Sunrise at St James Harbor by Andy Farmer

I confess that when I started today’s post I had no idea that June 16, 1856 was the date when assassins mortally wounded Michigan’s only king. To be clear, this is a post about kings being a deeply stupid & un-American thing, not a post about killing them.

Michigan religious leader & politician James Jesse Strang was a major contender for leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints after the death of founder Joseph Smith. Here are some excerpts of the wild ride of a Wikipedia that is the James Jesse Strang entry & chronicles his life as a lawyer, minister, prophet & politician who ultimately became something of a king. Please feel welcome to add your favorite tidbits in the comments!

Strang rested his claim to leadership on an ordination by an angel at the very moment Joseph Smith died (similar to the ordination of Smith), requirements that he claimed were set forth in the Doctrine and Covenants that the President had to be appointed by revelation and ordained by angels, and a “Letter of Appointment” from Smith, carrying a legitimate Nauvoo postmark. This letter was dated June 18, 1844, just nine days before Smith’s death. (he also claimed to have divine plates a la Smith that he discovered in Voree, Wisconsin)

…About 12,000 Latter Day Saints ultimately accepted Strang’s claims.[30] A second “Stake of Zion” was established on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, where Strang moved his church headquarters in 1848. Strang’s church had a high turnover rate … Many defections were due to Strang’s seemingly abrupt “about-face” on the turbulent subject of polygamy. Vehemently opposed to the practice at first, Strang reversed course in 1849 and became one of its strongest advocates, marrying five wives (including his original spouse, Mary) and fathering fourteen children. Strang defended his new tenet by claiming that, far from enslaving or demeaning women, polygamy would liberate and “elevate” them by allowing them to choose the best possible mate based upon any factors which were deemed important by them.

…Strang was crowned in 1850 by his counselor and Prime Minister, George J. Adams. About 300 people witnessed his coronation, for which he wore a bright red flannel robe which was topped by a white collar with black speckles. His crown was made of tin, rather than gold, and it is described in one account as being “a shiny metal ring with a cluster of glass stars in the front.

On Monday, June 16, 1856, Strang was waylaid on the dock at the harbor of St. James, the chief city on Beaver Island by former disciples who shot him in the back.

Read a lot more in Wikipedia!

Andy shared these pics back in August of 2016 in his Beaver Island, MI gallery on Flickr, and I’ve included a couple images from Wikipedia as well.