Before baseball allowed blacks to play in the major leagues, the
blacks formed their own "Negro Leagues", from around 1890-1960.  One
of their star players was a catcher known as Biz Mackay.  His first
name was Raleigh, and Biz was a nickname.

Sometimes I've seen his name listed as Clarence, Bizz, and his last
name spelled Mackey.  His death is often listed as 1957 or 1959.  I
require a credible date of death.

He was born in Eagle Pass, TX on July 27, 1897 and his playing career
extended from 1918-47. He died in Los Angeles, but I can't locate him
on the California death index.  Can anyone help me out here?   
bluestreak

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 12 Sep 2004 12:15 PDT

Dear bluestreak,

I do not post this yet as an answer since I don't know whether the
information will satisfy you.

I searched for anything connected with Biz Mackey, and when I was
close to giving up, I found this posting in a discussion on the
Baseball-Fever.com site:
http://www.baseball-fever.com/showpost.php?p=182636&postcount=16

Please at Mackey's name in the headline: "James Raleigh 'Biz' Mackey".
I now had reason to believe that Mackey had two first names. And I
concluded that in any official documents, the first of the two names
would be listed.

So I searched the Social Security Death Index for persons of the name
James Mackey who were born in 1897. And to my surprise, I found
someone who is most likely the baseball player you are looking for:

James Mackey
Birth: 27 July 1897
Death: September 1865
Last Residence: California
SSN: 155-14-8064
Issued: New Jersey

http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi

I don't believe that this is nothing but coincedence. The first name
is correct, the date of birth is identical, and New Jersey is a very
likely place for Biz Mackey to get his Social Security Number: After
all, he was player-manager of the Newark Eagles towards the end of his
career:
http://www.blackbaseball.com/players/bizmackey.htm


If this is satisfying for you, please let me know.
Regards,
Scriptor

Dear bluestreak,

An important update! I have also searched the California Death Index,
and now I am absolutely sure that James Mackey, SSN 155-14-8064, is
the correct person:

Last Name: Mackey
First Name: James
Middle Initial: R
Birth Date: 27 July 1897
Mother's Maiden Name: Wright
Death Place: Los Angeles
Death Date: 22 September 1965
SSN: 155-14-8064
Age: 68 Years
http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi

So here we have James R. Mackey, with the "R" most likely standing for
"Raleigh", who died on 22 September 1965 in L.A. Is this an acceptable
answer for you?

Regards,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Answer by scriptor-ga on 12 Sep 2004 12:26 PDT

I am very sorry, I accidentally posted my request as an answer. In
case the information is not acceptable, please let me know and I will
ask the editors to remove it again.

Regards,
Scriptor

scriptor,
Wow!  Now that is what I call fast!  I am indeed, so very impressed! 
Your tracking skills are undiminished!  Thank you, thank you, thank
you!  Your answer is very acceptable!  I am very greatful to you for
your invaluable skills and I only wished I had called upon you
earlier!  Kudos, my old friend.
bluestreak