Personal Data

John Frederick Murray was born on November 2, 1880, in Cambridge, the son of John Francis Murray and his wife, Catherine O’Reilly.

He married on September 11, 1920, in El Paso, Texas, to Julia Harris (b. Dec1887 in TX; d. 22May1973 in Arlington), daughter of Thomas Green Harris and his wife, Lou Oglesby.

He died in the early 1940s.

Career

John F. Murray graduated from Harvard in 1905, after which he studied archictecture at Harvard for a year and at MIT for a year. After traveling to Europe, he returned and began practice as an architect with Walter C. Cummings. They remained partners for two years, after which he joined with William A. Dykeman about 1910, forming the firm of Dykeman and Murray. They remained partners until September of 1918, when John Murray joined the Army and undertook a number of war-related construction assignments at camps throughout the United States.

Among Dykeman and Murray’s works were the Barre National and Savings Bank in Barre, Vermont; the First National Bank in Pepperell, Massachusetts; the Conway National and Savings Bank in Conway, New Hampshire; the Mystic Theatre in Malden; and J. S. Bailey’s Department Store in Springfield.

Back Bay Work