The following is the obituary published in the Tribune (and almost certainly written by Alexander's brother Walter):

OBITUARY OF ALEXANDER MURRAY

Alexander Murray died at San Miguel, San Luis Obispo County, May 16, 1870, of consumption, at the age of thirty-six years. The death of this gentleman was a public calamity. The place occupied by him in this community for the last sixteen years could not be filled by another.

Mr. Murray was born in London in the year 1834. He came to California in the spring of 1850, and soon after settled in Sonora, Tuolumne County, where for a time he was one of the publishers of the Sonora Herald. In November, 1854, he came to San Luis Obispo, where he resided uninterruptedly until the time of his death. In 1855 he was appointed Postmaster, and continuously occupied the position up to the time of his death. From 1862 to 1866 he was County Superintendent of Public Schools. He has also been Deputy-Collector of United States Internal Revenue for San Luis Obispo County for several years.

In all of these positions Mr. Murray proved himself to be an upright, conscientious, and reliable public servant. Never has there been left to his charge the slightest irregularity in the discharge of his duties in any of them. Always at his post, he was invariably polite, accommodating, and exact. He never seemed to forget that he was the servant of the public, and that the administration of office was a duty and not a privilege. Accordingly, all who had business with him learned to know and appreciate his many good qualities, and to accord to him the highest qualifications for the positions he filled.

For six or seven years he was the agent of Wells, Fargo & Co. The duties of Post-master and express agent, combined, even in San Luis Obispo, have been for the last five years of his life sufficiently exacting and trying, and it is owing, in a great measure, to the courteous, precise, and accommodating manner in which these have been administered that the deceased had become so popular in this community. He seemed to take an actual pleasure in doing favors, and was, withal, a perfectly just man. Large-hearted, disinterested, and generous; no one ever appealed to him in vain to assist a charity or lend a helping hand to the deserving.

There was no disguise about the man; outspoken and straightforward, every one could see the genial heart within him. After a life so spent, when death came he had nothing to fear. His many good qualities, at this last moment, were so many attendants about him, which, in the language of Lord Bacon, "won the great combat for him."

The funeral ceremonies were conducted by Master Masons of the San Simeon Lodge, and brethren of the Masonic Fraternity.