From northern Michigan comes Ancient and Modern Michilimackinack, Including an Account of the Controversy between Mackinac and the Mormons by James Strang. Strang met Mormon leader Joseph Smith in 1844 and quickly became a follower. He evidently impressed Smith as he sent Strang off to develop a community in Wisconsin. It was while Strang was away that Smith was assassinated. Strang claimed that Smith had appointed him as successor, but another group of Mormons, under the leadership of Brigham Young, did not accept this claim. Strang would lead his followers to Beaver Island, in the lake and state of Michigan. He was evidently a bit eccentric, setting himself up as king at one point, and developing unhappy relations with the non-Mormons in the area. That is part of what is discussed in this 1959 reprint of the book Strang first published in 1854. Strang would also serve in the Michigan legislature, be an abolitionist and hold progressive views on race issues for this age. Two years after his book was published, Strang would be assassinated, and his community driven from Beaver Island. Today, the old Mormon print shop, built in 1850, still stands on Beaver Island, and serves as a museum to James Strang and his times as well as other eras on the island. A small group of Strang followers survives to this day. Item 799. $75.

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