No. 22595 Jeremiah Murray from The Boston Globe, January 12, 1922.
Jeremiah “Miah” Murray’s “first ball playing was in his home district, and he became conspicuous on the baseball diamond in ’81, when he captained the champion amateur club of South Boston. His first professional appearance was in the fall of ’82, when manager Arthur Irwin of the Philadelphias secured for him a position as catcher of the Reading (Penn) club, although his regular place had been that of shortstop. In ’84 he was substitute catcher for the Providence champions. The next season, he went to the Indianapolis club. That league lasted four weeks. He then was temporarily with the Haverhill and Rochester, N.Y., clubs and later was induced to join the Minneapolis club of the Western League, where he did such good work that he was purchased by Washington. After a bout of malaria, he was with a London, Ont., team. That was his last season of playing professional baseball. He was prominent in the boxing game for 21 years in Boston, and was one of the organizers of the Armory A. A. In 1900, he was president of the Public Allen Bowling League.”
“Mr. Murray’s fame was nationwide. He enjoyed an unusual acquaintance with sporting men from all parts of the country and for upwards of 30 years, conducted a billiard and pool parlor uptown, where the sporting fraternity gathered and where many problems were solved and baseball talk indulged in.” The Boston Globe, January 12, 1922.
In 1900, Jeremiah Murray and his children were living with his in-laws, the Barrys at 27 Trescott Street. His children included: Edward, 8; Marie, 6, Walter, 4; Ellen, 3; and Thomas, 10 months. Jeremiah had married Ellen’s sister, Elizabeth, in 1888. Elizabeth had died in July 1899, the summer before Ellen bought the property on Trescott Street. The reason for Ellen’s purchase of 27 Trescott Street may well have been to accommodate Jeremiah and his children.
Jeremiah, most often referred to as Miah Murray, listed his occupation in the Boston Directory as baseball player, but he was at the end of that career. In 1895, he had begun a career as an umpire.
Wikipedia provides the following:
Jeremiah J. “Miah” Murray (January 1, 1865 – January 11, 1922) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball for four seasons, then umpired full-time for one season. In his career, he played with four different teams: the Providence Grays in 1884, the Louisville Colonels in 1885), the Washington Nationals in 1888, and the Washington Senators in 1891. His career totals include 34 games played, 120 at bats, and 17 hits for a .142 batting average.
Later, he became a full-time umpire for the National League in 1895 when he officiated in 112 games. He also is credited with umpiring one game in 1900, five games in 1905, and three games in 1910. He is also credited with seven ejections during the 1895 season. Murray died at the age of 57 in his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts, and is interred at Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Baseball History Daily says, “Murray was also a prominent boxing promoter and matchmaker in Boston where he operated the Lincoln Athletic Club of Chelsea, and later the Armory Athletic Club.”[1]
Miah was active in various athletic activities. One of his interests was bowling as mentioned in this article from The Boston Globe.
As was mentioned in the Baseball History Daily website, Miah was involved with the Lincoln Athletic Club. An article in The Boston Globe, June 1, 1906, stated, “A change in the directorate of the Lincoln club, Chelsea, that will increase its popularity was made yesterday afternoon. Miah Murray, who managed the successful Criterion club, was selected as managing director and matchmaker of the club. … Murray is personally acquainted with all the leading boxers and their managers, and he will not have any trouble in giving the patrons of the game some first-class sport.”
On February 28, 1910, Ellen Barry sold the property at 27 Trescott Street to Jeremiah Murphy.
The sale didn’t alter the living arrangements—the Barrys and the Murrays continued to live in the house. In the U.S. Census for 1910, Jeremiah provided his occupation as bowling, billiards.
In 1917, Walter Leo Murray registered for the draft for World War I and listed his employer as Miah Murray, 1140 Washington Street in the South End, the address of the poolroom. The same year, Miah Murray’s poolroom and billiard room suffered a fire as mentioned in an article in The Boston Globe, May 25, 1917.
Miah Murray died in 1922 at 57 years of age, as reported in The Boston Globe, January 12, 1922.
[1] https://baseballhistorydaily.com/2014/05/07/miah-murray/