[1][2] He was born on June 9, 1888, in Houma, Louisiana to John L. Murray and Louvinia Smith.
He interned at Freedmen's Hospital and then taught at Howard University.
[3] He married Charlotte Wallace in Washington, DC on July 2, 1917.
In 1920 they lived in the Truxton Circle neighborhood at 1645 New Jersey Ave NW with Charlotte's mother, her 23-year-old sister, and a live-in domestic servant.
[6] In 1956, his portrait was painted by artist Betsy Graves Reyneau.