Many authors have repeated claims that Murat was an elected alderman of Tallahassee in 1824, mayor in 1825, and its longest-serving postmaster (1826–1838). The public record and historical evidence do not support these assertions. This and other misinformation about Murat appeared as early as 1888 in "Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography" and was repeated in an 1890s tourists' "guide book" published by the Murat estate (i.e., Bellevue Plantation) that overstated Murat's involvement in local politics; the guide book is mentioned in Bradford Torrey's 1895 book entitled "A Florida Sketch-Book", which recalls Torrey's 1893 visit to the Murat estate near Tallahassee. Torrey wrote that Catherine Murat's neighbor and another local "indisputable citizen"—a judge—refuted the Murat claims published in the tourist's guidebook. Because the original city charter for the city of Tallahassee was not in effect until December 9, 1825 and the first municipal election was not held until January 2, 1826, there was no city council in existence in 1824 or 1825; thus Murat could not have been an alderman or mayor in those years. Federal records show Isham G. Searcy as the federally appointed postmaster of Tallahassee for the period claimed in the Murat estate guide-book.