Ed Dugan

Edward Joseph Dugan

• Bats Unknown, Throws Unknown

• Debut August 5, 1884
• Final Game October 15, 1884
• Born February 1865 in Brooklyn, NY USA
• Died March 24, 1895 in Brooklyn, NY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Ed Dugan was the brother of Bill Dugan. He played 22 games for the Richmond Virginians of the American Association in 1884, then umpired one game in the same circuit in 1887.

Little was known about the two Dugan brothers and the death information associated with Bill was likely that of another person. SABR researcher Peter Morris was able to identify the pair in 2016.

The family was living in Brooklyn, NY and appears in various city directories from 1883 to 1895. Bill was still living with them as of 1887 and his younger brother Ed in 1893. In the 1870 census, Bill is an eight-year-old and Ed was 6, while in 1880, Bill is 19 and a machinist while Ed is 15 and a student. The boys' father, also named William Dugan and an immigrant laborer from Ireland, died that year in Brooklyn, while their mother, Bridget, also from Ireland, died in 1895. Morris also found a parish census from St. Paul's Catholic Church dated June 15, 1865, which also includes the family, and gives more precise details about the two boys' ages, as William gets a birthdate of April, 1862 and Edward of February 1865. Baptismal records for the family's older children also indicate that the boys' mother was born Bridget Murphy.

This information enabled Morris to identify Ed Dugan as the "Ed Duggan" who died in Brooklyn in 1895. He was listed as a laborer whose parents were both born in Ireland, who lived his entire life in Brooklyn, was single, and died of pulmonary phtisis.

Further Reading

• "The Dugan Brothers", in Bill Carle, ed.: Biographical Research Committee Report, SABR, November/December 2016, pp. 2-5.