A man of some ability and commanding presence, Strang joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shortly before the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and his brother Patriarch Hyrum Smith at Carthage, Illinois.

Strang then claimed that an angel appeared and annointed him Prophet, presenting a letter to have been written by the Prophet Joseph Smith just before his death delegating Strang as his own successor.

The membership of the Church had always been instructed by the Prophet to follow the majority of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Strang was rejected by all the Twelve, except for William Marks who would later join Strang's sect after his apostacy from the Church.

Strang gathered a following of the discontented in Nauvoo and removed to Beaver Island on Lake Michigan. He was later crowned "King of Beaver Island," however, in 1856 he was shot by a member of the Strangite sect.

Strang died at his home in Vorhee, Racine County,Wisconsin about 6 weeks after being shot and then buried at Vorhee Cemetery. His remains were later moved by his descendants to Burlington Cemetery.

His death caused even more fragments of the LDS faith to blossom, including several members who convinced the Prophet Joseph Smith's son, Joseph Smith III, to take the lead which created The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, now known as The Community of Christ.∼"King" Strang was assassinated and, after being returned to the settlement he founded (Vooree), he died of gunshot wounds on July 9, 1856 at the young age of 43.

James Jesse Strang was born on March 21, 1813, in Scipio, Cayuga County, New York, the son of a farmer, and a descendant, it is claimed, of Henry D. L'Estrange, who came from England with the Duke of York.

James was educated in the common schools of Hanover, New York, where his parents moved when he was a child.

Strang's first wife was Mary Abigail Content Perce, daughter of William Livingston Perce and Lydia Brown, whom he married on November 20, 1836, when she was eighteen and he was twenty-three. Mary was born 10 APR 1818 • Madison County, New York and died 30 APR 1880, probably in Buffalo, Illinois, where she was living with her daughter, Nettie, in 1870, who taught school and served as a nurse for the Union Army. Mary's brother lived in Burlington, Wisconsin, and she and King Strang moved there in 1843. After King Strang introduced polygamy, he married his second wife on July 13, 1849--nineteen-year-old Elvira Eliza Field (who disguised herself at first as "Charlie J. Douglas," Strang's purported nephew, before revealing her true identity in 1850). Mary left him in May 1851, taking their three children, never to return, except for two visits when Strang was gone, , although they remained legally married until Strang's death. Strang's third wife was thirty-one-year-old Betsy McNutt, whom he married on January 19, 1852; his fourth was nineteen-year-old Sarah Adelia Wright, married on July 15, 1855. Ironically, decades after Strang's death, Sarah would divorce her second husband, one Dr. Wing, due to his interest in polygamy. Strang's last wife was eighteen-year-old Phoebe Wright, cousin to Sarah, whom he wed on October 27, 1855, less than one year before his murder. Sarah Wright described Strang as "a very mild-spoken, kind man to his family, although his word was law." She wrote that while each wife had her own bedroom, they shared meals and devotional time together with Strang and that life in their household was "as pleasant as possible." On the other hand, Strang and Phoebe Wright's daughter, Eugenia, wrote in 1936 that after only eight months of marriage, her mother had "begun to feel dissatisfied with polygamy, though she loved him [Strang] devotedly all her life."

His story can be found in "A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan and Its People ..., Volume 1" by Alvah Littlefield Sawyer, Pp 261-269 - CHAPTER XIV - "A KINGDOM WITHIN A REPUBLIC: THE RISE AND FALL OF KING STRANG AND HIS KINGDOM", which includes the government of King Strang within the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Beaver Island, Mackinac County, in the decade beginning with 1846 and lasting only six years.

He was first buried in "The Cemetery of the Saints" in Spring Prairie, Wisconsin.

Strang's remains were moved to Burlington Cemetery in Sept. 1876.

James had 5 plural wives and 12 children:

1) Mary Abigail Perce (1818-1880), m. 1838. NOTE: In 1849, James claimed to receive revelation regarding plural marriage and he took on his 2nd wife that year. Mary disagreed with the practice of plural marriage and in 1851, she took her 4 children and left, moving to Voree, Spring Prairie, Wisconsin, never returning to James.

Children;

1a) Mary Elizabeth (1838-1843)

1b) Ellen Myraette "Nettie" (1840-1925), m. 1855 Romeo D Strang (1836-1915), they Separated/Divorced by Sep 1860 in Racine County, Wisconsin and never had children.

1c) William James (1844-1907), m. 1871 Emma E Flowers (1854-1934)

1d) Harriett Ann "Hattie" (1848-?)

2)Elvira Eliza Field (1830-1910), m. 1849. NOTE; In 1860, Elvira contracted typhoid fever was unable to care for all her children until 1864. Her youngest son, James J was adopted by David A & Clara Taylor Grier and they changed his name to Charles J Grier.

Children;

2a) Charles Jesse (1851-1960), m. 1875 Harriett Eliza "Hattie" Wight (1858-1919)

2b) Evaline "Eva" (1853-1926), m. 1872 Martin C Baldwin (1846-1934)

2c) Clement James (1854-1944), m. 1st 1881 Rosabelle Norton Rider (1857-1890). m. 2nd 1890, div. by 1898 Marietta Francis (1863-d.?), m. 3rd 1894 Nevada Sutherland (1869-1935)

2d) James J, nka Charles J Grier, See NOTE above (1857-1934), m. 1883 Glycine T Tower (1858-1952)

3) Elizabeth "Betsey" McNutt (1820-1897), m. 1852

Children;

3a) Evangeline "Eva" (1853-1915), m. 1867 John Griffin Denio (1826-1897)

3b) Abigail Utopa "Abbie" (1857-1921), m. 1872 Ferdinand Juan Cito McNutt (1855-1933)

4) Sarah Adelia Wright (1835-1923), m. Jul 1855, m. 2nd 1859 Joseph Smith Wing (1830-1906)

Children;

4a) James Phineas (1856-1937), m. 1879 Lydia Houtz (1862-1923)

5) Phoebe A Wright Jesse (1836-1914), m. Oct 1855. NOTE: Phoebe never used her married name Strang after the death of her husband, James Strang. She called herself 'Mrs. Phoebe Jesse" for the remainder of her life.

Children;

5a) Eugenia Jesse (1856-1946), m. 1879 Thomas Henry Phillips (1851-1925) NOTE: Eugenia never used her maiden name of Strang.