Assassination of a Michigan King: The Life of James Jesse Strang

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Description

A skeptical follower of James Jesse Strang once wrote: “No man can serve two masters. You can’t serve a temporal king and a republican government at the same time. The thing is preposterous.” And yet, under Strang, one of these system survived in Michigan for six years. This book traces the life and assassination of King Strang, the ordinary Mormon leader who, in the 1850s, created a literal kingdom on Beaver Island, in Lake Michigan.

As a young man, Strang was once a dreamer of grandiose dreams—dreams of power, of royalty, and of fame. For him, the dreams came true. But in his pursuit of those dreams, Strang walked a tightrope to keep away from ever-impending doom. Strang’s kingdom flourished despite perennial conflicts with non-Mormons, including a gun battle with mainlanders, and despite a major prosecution by the federal government. His kingdom was once designed to be totally independent of the state and nation. And yet, he was once a shrewd political tactician who took benefit of Michigan law to be twice elected to the state legislature and turn into what one Detroit newspaper referred to as the most powerful politician in the state.

Here is Strang the man of contrasts and contradictions, the strident opponent of polygamy and the husband of five wives, the astute editor and the incendiary propagandist, the prophet and the scoundrel, the man who through the sheer force of his personality made his followers a group to be feared in his region.

Vast amount of fresh information, including up to date journals, documents, and letters never before used by biographers help draw a portrait of probably the most complex and resourceful leaders in American history.


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