King of Beaver Island

April 16, 2006 4:33 PM

James Jesse Strang - The "King" of Beaver Island. On the twenty-seventh day of June, 1844, at five and a half o'clock in the afternoon, James J. Strang was in the Spirit, and the Angel of God came unto him and saluted. Although members of his Mormon breakaway sect mortally wounded the King for being too strict, his church and works live on.
posted by Falconetti (11 comments total)

On a personal note, my paternal grandfather's family comes from Beaver Island. They were part of the group that repopulated it after the Strangites left.
posted by Falconetti at 4:34 PM on April 16, 2006

I've got a friend from Beaver Island. We are supposed to go up there camping this summer! I'm going to send this to her right now.
posted by Roger Dodger at 6:21 PM on April 16, 2006

Brigham Young was an early proponent of the Mullet. Apparently, they still had some kinks to work out.
posted by doctor_negative at 6:47 PM on April 16, 2006

I spent many a summer on Beaver Island as a boy and heard Neil Armstrong utter his famous words while sitting in the Shamrock Bar. There was quite a crowd that evening. I have fond memories of rough rides on the Beaver Islander, sailing in the harbor, getting ice cream from the dragon lady and camping at French's Bay.
posted by caddis at 6:56 PM on April 16, 2006

Cool bit of history. I was pondering exactly how batshitinsane one would have to be to lead a breakaway sect from Mormons .... and now I know.
posted by boaz at 7:03 PM on April 16, 2006

My sister is married to a guy named Strang! I'm emailing her now.
posted by BillsR100 at 8:40 PM on April 16, 2006

Thanks for the Beaver Island history, that was fascinating. I never made it to the island. The one time it was in the cards, my aunt decided to get seasick so we had to turn the boat back to harbor in Charlevoix. So ended one of my most glorious experiences, sailing (sail!) on Lake Michigan on a bright summer day. (this was about 40 years ago)

Fascinating to learn some pseudo-Mormons had lived there. Those early LDSers were some weird folks. Amazing they have still managed to thrive.
posted by Goofyy at 10:55 PM on April 16, 2006

I remember reading about Strang as a kid. There were pamphlets and books available on the Island discussing its rather interesting history. I think there may have even been a small museum. Strang always seemed odd and eccentric, until you read about the rest of the early Mormons and then he seemed to fit right in.
posted by caddis at 5:30 AM on April 17, 2006

And here I was contemplating my first FPP and how it was going to be about this little island in the middle of America, and how it was populated - in part - by people who came from a little island off the coast of Ireland (and how a bunch of them went back there last week). And then this post. And now Caddis goes and tweaks the memory strings with tales of the Beaver Islander (Capt. Jewell Gillespie) and the Shamrock Bar. I also remember swinging on the may-pole type thingy on the beack at St. James, and watching Goodbye Mr Chips in an old school hall.

Caddis - you're not my Brother, are you?
posted by Sk4n at 7:35 AM on April 17, 2006

No, just a guy who spent a bunch of time having fun on the Island. It's a great place and I really must get back there sometime to see how it has changed.
posted by caddis at 8:30 AM on April 17, 2006

Personally, I don't think the story is finished on Strang. I think he rose too fast in Joseph Smith's empire, coming so late, and that this indicates the professional courtesy of a prior relationship with Joseph Smith. Smith also provided Strang with a promise of succession, disputed in part because there were many such promises made to others. If one accepts the possibility that Rigdon acquired the Spalding manuscript, then provided it for Smith to become the magical deliverer of the dead man's frame story, then Strang could have known about it and received favors accordingly.
posted by Brian B. at 10:51 AM on April 17, 2006