roosevelt to investigate Wood's death (although he was not a member of S.A.M.) as there appeared to be ample ground for suspicion of foul play.

A follow-up article in The New York Times in April stated that the captain of the tug denied that any robbery had occurred, and that the U.S consulate was "satisfied that all was done that could be done to save the passengers." Nonetheless, Wood's wife traveled to Vera Cruz to investigate the deaths,

Later developments No trace was ever found of the Woods; however, their luggage was later recovered. One of Wood's theatrical trunks survived and was shipped to his widow, but she was so distraught that she had it shipped to a friend. Wood's trunk consisted of some large ventriloquist figures together with a number of lithographs depicting "Woodita" (a fantastic balance), "La Mariposa" (the human butterfly) "Edna" (the girl from the flames) and a stock portrait of Wood for his proposed Mexican tour (with the legend "The Real Devil" in Spanish beneath his picture).

Hastings Clawson died in Philadelphia in December 1912, aged 32. A January 1913 newspaper article reported that Wood's widow took legal action to dispute the will of Wood's mother.

Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, reportedly has four of Wood's prop dummies, recovered after washing ashore. A 2013 episode of Mysteries at the Museum recounted the circumstances of Wood's death and the dummies at Vent Haven Museum.