A Moses of the Mormons

by Henry Eduard Legler

PARKMAN CLUB PUBLICATIONS
Nos. 15–16
Milwaukee, Wis., May 11, 1897

 

A MOSES OF THE MORMONS

Strang's City of Refuge and Island Kingdom

By Henry E. Legler

 

Printed for the Parkman Club by Edward Keogh

A Moses of the Mormons.

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Strang's City of Refuge at Voree and His Kingdom on an Island in Lake Michigan.

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Nestling between hills east of the city of La Crosse is the pleasant little valley known as Mormon coulée. Industrious Swiss and German farmers, who rigidly adhere to the severe orthodoxy of the Calvinistic creed, have reared on its wooded hillsides and beside the quiet little brook that meanders through, their comfortable cabins and farmhouses. Only the name of the coulée and a few crumbling ruins of masonry remain of what fifty years ago was a flourishing Mormon colony.^[1]

Half a century ago a prosperous community of 2,000 persons inhabited the city of Voree, on the edge of a prairie skirted by White river, in the fertile county of Walworth. It was a stake of Zion, heralded to fugitive Mormons as a city of refuge. To-day the site of this city of promise is as bare as if its soil had never borne the weight of human habitation.^[2]

On the largest island of the Beaver archipelago, in Lake Michigan, there flourished about the middle of the present century, a community of several thousand Latter-Day Saints. They were ruled by a king for nearly seven years. Of his temple and his so-called castle, the only vestiges now are a few splinters in the collections of relic hunters. His subjects have been scattered far and wide, and ax and torch long ago reduced their habitations to heaps of cinders.

In the busy brain of James Jesse Strang was conceived the scheme of founding in Wisconsin an empire of Latter-Day Saints. When the great exodus from Nauvoo began, he sought to turn the steps of the wanderers to his city of refuge at Voree. It was questionable for a time whether he or Brigham Young would triumph. Other pretenders sought to don the fallen mantle of Joseph Smith, but Brigham Young feared none of them as he did Strang. In the end the dream of Strang faded away, and his life paid the penalty of his ambition. His vast plans were "dead sea fruit, that tempt the eye, but turn to ashes on the lips."^[3]

THE MORMON COULEE SETTLEMENT.

The settlement in Mormon coulée had but brief duration. When the Mormon temple at Nauvoo was planned, a party of Saints ascended the Mississippi to obtain lumber for the structure. Doubtless the snug little valleys behind the hills that skirt the prairie of La Crosse tempted them to there plant an isolated stake of Zion.^[4] At this time (1843) the prairie was a mere trading station, and its rough inhabitants regarded the Mormons as legitimate prey. There were frequent collisions, due in part to the rude attentions bestowed upon the Mormon women by the young men of the prairie. One night the eastern heavens were all aglow. The Mormons had secretly constructed rafts, removed their belongings to them under cover of night, and applied the torch to their deserted homes. Before the hostile inhabitants of the prairie could intercept or molest them, their rafts had floated them many miles away with the rapid current of the Mississippi.

The Mormon coulée settlement was governed by Elder Lyman Wight, who later became an aspirant for the leadership of the Church. Disappointed in his ambition, he led his adherents to Texas.^[5]

KING STRANG'S STRANGE CAREER.

So closely is the story of Mormonism in Wisconsin and Michigan associated with James Strang, that its recital is largely biographical. Of his boyhood little is known, except that he was studious and ambitious—and likewise eccentric. After his death there was found among his papers the fragments of an autobiography covering the period of his life up to the age of 12. The writing comes to a sudden stop, as if the writer had been disturbed and had never cared, or perhaps had no opportunity, to resume the story of his life. In view of the later career of this strange man, the fragment is interesting as giving an insight into the unusual elements that tinctured his life and fashioned his character.^[6]

"My infancy was a period of continual sickness and extreme suffering," he wrote, "and I have understood that at one time I was so low as to be thought dead, and that preparations were made for my burial. All my early recollections are painful, and at this day I am utterly unable to comprehend the feeling of those who look back with pleasure on their infancy, and regret the rapid passing away of childhood. Till I had children of my own, happy in their infantile gambols, the recollection of those days produced a creeping sensation akin to terror."

It was the claim of Strang that he was a descendant of Henry de l'Estrange, who accompanied the Duke of York on his expedition for the conquest of New Amsterdam. In his autobiography he notes that his father, Clement Strang, was the fifth son of Gabriel Strang. Coming originally of al Norman stock, "they have continually intermarried with the Dutch and German families of the Hudson, and therefore partake more of the German type than any other. Counting continually in the male line for ten generations back, our ancestors are Jews, but so large is the admixture of other blood that the Semitic type seems to be quite lost."^[7]

On his mother's side, Strang's ancestry was of the purest Yankee stock from Rhode Island. His mother's maiden name was James.

On a farm in the town of Scipio, N. Y., owned by his father. James Jesse Strang was born March 21, 1813. He was but 3 years of age when his parents removed to Hanover, in Chatauqua county, his life until manhood being passed there. The meager facilities of a country school were supplemented by a brief term at Fredonia Academy. Such details of his life at this period as are known indicate that he was an omniverous reader, and that he was noted for a remarkably retentive memory. In the local debating clubs he vanquished all opponents. While working on a farm he borrowed law books and eagerly read and digested them. He was admitted to the bar and began to practice in Mayville, later removing to Ellington. He became postmaster there, but he was of too restless a spirit to remain long in one place. Although married shortly after he was admitted to the bar, he began a roving life, going from one place to another and flitting from one occupation to another without particular motive, except to follow the bent of his nature. He taught a country school, edited a newspaper at Randolph, and then took the rostrum as a temperance lecturer. He was full of energy and ambition, and a remarkably ready and effective speaker.

Strang's wife was Mary Perce. Her brother resided at Burlington, in Racine county, Wis., and it was at his solicitation that the young man removed to this state. This was in 1843. Here he resumed the practice of law, forming a partnership with C. P. Barnes, who later became associated as a practitioner with Judge Wm. P. Lyon.^[8]

In the year following his removal to Wisconsin, there came to Burlington several itinerant missionaries from the Mormon Church at Nauvoo, seeking proselytes. Their talk appealed with peculiar fascination to the temperament of Strang. He threw himself heart and soul into the movement. It was a field that afforded his peculiar talents full play. Before six months had expired, Strang had developed from an humble convert to the self-styled head of the Church. It was in January, 1844, that his zeal was kindled. He visited Nauvoo, and on the 25th of February was baptized by the seer Joseph Smith into the communion of Latter-Day Saints. The prophet conceived a great regard for the young zealot from Wisconsin, and but a week after baptism Strang had been made an elder with authority to plant a stake of Zion in the immediate neighborhood of his Wisconsin home.

With restless energy and marvelous success, Strang began his propaganda and laid the foundation for the city of Voree. What his ideas were can only be conjectured in the light of his subsequent dream of empire. Intensely ambitious for power, versed in the arts that enable leadership of men, fired with religious fervor, keenly conscious of his own abilities, the example of Joseph Smith's success doubtless inspired him with great ambitions.^[9] He saw in Smith an uneducated man who from the humblest origin became in the course of but a few years the unchallenged prophet of many thousands of men and women.^[10] The possibilities of his own future dazzled him. Events at first conspired to bring to immediate realization the dreams of Strang. In June the prophet and his brother Hyrum were riddled with bullets by a mob at Carthage, in the state of Illinois. On whom should the mantle fall that the martyred seer had worn? Many sought the succession; but one of them possessed the energy or capacity to measure weapons for more than a brief period with the masterful craft of Brigham Young. That one was Strang.^[11] That Young feared Strang most is attested by the bitterness with which in pamphlets and in Mormon newspapers Strang was assailed, while the other pretenders were almost ignored as if unworthy of notice.

In the struggle that ensued between Brigham Young and James Jesse Strang, the former had all the advantage of an entrenched position. He was one of the all-powerful Council of Twelve, and at first fed the enmity of his colleagues towards outside aspirants by ingenuously suggesting to each individually hopes of personal aggrandizement.^[12] It was a shrewd scheme to first crush outside aspirants, and then narrow down rivalry at home by cajolery or intimidation till his own elevation became possible.

Despite the hostility of the combined Council of Twelve,^[13] Strang made a vigorous and resourceful campaign to secure the prophetic succession. Joseph Smith's Nauvoo followers had not recovered from the shock of their leader's assassination before Strang was in their midst exhorting them to follow him to the city of promise in Wisconsin. He exhibited a letter purporting to have been written by the seer just before his assassination, prophesying that he would soon wear "the double crown of martyr and king in a heavenly world," and appointing James Strang as his successor:

"And now behold my servant, James J. Strang, hath come to thee from far for truth when he knew it not, and hath not rejected it, but had faith in thee, the Shepherd and Stone of Israel, and to him shall the gathering of the people be, for he shall plant a stake of Zion in Wisconsin, and I will establish it; and there shall my people have peace and rest and shall not be moved, for it shall be established on the prairie on White river, in the lands of Racine and Walworth; and behold my servants James and Aaron shall plant it, for I have given them wisdom, and Daniel shall stand in his lot on the hill beside the river looking down on the prairie, and shall instruct my people and shall plead with them face to face.

"Behold my servant James shall lengthen the cords and strengthen the stakes of Zion, and my servant Aaron shall be his counselor, for he hath wisdom in the gospel and understandeth the doctrines and erreth not therein.

"And I will have a house built unto me there of stone, and there will I show myself to my people by many mighty works, and the name of the city shall be called Voree, which is, being interpreted, garden of peace; for there shall my people have peace and rest and wax fat and pleasant in the presence of their enemies.

"But I will again stretch out my arm over the river of waters, and on the banks thereof shall the house of my choice be. But now the city of Voree shall be a stronghold of safety to my people, and they that are faithful and obey me, I will there give them great prosperity, and such as they have not had before; and unto Voree shall be the gathering of my people, and there shall the oppressed flee for safety and none shall hurt or molest them."^[14]

The Council of Twelve made a furious onslaught on the pretensions of Strang; denounced his letter as a forgery, and threatened with the thunders of the Church all who would uphold the pretender.^[15] The Brighamites started the story that the postmark on the letter was black, whereas all Nauvoo letters were stamped in red. Strang produced the letter and showed a red postmark. He claimed that the letter was received at Burlington by regular course of mail, through the Chicago distributing office; that it bore the Nauvoo postmark of June 19, the day following its date, and that C. P. Barnes, a well-known Burlington lawyer, took the letter out of the post-office and delivered it to Strang July 9. It was also claimed by the Brighamites that no proper entry of the mailing of such a letter could be found in the register of "mails sent" from Nauvoo. When it was sought to verify Strang's claim that the proper entry was there, the register had mysteriously disappeared.

With much shrewdness, the Council of Twelve spread abroad among the people the doctrine that the martyred prophet could have no successor, and their united opposition disposed of the pretensions of several claimants, among them Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight and William Smith. The most vigorous claimant was Strang. Fortified with the letter alleged to have been sent him by Joseph Smith, and loudly proclaiming its genuineness among the Nauvooites, he soon gathered a considerable following. The twelve apostles summoned a conference. With much force and logic Strang defended his position, citing liberally from the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrines and Covenants. The apostles contended that no man could assume the prophetic succession and hold the keys of authority which Joseph had obtained from the hands of angels. Their official organs, published at Nauvoo and Liverpool, had before this proclaimed in no uncertain words the doctrine that to take Joseph's place as seer, revelator and prophet was mere usurpation.

"Let no man presume for a moment his place will be filled by another," were the words reiterated in the "Times and Seasons" and in the "Millennial Star," whose columns were controlled by the twelve and their abettors. In the face of the sentiment thus created, Strang made a hopeless appeal for recognition. His pretensions were rejected, and with the usual formulas of the Church ritual, he was "given over to the buffetings of Satan."

THE CITY OF REFUGE.

Strang was not so easily disposed of, however. With a body of recusant Mormons whom his remarkable powers of oratory had attached to his cause, he returned to Voree and began to build up his city of refuge, prophesying that the Mormons would be driven from Nauvoo by the Lamanites,^[16] and that then the words of Joseph would be realized. In every detail he carried out the policy by which the seer Joseph had appealed to his followers. He pretended to have revelations. These he transcribed in imitation of scriptural language, teeming with vague phrases upon which he placed such interpretations as were needful to carry out his immediate purposes. He organized his church on the pattern prescribed by the sacred books of the Mormon faith, with a council of twelve, and quorums of elders and priests. Over all of them he exercised supreme authority. Like Joseph, when schism threatened or murmurs of discontent came to his ears, he would silence all opposition by means of a convenient revelation.^[17]

The crowning achievement, and one which disturbed the authorities at Nauvoo considerably, was the finding of buried plates near the city of Voree. These he called the Plates of Laban. The cabalistic hieroglyphics which he transcribed by means of the Urim and Thummim,^[18] were claimed by him to be the long-lost Book of the Law of the Lord, admirably supplementing the Book of Mormon which Joseph Smith had in like manner translated from the plates dug out of the hill of Cumorah, in the state of New York.

None of these artifices were original with Strang. Joseph Smith had employed them all. But there was shrewd method, rather than lack of originality, in this imitation. Doubtless Strang's purpose was to verify his pretension that the prophetic succession had devolved upon himself. In no manner could he have appealed more forcibly to the religious delusion entertained by the followers of Joseph Smith.

The twelve apostles whom he sent as missionaries to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and elsewhere in the east encountered in bitter controversy the proselyting agents of Brigham Young. His press at Voree turned out thousands of pamphlets aiming to show the hollow spuriousness of the doctrines enunciated by Brigham Young's followers. The Voree Herald contained as bitter tirades against them as did the Nauvoo Times and Seasons against himself. He displayed tremendous energy with tongue and pen, and the reports of conferences in the Voree Herald give evidence of it. The Liverpool paper published by the Mormons also assailed Strang with great bitterness. These are the headlines of an article nearly four columns in length:

SKETCHES OF NOTORIOUS CHARACTERS.

James J. Strang, Successor of Sidney Rigdon, Judas
Iscariot, Cain & Co., Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary of His
Most Gracious Majesty, Lucifer
the I., etc.^[19]

In Philadelphia, Aug. 30, 1846, Strang found Orson Hyde and J. Taylor, two of his old-time opponents, holding meetings. He challenged them to a public debate to show who had the best authority to represent the true Mormon faith. This was the answer he received.^[20]

Sir—After Lucifer was cut off and thrust down to hell, we have no knowledge that God ever condescended to investigate the subject or right of authority with him.

Your case has been disposed of by the authorities of the church, and being satisfied with our own power and calling, we have no disposition to ask from whence yours came.

Yours respectfully.

ORSON HYDE,
JOHN TAYLOR.

It must be admitted that in the numerous pamphlets which he scattered broadcast, and in his newspaper rejoinders, Strang kept his temper much better than the Nauvoo disputants. In his pamphlet called "Prophetic Controversy," he sarcastically alludes to the "saintly spirit" that could inspire such fulminations as have been quoted; but his failure to secure recognition at Nauvoo rankled deeply. In his Gospel Tract No. 4, wherein he defends "the calling of James J. Strang as successor to Joseph Smith," this serious charge is made.^[21]

"Immediately after the martyrdom of Joseph, John Taylor, Willard Richards and William W. Phelps took a kind of temporary direction of the affairs of the Church, instructing the saints to wait patiently the hand of the Lord, assuring them that He had not left them without a shepherd, and that all things would be made known in due season. To every question of the saints, who is the prophet, replies were made in substance that the saints would know in due season, but that nothing could be done till the Twelve got home, because the appointment of a prophet and the directions for salvation of the Church from the perils they were in was contained in sealed packages directed to them. Orson Hyde and others of the Twelve who were then in the east, stated in public congregations in New York, Philadelphia and other cities that Willard Richards had written to them that the appointment of a prophet was left with him under seal to be opened on the return of the Twelve. This assertion was so often made that the whole Church was daily expecting to hear a new prophet proclaimed. On the 8th of August, 1844, when Sidney Rigdon endeavored to obtain authority to lead the Church, John P. Green, marshal of the city of Nauvoo, told them 'they need not trouble themselves about it, for Joseph had appointed one James J. Strang, who lived up north, to stand in his stead.' The sudden death of John P. Green, immediately after this declaration (under very, extraordinary circumstances), left Willard Richards and John Taylor sole repositors of all documents on this subject, except this letter. They had simply to suppress documents in their hands to set themselves up in power, or overthrow themselves and their pretensions by publishing them."

THE GREAT EXODUS.

The great exodus of Mormons across the Mississippi and into the wilderness of the west began early in February, 1846. Long before this, however, the knot had been tightening around the doomed city of Nauvoo. Every man's hand was uplifted against the Mormons, and conflicts frequently occurred between the Saints and their neighbors outside the fold. Strang's prolific press at Voree turned out thousands of copies of what he termed "the first pastoral letter of James, the Prophet." It bore date of December 25, 1845, and concluded in this wise:

"Let not my call to you be vain. The destroyer has gone forth among you, and has prevailed. You are preparing to resign country and houses and lands to him. Many of you are about to leave the haunts of civilization and of men to go into an unexplored wilderness among savages, and in trackless deserts, to seek a home in the wilds where the footprint of the

Image missing

STRANG'S "CASTLE" ON BEAVER ISLAND.

(From a photograph owned by Chas. J. Strang.)

white man is not found. The voice of God has not called you to this. His promise has not gone before to prepare a habitation for you. The hearts of the Lamanites are not turned unto you, and they will not regard you. When the herd comes, the savages shall pursue. The cloud which surrounds by day shall bewilder, and the pillar of fire by night shall consume and reveal you to the destroyer.

"Let the oppressed flee for safety unto Voree, and let the gathering of the people be there. * * * Let the filth of Zion be cleansed, and her garments of peace put on. Let neither gun nor sword be lifted in defiance, nor rest be taken upon arm of flesh, and the city of our God shall be saved, and the temple of His holiness be unpolluted by the hand of the Gentile."

By the exodus of the Brighamites across the Mississippi, Strang's colony at Voree alone remained in the northwest of the thousands who had embraced the faith of Joseph Smith. Sidney Rigdon had led a small contingent into Pennsylvania; Lyman Wight a few followers to Texas; Smith a little remnant to a corner of Illinois; these were offshoots that came to naught. At Voree the numbers constantly increased. Missionaries were sent to the east to seek converts; the press turned out pamphlets to be scattered broadcast. Regularly the Voree Herald was issued for distribution among the faithful. Some internal dissensions arose from time to time, but Strang easily disposed of them. The minutes of one of the conferences note that Lorenzo Dow Hickey was suspended by the prophet James for "most gross lying and slander upon Brother G. J. Adams and Samuel Graham, and neglecting his mission to follow after the diabolical revelations of Increase McGee Van Dusen." At another conference the apostasy of John E. Page, president of the Twelve, was the subject of comment, and this resolution was spread upon the minutes:

"Resolved, That we deliver him over to the buffetings of Satan until he repent."

In spite of occasional backslidings, the city of Voree grew and flourished. The Saints at first "met in a grove," as the conference minutes state, but a splendid temple was planned. In a letter descriptive of the edifice, Geo. J. Adams wrote Aug. 27. 1849:

"The temple is going up steadily and constantly, and a most beautiful structure it will be when finished. It covers two and one-sixth acres of ground, has twelve towers, and the great hall 200 feet square in the center. The entire walls are eight feet through, the floors and roofs are to be marble, and when finished it will be the grandest building in the world. The strong Tower of Zion is being erected on the Hill of Promise, the walls of which are three or four feet thick, which when finished is for the carrying out of the order of Enoch in all its beauty and fulness."^[22]

STRANG'S KINGDOM OF ST. JAMES.

It soon became apparent to Strang that the same conditions which had driven the Mormons of Nauvoo to a trans-Mississippi wilderness, would endanger the permanency of his colony in the course of a few years. For the growth of a Mormon community isolation was essential; where Gentile influences controlled the vicinage, there the utter annihilation of Mormonism was but a question of time. In his wanderings he had caught a glimpse from a vessel's deck of the natural beauty and seeming fruitfulness of a cluster of islands near the door that divides the great inland seas of Huron and Michigan. Here was an ideal seat of power, remote from the obtrusiveness of civil officers whose view of laws might differ from his own; yet not so distant from the line of travel as to render profitable traffic impossible. The waters teemed with excellent fish; the forests would furnish an abundance of most excellent timber; the soil needed but to be scratched to yield in multiplied plenty. To this land of promise could he lead his Saints, and here would they wax fat and strong.

If this was Strang's dream of empire, as subsequent events indicated, the beginnings were indeed humble. He is authority for the statement that he fixed on the islands in Lake Michigan as a place for a Mormon community in 1846.^[23] Nearly a year elapsed before his plans could be set in motion. With four companions he took passage on a little hooker, the captain agreeing to land them on Beaver Island. They sold their blankets to pay their passage, and on the 11th day of May stepped from the little sailing vessel upon the soil of the land which the leader prophetically declared would prove to them an inheritance. They were without a cent of money, but had provisions enough to last two days. Their reception was inhospitable in the extreme. At neither of the two trading houses then on the island could five penniless men arrange for lodging, so they sought the shelter of the woods. Constructing a camp of hemlock boughs, they undertook a thorough exploration of the island. Leeks and beechnuts served for food while they were thus engaged.

Their perseverance brought its reward. They soon obtained employment, and it was not long before they had accumulated a store of provisions, built a log cabin and arranged for the use of a boat. Strang and two of the men returned to Voree to start the migration to the new land of promise. Winter locked upon the island a Mormon population of five men and thirteen women and children. The following winter the Mormons on the island numbered sixty-two, seventeen of them being men. In the summer of 1849 saints began to arrive in considerable numbers. Instead of confining their efforts to working for the traders at the harbor, they now felt numerically strong enough to begin for themselves. Twelve elders went in various directions to summon the faithful to the new stake of Zion, and to seek additional converts. The islanders began the construction of a schooner, built a steam saw mill and made a road to the interior, where the land was excellently adapted for agriculture. They manifested so much energy that the fishermen whose rude huts punctuated the coast here, as well as on the mainland opposite, took serious alarm. A land sale being held about this time, considerable friction occurred between Mormon and Gentile claimants of choice tracts. There arose an unpleasantness that later bore bitter fruit. It was claimed by the Saints that the fishermen induced the captains of vessels bearing Mormon emigrants not to land at the Beaver. Many were carried on to Wisconsin who had been ticketed from the east for the harbor of St. James, for so the Mormons had rechristened the horseshoe bend where vessels came to land, and where in stormy weather they found a safe haven.

It was not long before the Mormons bade fair to control the island. They but believed that they had come into their own, for this was the revelation given unto their seer and revelator long before their coming: "So I beheld a land amidst wide waters and covered with large timber, with a deep broad bay on one side of it; and I wandered over it upon little hills and among rich valleys, where the air was pure and serene, and the unfolding foliage, with its fragrant shades, attracted me till I wandered to bright clear waters scarcely ruffled by the breeze. * * * And one came near unto me, and I said, What meaneth this? And he answered and said, Behold, here shall God establish His people. * * * For He will make their arm strong, and their bow shall abide in strength, and they shall not bow to the oppressor, and the power of the Gentile shall not be upon them, for the arm of God shall be with them to support. * * * It hath abundance in the riches of the forest, and in the riches of the earth, and in the riches of the waters. And the Lord God shall add possession unto the faithful, and give good gifts unto them that keep His law, and He will establish them therein forever."^[24]

To appreciate the spirit animating the Saints in thus taking possession, one must realize the fervor of their faith in the revelation of their seer. There were among them some who had in mind mere pelf and plunder, but the greater number of the misled people was no doubt inspired by fanatic zeal. The law of Moses was their law, supplemented by the doctrines of Mormon and the visions of Strang. To follow these injunctions was to do no wrong, no matter what laws of the land they violated. Like the children of Israel, they were going from the wilderness to a land overflowing with milk and honey. As the people led by Moses had ruthlessly slain the Amorites, the Amalakites and the Midianites, so they felt justified in smiting the Lamanites, or Gentiles. There was this distinction, that they lived in an age when prudence forbade violent physical onslaught upon neighboring inhabitants, and legal strategy took the place of physical violence. This, at least, was the policy of the leaders, and they were implicitly obeyed as a rule.

The Mormons manifested their sense of ownership by giving new names to the physical distinctions of Beaver Island. The beautiful land-locked harbor was called St. James. The cluster of houses that were reared on the ancient mounds along the shore—in the eyes of the Mormons the evidences of an extinct race alluded to in the Book of Mormon—they dignified by the name City of St. James. A hill in the interior received the biblical name of Mount Pisgah. The river Jordan discharged into the lake the waters that poured into its bed from the Sea of Galilee. Thus did the nomenclature of the island receive the distinctive impress of its Mormon population.

Encounters between Mormons and Gentiles soon became frequent. The Mormons planned a large tabernacle. While some of them were getting out the timber for the structure, they were set upon and soundly beaten. Doubtless there is much truth in the claim made by the Mormons that up to this time they were more sinned against than aggressors. Drunken fishermen invaded their homes and subjected the women to indignities; debating clubs were attended by uninvited guests, whose boisterous conduct prevented proceedings. Men from old Michilimackinac came in boats to raid outlying farmhouses. Families sent by the missionary elders were met at the wharf and told to return to the boat, as all the Mormons would soon be driven away or killed.

About the year 1850 the Saints began to retaliate in earnest. Their numbers had so increased that they could safely do so. The ambitions of Strang were about being realized. He had reorganized his community of Saints. The Book of the Law of the Lord, which he had "translated" from plates dug out of the hill at Voree, had added another sacred book to the Mormon. library, ranking in the faith of the Beaver Islanders with the Bible and the Book of Mormon. "Written on metallic plates long previous to the Babylonish captivity," as Strang explained to his credulous followers, the Urim and Thummim brought to him by an angel's hand had enabled him to interpret the characters thereof. Thus had he restored to the chosen people the ancient manuscript long lost to the Jewish nation. The sacred book kept in the ark of the covenant and lost when the children of Israel were hurried into captivity, came back after all these centuries by revelation given to Strang.^[25]

And the Beaver Island Mormons believed what he said. "The Calling of a King" was the caption of Chapter XX of the Book of the Law of the Lord, and therein appeared these words as the sixth section:

"6. He (God) hath chosen His servant James to be King: He hath made him His Apostle to all nations: He hath established Him a Prophet above the Kings of the earth; and appointed him King in Zion: By His voice did He call him, and He sent His angels unto him to ordain him."

WAR WITH THE FISHERMEN.

The 8th of July, 1850, was set for the coronation of King Strang, and great preparations were made for the event. In the meantime a plot had been hatched which threatened the extinction of the budding kingdom. But for the energetic measures taken by Strang, doubtless there would have been a bloody conflict between the fishermen and the Mormons. This is Strang's account of the affair:

"In May, 1850, a general invitation was given on all the fishing grounds to come to Whiskey Point against the 4th of July, for a glorious and patriotic celebration of Independence—to be consummated by the expulsion of the Mormons. In this invitation all the traders at Beaver, as well as the fishermen, joined. Material aid was furnished from Mackinac, and several small vessels owned there engaged to go to Beaver with supplies, and lay in the harbor ready to join in the fray. Arms, ammunition and provisions (of which whiskey was chief article) were laid in; and the Gentiles expressed the utmost confidence of success.

"On their part the Mormons gave notice of a general assembly, and by that means called in a great number of their brethren from distant places, some of whom brought arms. A cannon and a stock of powder and lead was purchased; a regular guard enrolled, who were on duty nightly, while others were drilling. This was conducted with the utmost secrecy, all affecting to believe that no attack would be made. They also procured a large schooner from Chicago for the occasion. which they anchored in the harbor, and in the night filled with armed men, who kept below the deck.

"On the 3d of July several boats arrived at Whiskey Point from the fishing grounds, filled with armed men. One vessel from Mackinac arrived and anchored in the harbor. During the night they had a carouse, in the course of which Mr. Strang. with a select party, reconnoitred their quarters, ascertained their plans, numbers, etc., poured some of their powder in the lake, and put tobacco in one of their barrels of whiskey, by means of which those who drank of it became excessively drunk.

"The plan was to go to the meeting singly and in small groups, with slung shot and other concealed weapons; but affecting order and propriety, and get seats nearly as possible in a body, in the region of the speakers' stand and clerks' tables. In the progress of the service they were to commence talking, drinking, swearing, etc., and if anyone interfered or attempted to keep order, begin a fight; and falling suddenly on the unprepared congregation with pistols, bowie knives and slung shot, disperse them and disable or kill all the leaders before they had time to rally, arm or make a stand. This was to be followed up by a general debauchery of the women and burning of houses.

"At the first dawn of the Fourth, the Mormons commenced firing a national salute, which was the first intimation to the Gentiles that they had a cannon. They were not a little alarmed when they discovered that at every boom of the cannon the balls skipped along the water past Whiskey Point, scarcely two rods from them, and were regularly getting the range for their buildings. Before their surprise had time to abate, McKinley, who was proprietor there, was waited on by a deputation of Mormons with the notice that as he had made his place the headquarters of the mob, he would be held responsible for any attack from any quarter; and the first gun fired would be the signal for destroying his establishment and every soul in it. Notice was also given to all the Gentiles having property on the island, that if they joined in, furnished or even associated with the mob, they would be taken as enemies and their homes made as bare as a sand bank.

"The Mormons met within the unfinished walls of the tabernacle; eight men mounted guard, with their guns shotted; the cannon unlimbered in front, in charge of twelve artillerists, with a fire in which heated balls were continually ready; and two patrols and a water guard were constantly on the lookout for the enemy.

"In the course of the day two vessels and sixteen boats arrived from the fisheries, bringing men, munition, etc., including one cannon; but no hostile movements were made till afternoon, when a company of Gentile women came into the congregation unattended. Directly one of them left and returned to the boat which had carried her over, and had a conversation with nine men who were with it. They went up and were allowed to enter the congregation, but as soon as they were seated it was announced from the stand that any interruption of the service or business would be instantly punished by personal chastisement; and the guard were charged in case any general disorder was attempted, to cut down every person who joined in it. They sat uneasily a few moments and asked leave to withdraw. The guard conducted them out and compelled them to take their boat and leave.

"The following evening during their carouse at Whiskey Point, a select party of the Mormons contrived to get within hearing of them at their consultation, and learned that they had been disappointed by the non-arrival of the Gull Island, Seuil Choix and East shore fishermen; that part of the resident traders were anxious to postpone the attempt, in the fear that it would be a failure and the Mormons would take revenge on them for their part in the transaction; that jealousies existed among them as to the means by which the Mormons had obtained their plans; and the sober were fearful that the Mormons were too well prepared. Indecision and disorder prevailed, and they were unable to agree upon their leader. The result of all these embarrassments was that they generally agreed to 'wait for recruits and then pay off the damned Mormons for arming and setting guards before anybody meddled with them.'"^[26]

CORONATION OF KING JAMES.

The threatened invasion having miscarried, the coronation of the King proceeded according to program. On the 8th of July, 1850, a date that became known as "King's Day," Strang assumed royal powers. This is an account of the ceremony in the words of an eye-witness, Mrs. Cecelia Hill, now of Wonewoc, Wis., then a young woman living with her Mormon parents on Beaver Island:^[27]

"I was present when Strang was crowned King. The ceremony took place in the tabernacle, a building about 80 feet long, constructed of hewn logs, and but partly completed at the time of the coronation. Like any young woman under similar circumstances, I was anxious to be present and managed to get into the tabernacle. At one end was a platform, and towards it marched the procession of elders and other quorums, escorting the King. First came the King, dressed in a robe of bright red, and accompanied by his council. Then followed the twelve elders, the seventy and the minor orders of the ministry, or quorums, as they were called. The people were permitted. to occupy what space remained in the tabernacle.

"The chief ceremonials were performed by George J. Adams, president of the council of elders. Adams was a man of imposing presence. He was over six feet tall, and he towered over the short-statured King, who, however, made up in intellect what he lacked in frame. Adams had been an actor, and he succeeded in making the crowning of the King a very imposing ceremony. It ended by placing upon the auburn head of King Strang a crown of metal. The crown was a plain circlet, with a cluster of stars projecting in front. It was July 8th, that this ceremony occurred, and every recurring 8th of July was known as the King's day and was celebrated as a holiday with many festivities. The entire population of the island would gather at a place in the woods to go through prescribed ceremonials—the hewers of wood and the drawers of water to make proper obeisance to the King. There were burnt offerings to begin with. The head of each family brought a fowl, and a heifer was thereupon killed. Its body was dissected without breaking a bone. After these ceremonials there was feasting and rejoicing, and the people danced on the greensward. King's day was the same with the islanders as the Fourth of July is with us."

King Strang was now supreme on Beaver Island, and bade fair to soon control the entire group of islands. His policy was to foster the fisheries as a source of profit to his colony, and to use the power of political machinery to secure immunity for infractions of the law. As the population of the island multiplied and the power of the Mormons with it, the hatred of the traders and fishermen on the opposite coasts became more intense. The border feud grew so bitter that the newspapers of Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and New York^[28] devoted considerable space to its incidents. As a rule, these accounts represented the Mormons as a band of pirates engaged in plunder and crimes of all kinds. The center of the hostile camp was at old Mackinac, and here plans were made for discomfiting the Mormons. It is difficult at this day to judge how far the Gentiles were in the wrong and in how far the Mormons. Doubtless there was much wrong on both sides. "Such expressions as 'the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof,' and 'we are the Lord's chosen people' stilled the consciences and justified the use of property owned by others; yet it is undoubtedly true that many depredations were committed by irresponsible persons and deliberately charged to the Mormons."^[29]

At first the advantage was with the Gentiles at Mackinac, for they had the machinery of government in their hands. The sheriff aided them by arresting Mormons and taking them to Mackinac for trial. On one occasion Strang and a company of workmen had gone to Hog Island to save from the wreck of a vessel a yawl boat frozen in the shoals. A man named Moore, who had been chased off Beaver Island for selling whiskey, went before a justice of the peace at Mackinac and swore out a warrant for the arrest of thirty-one men on the novel charge that they had "put him in fear of danger." Sheriff Granger, with a posse of thirteen white men and thirty-two Indians, went to the island where the men were, seized the boat of the Mormons, and, believing their prey secure, proceeded to the camp of the Mormons a little past midnight. A wild Irish hurrah and an accompanying Indian war whoop awoke the Mormons to a night of terror and suffering. Hatless and shoeless they rushed into the woods and sought the protection of a swamp, while the sheriff's men plundered the camp and divided the spoils of war. The Mormons found a leaky fish boat at the opposite end of the island, and this they launched. It was a cold April morning. According to the account they afterwards gave, "the lake was spotted with vast fields of drift ice. With a boat preserved from sinking only by the ice frozen in it, without sails or oar locks, and with three unsuitable oars; not half clothed, no provisions, without a line to tie their boat nor an ax to repair any accident, they set out on the broad blue waters for a place of safety."

It took twenty-four hours for them to reach Gull Island, and here they spent five miserable days in a fish shanty before they managed to repair the boat sufficiently to proceed. After this a price was set on Strang's head, and several hundred armed men, including Irish fishermen and Indians, hunted for him for weeks to earn the reward of $300 offered by the sheriff for the body of Strang, "dead or alive."^[30]

KING STRANG'S ARREST.

While visiting a brother in the city of Detroit, President Millard Fillmore was informed that among the remote islands of Lake Michigan a person named Strang had established what he termed a kingdom, but what actually was but a nest of freebooters engaged in robbing the mails and counterfeiting the coin. The president dispatched the armed steamer Michigan to the insular kingdom, and ordered the arrest of the king for treason. The Michigan reached the harbor of St. James one midnight. The next morning the King went aboard and surrendered himself, as did two score other Mormons. The officers had been told that in an artificial cavern in Mount Pisgah the workshop of the counterfeiters could be found. They failed to locate such a cave.

After holding a court under an awning on the steamer's deck and taking a mass of testimony, the United States officials released many of the Mormons and steamed for Detroit with King Strang and a few of his leading men. There, from the latter part of May till the 9th of July, was held a trial that attracted attention all over the country. The indictments against Strang were on twelve counts, including mail robbery, counterfeiting and treason. He conducted his own defense with such skill and shrewdness as to result in his acquittal. His speech to the jury was highly dramatic. He pictured himself a martyr to religious persecution. He was a master of emotional oratory, and on this occasion particularly so. His acquittal was gained in the face of a violent local prejudice and the most virulent attacks in the local press. It was a victory that gave him an immense prestige at home, and aided him abroad.

Biding his opportunity, Strang planned to secure the machinery of the law in his own hands. He so shrewdly manipulated politics that the solid vote of Beaver Island became of great concern to politicians. To the discomfiture of the people of Mackinac, in 1851, the Mormons elected all the county officers. They now had the sheriff and the entire machinery of law, and could do as they pleased. A Mormon sheriff could serve the warrants, a Mormon jury convict and a Mormon judge sentence anyone resisting the mandate or authority of the King. In 1853 King Strang secured his own election to the legislature by clever political manipulation. His candidacy was not announced until election day; the Mormons then plumped their votes for him and snowed under their unsuspecting enemies, who supposed their own candidate would go in without an opposing candidate. An attempt was made to prevent Strang from taking his seat by serving an old warrant for his arrest. To outwit his foes Strang barricaded himself in his stateroom and withstood a siege till the boat entered the St. Clair, when he broke down the door and sought neutral territory by jumping on a wharf on the Canadian shore. Arrived at the capital, he ascertained that his seat would be contested. He argued his own case, and made such a favorable impression that he obtained the disputed seat. As a legislator he proved industrious and tactful, so that at the close of the session the Detroit Advertiser said of him:

"Mr. Strang's course as a member of the present legislature has disarmed much of the prejudice which had previously surrounded him. Whatever may be said or thought of the peculiar sect of which he is the local head, throughout this session he has conducted himself with a degree of decorum and propriety which have been equaled by his industry, sagacity, good temper, apparent regard for the true interests of the people, and the obligations of his official oath."

THE RULE OF THE KING.

During this period of his reign the power of King Strang was at its zenith. Among his own people his word was law, and those outside the fold dared not say him nay. He was monarch of all he surveyed, and he proceeded to put into effect ideas which he had long treasured. The use of intoxicants was prohibited, and likewise of coffee, tea and tobacco. There was a code that strictly governed all morals and religious observance, and violations were punished with a rigor that forbade repetition. Tithes were required of every husbandman, and the firstling of every flock and the first fruits of the harvest went to the royal storehouse. Schools were established, and from the royal press were issued books and pamphlets in great number, all of them the product of Strang's prolific pen. The Northern Islander was published weekly and then daily. Nothing escaped the watchful eye of the King, whose capacity for work seemed equal to every demand. He was a busy pamphleteer, and he wrote long letters to the papers of the east defending his people against the accusations leveled at them. The Smithsonian Institute found in him a contributor; his paper upon the "Natural History of Beaver Island" was printed in its ninth annual report.

In his government of the island King Strang developed a marvelous capacity for detail. This found expression in an autocratic sway that dictated not only the ecclesiastical customs of his subjects, but everything connected with their daily life. Women were required to wear bloomers; men were required to be as decorous in their conduct as women; gaming was prohibited as strictly as was the use of intoxicants and narcotics. About this time, also, the doctrine of plural marriages was openly advocated; it had been tentatively broached several years before. Polygamy never made much headway, despite the example set by the King, who enlarged his family by taking five wives. It is asserted that not more than twenty plural marriages took place on the island.

While seemingly securely entrenched, the Mormon kingdom was at this time really crumbling. From time to time malcontents had been bred among the King's subjects, and they joined the hostile fishermen on the small islands and on the mainland opposite. King Strang conceived a brilliant plan to bring them back to allegiance or suffer the penalty of his displeasure. A grand jury was called to meet at St. James; some of these men were to be summoned as jurors and some as witnesses. The Mormon sheriff and his posse went to Charlevoix (Pine River) to serve a summons on one Savage, who had been an elder and had incurred Strang's displeasure.^[31] Savage read the summons, tore the paper into shreds and stamped his heel upon the fragments. As the sheriff laid his hand on the shoulder of Savage to arrest him, the latter gave a signal. There was an answering shout, and a score of sturdy fisher lads came running to the rescue. The Mormons hastily ran for their boats. A pursuing volley wounded two of them, but the party managed to put off in their boat. The fishermen also tumbled into boats, and then ensued a race for life. The Mormons struggled at the oars in desperation, as the bullets whistled over them or pierced the sides of the boat, while hard behind came the avengers intent on their death. Off in the distance could be seen the bellowed sails of a vessel, and for this the Mormons made as their only hope. Bleeding and spent, they managed to reach the craft before their pursuers could overtake them, and appealed to the captain to save them. It chanced that the sailor was a humane man, and he gave them shelter and refused to yield to the demand of the pursuers that the Mormons be turned over to them.^[32]

King Strang at once took steps to punish the colonists at Charlevoix, but they had taken the alarm and fled. The Mormons erected a lofty gallows and adorned it with this inscription:

"THE MURDERERS OF PINE RIVER."

Another serious encounter occurred when a Mormon constable attempted to arrest Thomas and Samuel Bennett, Gentiles who lived on Beaver Island. They resisted; Thomas Bennett was instantly shot dead and his brother had one hand nearly shot away.

ASSASSINATION OF THE KING.

Such episodes caused renewed activity in the Gentile strongholds among those who planned to sweep the Mormon settlements with fire and sword. Before their plans could be executed the King was assassinated by two of his rebellious

Image missing

NORTHERN END OF BEAVER ISLAND.

(From the Smithsonian Report for 1878.)

Showing the harbor of St. James and the mounds whereon the Mormon temple and public buildings of the kingdom were erected.

subjects—Thomas Bedford and Alexander Wentworth. Bedford had been whipped by order of the King for some offense; he is said to have upheld his wife in disregarding the mandate to wear bloomers. Wentworth also had a grievance. About the middle of June, 1856, the Michigan steamed into the harbor, and by invitation of the captain King Strang proceeded to visit the vessel's officers. As he was about to step on the pier, two pistol shots were fired from behind, both taking effect. He turned and recognized the assassins as they fired again. As he sank to the ground they struck him over the head and face with the weapons, ran aboard the steamer and gave themselves up. They were taken to Mackinac, where the murderers were received as heroes. They were never brought to trial.

The wounds of Strang proved fatal. He called his elders to his deathbed, gave them instructions for the government of his Mormon kingdom, and as a last request asked to be taken to the city of refuge which he had founded in Wisconsin. There he died July 9, 1856, and there his bones rest in an unmarked grave.

The kingdom fell with him. The Gentile invasion came soon after his removal to Voree. The fishermen came with torch to destroy and with ax to demolish. The printing office was sacked; the tabernacle was reduced to ashes; the Mormons were exiled. On the islands of Green Bay and its adjacent peninsula a few of them built new homes; some sought the land whence they had followed their prophet; the rest were scattered to the four points of the compass. Like that of the prophet Joseph, the life of the prophet James ended in a tragedy and the exile and dispersion of his people.^[33]

HENRY E. LEGLER.

May 11, 1897.

APPENDIX.

---

I.

STRANG'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

Following is a copy of a writing found among the papers of James Jesse Strang after his death:

I was born March 21st, 1813, on Popple Ridge road, town of Scipio, Cayuga county, New York. My infancy was a period of continual sickness and extreme suffering, and I have understood that at one time I was so low as to be thought dead, and that preparations were made for my burial. All my early recollections are painful, and at this day I am utterly unable to comprehend the feeling of those who look back with pleasure on their infancy, and regret the rapid passing away of childhood. Till I had children of my own, happy in their infantile gambols, the recollection of those days produced a kind of creeping sensation akin to terror.

My parentage was decidedly respectable. My father is a descendant of Henry de l' Estrange, who accompanied the Duke of York to the new world to conquer the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, now the State of New York, and the family has ever since retained an honorable rank, and is now scattered over nearly all the States, and branches of it are found in British America and the West Indies.

Tradition says they originally settled at New Utrecht, on Long Island, but Henry de l'Estrange, before his death, removed to the town of Rye, Westchester County, New York, where some of his descendants remained till since 1840.

Tradition also says that my great-grandfather accompanied the first English expedition to Michilimackinac, during which he contracted a dangerous sickness, that he was sent back for medical treatment, and died on the way from the residence of Sir William Johnson to Albany.

He left two sons, William and Gabriel, who were brought up among their mother's relatives, and by that means became separated from the family. They settled at a very early period at Stillwater, in Saratoga County, New York, and were lost sight of by the Strangs in the south part of New York, and on numerous genealogical trees found in that country the limb breaks off with their names.

My father, Clement Strang, is the fifth son of Gabriel Strang. Coming originally of a Norman stock who have continually intermarried with the Dutch and German families of the Hudson, he partakes (as I do) more of the German type than any other. Counting continually in the male line for ten generations back, our ancestors are Jews, but so large is the admixture of other blood that the Semitic type seems to be quite lost.

My mother is of the purest Yankee stock from Rhode Island, her father, Jesse James, and her grandfather, James James, having left there about the time of her birth, and settled in Greenfield, Saratoga County, New York, where they died full of years and honors.

My father and mother are yet living (1855), with a reasonable prospect that they may remain many years. They are both small of stature, my father being only five feet three or four inches, and mother less; of comely appearance, amiable, affectionate, charitable, remarkably industrious, skillful in labor and judicious in business, and unsullied moral and religious character. I have a brother, David Strang, two years older than myself, and a sister, Myraette Loser, five years younger, and it is a great pleasure to know that there has never been a disagreement to amount to so much as a momentary coldness between any two members of the family.

Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/46 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/47 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/48 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/49 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/50 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/51 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/52 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/53 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/54 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/55 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/56 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/57 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/58 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/59 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/60 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/61 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/62 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/63 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/64 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/65 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/66 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/67 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/68 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/69 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/70 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/71 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/72 Page:A Moses of the Mormons.djvu/73 The general tenor of the hymns may be gathered from following sample verses from Hymn XLV:

XLV. Book of Mormon, P. M.

1. O, who that has search'd the records of old, And read the last scenes of distress;Four and twenty were left, who with Mormon beheld, While their nation lay mould'ring to dust.

2. The Nephites destroyed, the Lamanites dwelt, For ages in sorrow unknown;Generations have pass'd, till the Gentiles at last, Have divided their lands as their own.

This is the first verse of Hymn LXXIX:

Ephraim's records, plates of gold,Glorious things to us unfold,Though sealed up they long have been,To give us light they now begin.

3. "Ancient and Modern Michilimackinac, including an account of the Controversy between Mackinac and the Mormons," 1854. Reprinted by Wingfield Watson in 1894.
4. "The Diamond, being the law of Prophetic Succession and a Defense of the Calling of James J. Strang as successor to Joseph Smith, and a Full Exposition of the Law of God Touching the Succession of Prophets Holding the Presidency of the True Church, and the Proof that this Succession Has Been Kept Up." Voree, Wis., 1848.
5. "Catholic Controversy." Very scarce. I have been unable to obtain a copy.
6. "Prophetic Controversy." St. James, 1854.

VIII.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

In addition to the Strang publications, manuscripts to which I have had access and personal letters and interviews, following printed authorities having reference to Strang have been consulted in the compilation of this paper:

• "Revelations of James J. Strang," no date; compiled by Wingfield. Watson.
• Chapter on "Spring Prairie," in "History of Walworth County."
• Chapter on Beaver Harbor Mounds, in Smithsonian annual report for 1878.
• "An American Kingdom of Mormons," by F. D. Leslie, in "Magazine of Western History," April, 1886.
• Chapter on "The Scattered Flock," in "Early Days of Mormonism," by J. H. Kennedy. London, 1888.
• Chapter on "A New Prophet," in "The Prophet of Palmyra," by Thos. Gregg. New York, 1890.
• Chapter on "Contest for the Leadership," in "Mysteries and Crimes of Mormonism," by J. H. Beadle. Philadelphia, 1870.
• "The Mormons," by Lieut. J. W. Gunnison. Philadelphia, 1852.
• "An American King," in "Harper's Monthly Magazine" for March, 1882.
• "Beaver Island and its Mormon Kingdom," by Chas. J. Strang in the "Little Traverse Bay Souvenir." Lansing, 1895.
• "History of the Traverse Region." Chicago, 1884.
• "Candidates for the Pontificate," In Remy & Brenchley's "Journey tomGreat Salt Lake City," Vol. 1. London, 1861.
• "Sketch of James Jesse Strang," in Vol. XVIII. Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections. Lansing.
• Newspaper articles consulted:
• New York Tribune, July 2, 1853. (Letter from Strang defending the Beaver Island Mormons.)
• New York Times, Sept. 3, 1882.
• Detroit Free Press, June 30, 1889. (Statement of King Strang's assassination as witnessed by Capt. Alex. St. Barnard, of the United States steamer Michigan.)
• Chicago Tribune, Oct. 2, 1892, and Oct. 13, 1895.
• Detroit News, July 1, 1882.
• Chicago Illustrated Journal, January, 1873.
• Yenowine's Illustrated News, Milwaukee, June 24, 1888.
• Milwaukee Sentinel, May 6, 1892.

Most of the newspaper articles concerning the Beaver Island kingdom contain gross exaggerations.

1. "Not many years ago the buildings erected by them were still. standing, among which a lime-kiln which had been used by them was discovered."—"History of La Crosse County," p. 355.
2. On the Old Geneva Road, in Walworth County, in the midst of a large corn field, is the only Mormon church in Wisconsin. The worshipers who congregate there belong to the Iowa Saints, known as "Young Josephites." They abhor both the Brighamite and Strangite doctrines. The church is situated at a cross-roads, almost within view of beautiful Geneva Lake, six or seven miles south of Elkhorn. Glancing to the four points of the compass, one sees great fields of waving corn, interspersed here and there with a strip of yellow barley glinting in the sunlight, or a clump of trees through which peers a substantial looking farmhouse. The little church is a plain building with belfry, neatly painted white, and bearing on a tablet above the wide front door this legend in raised letters of wood:
   LATTER DAY SAINTS' CHURCH.

   Much prejudice exists among the country people of the neighborhood against the forty or fifty Mormons who attend this church. Several years ago I spent a few days in the vicinity, for the purpose of gathering data relative to this community. I was told, with bated breath, several instances of witchcraft attributable to the elder of the community. The narrators evidently believed the stories implicitly, the grotesqueness and Impossibility of the performances alleged to have occurred scarcely paralleling in extent the credulity of the country folk.

   In the neighboring village of Springfield there were, at the time of my visit, a few Mormons who used the schoolhouse as a meeting place. When the Saints were to be called together, the clangor of the school bell apprised them of the fact. Yielding to popular pressure, the trustees of the school had the bell removed. Thereupon the Mormons expressed their Indignation by placarding the town with notices of their meeting, these words appearing in large, black type: "Curfew must not ring to-night."
3. Scattered throughout the peninsula of Door County and adjacent islands, and also in the counties of Rock, Walworth and Racine, loyal adherents of King Strang can still be found. They cling to the faith he taught them with unabated devotion, and cherish his memory with unwavering loyalty.
4. While en route for the copper mines of Lake Superior, Alfred Brunson of Prairie du Chien and his party of prospectors came to the Black River in May, 1842. "We found the Mormons in possession getting out timber for their Nauvoo temple; to them and to our company I preached the first gospel sermon ever delivered in that valley. We ferried over Black River on their keel boats, except the cattle, who swam."—"History of the Chippewa Valley," by Thos. E. Randall, p. 23.
   George Z. Heuston, of Winona, informs me, on the authority of his father's manuscript history of Trempealeau County, that about that same Lime a few Mormon families settled in the vicinity of the modern town of Trempealeau, at a place called Little Tamarack, but they did not remain. long, and probably joined Lyman Wight's colony at La Crosse.
5. An excellent condensed sketch of Lyman Wight, with extracts from his journal, appears on page 125 of "The Wights, a Record of Thomas Wight of Dedham and Medfield and of His Descendants, 1635–1896."
6. I am indebted to Chas. J. Strang, of Lansing, Mich., son of King Strang, for a copy of the manuscript.
7. See autobiography, appendix.
8. Following incident, told the writer by Judge Lyon, illustrates the peculiar bent of Strang's mind: "On one accasion he brought a suit before me (I was then a justice of the peace) to recover the value of honey which he claimed had been stolen from his client's apiary by the thievish bees of a neighbor. Who ever heard of a law suit based on such grounds? And yet Strang conducted the case with great shrewdness and made a most plausible argument. He was continually bringing up unexpected points in law cases, and using arguments that would have been thought of by no one else. I think he liked the notoriety that resulted from that sort of thing."
9. "E. D. Howe, in his valuable work, Mormonism Unveiled (Painesville, O., 1834), presents the testimonials of eighty-one persons, neighbors and acquaintances of the Smith family, all attesting to their illiteracy and generally worthless and disreputable character."—"The Prophet of Palmyra," p. 11.
10. "Joseph estimated that, in the various quarters of the earth where his religion had been preached, he had over a hundred and fifty thousand followers."—Remy & Brenchley's "Journey to Great Salt Lake City," Vol. I, p. 349.
11. "Of all the aspirants he (Strang) was the only one, save Brigham. Young, who displayed any genuine qualities of leadership."—Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, Vol. XVIII, p. 5.
12. The twelve apostles, after the death of the prophet, bestowed these names upon each other:

    Brigham Young, the Lion of the Lord.

    Heber C. Kimball, the Herald of Grace.

    Parley P. Pratt, the Archer of Paradise.

    Orson Hyde, the Olive Branch of Israel.

    Willard Richards, the Keeper of the Rolls.

    John Taylor, the Champion of Right.

    William Smith, the Patriarchal Staff of Jacob.

    William Woodruff, the Banner of the Gospel.

    George A. Smith, the Entablature of Truth."

    Orson Pratt, the Gauge of Philosophy.

    John E. Page, the Sundial,

    Lyman Wight, the Wild Ram of the Mountains.

13. Two of them—George A. Smith and John E. Page—subsequently enrolled themselves under the standard of Strang. Their names frequently appear in the conference reports published in the Voree Herald and Northern Islander.
14. Letter of Joseph Smith to James J. Strang. published in "The Diamond," p. 3.
15. The columns of the "Times and Seasons," published at Nauvoo, fairly teem with denunciation of the pretender, Strang.
16. According to the "Book of Mormon," a remnant of the tribe of Joseph was miraculousy led to the new world across the Pacific Ocean (Book of Nephi), and separated into two distinct nations—Nephites and Lamanites.
    "This division was caused by a certain portion of them being greatly persecuted, because of their righteousness, by the remainder. The persecuted nation migrated toward the northern parts of North America, leaving the wicked nation in possession of the middle and southern parts of the same. The former were called Nephites, being led by a prophet who was called Nephi. The latter were called Lamanites, being led by a very wicked man whose name was Laman."—Kidder's "Mormonism and the Mormons." p. 267.
17. "Revelations of James J. Strang," collected and printed in pamphlet form by Wingfield Watson after the death of Strang—now an excessively rare pamphlet.
18. The Urim and Thummim consisted, according to the statement of Lucy Smith, mother of the prophet, of two transparent stones, clear as crystals, set in the two rims of a bow.
    "Urim and Thummim (Lights and Perfections). These were the sacred symbols (worn upon the breastplate of the high priest, 'upon his heart'), by which God gave oracular responses for the guidance of his people in temporal matters. What they were is unknown. Some scholars suppose that they were the twelve stones of the breastplate; others that they were two additional stones concealed in its fold. Josephus adds to these the two sardonyx buttons worn on the shoulders, which, he says, emitted luminous rays when the response was favorable; but the precise mode in which the oracles were given is lost in obscurity."—"Glossary of Antiquities" in Oxford edition of the Bible, p. 150.
19. "Millennial Star," Vol. VIII, p. 123.
20. "Gospel Herald," Vol. I, No. 8.
21. "Gospel Tract No. 4," Voree, Wis., 1848, p. 5.
22. "Voree Herald," August, 1849.
23. "Ancient and Modern Michilimackinac," 1854, p. 22.
24. "Revelations of James J. Strang." p. 5.
25. "Book of the Law of the Lord," preface.
26. "Ancient and Modern Michilimackinac," p. 25.
27. See appendix, narrative of Mrs. Cecelia Hill.
28. "Rough Notes," a paper published at Buffalo, and the "Detroit Free Press" were particularly conspicuous in publishing reports of Mormon depredations. Strang published an elaborate defense in the "New York Tribune" of July 2, 1853.
29. "Beaver Island and its Mormon Kingdom," by Chas. J. Strang. in The Ottawan," p. 66.
30. In a letter to the writer from Chas. J. Strang.
31. See appendix, narrative of Ludlow P. Hill.
32. See appendix, narrative of the rescue by Capt. E. S. Stone.
33. Strang was survived by his five wives. Four of his twelve children were born after his death, one being born to each of his polygamous wives.