James Strang's Mormon Kingdom in Wisconsin and the Competing Succession Letter

When Joseph Smith was murdered in Carthage, Illinois, in June 1844, the young Latter-day Saint movement faced an immediate crisis: who would lead the church next? James Strang, a relatively recent convert and minor church official, claimed he held the answer—a letter allegedly written by Smith himself, naming Strang as his successor and instructing him to lead the faithful to a new gathering place. Most of the church rejected this letter as fraudulent and followed Brigham Young westward to Utah. But Strang and his believers took the letter as genuine, and it became the foundation for one of early America's most unusual experiments: a theocratic kingdom in the remote islands and shores of Lake Michigan, where Strang crowned himself king and ruled until his assassination in 1856.

The Letter and Its Claims

The succession letter, dated June 18, 1844—two days before Smith's death—was a document of extraordinary ambition. According to Strang, Smith had written it in secret and entrusted it to him alone. The letter not only named Strang as the next prophet and president of the church but also instructed him to gather the faithful to a 'place prepared' in the north, away from persecution. It promised Strang divine authority to continue Smith's work and suggested that the Wisconsin wilderness held special significance in God's plan. Strang produced the letter publicly after Smith's death, claiming it proved his legitimacy.

The problem was immediate and damning: nearly every other Mormon leader and the vast majority of church members had never heard of this letter before Strang revealed it. Brigham Young, who had become the de facto leader through the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, dismissed it as a forgery. Young had his own claim to authority—the apostolic succession and the collective leadership of the Twelve—and he had the backing of most of the church. Strang's letter, with no witnesses and no prior mention, looked like a convenient invention designed to justify his ambitions. Historians today remain divided on whether the letter was genuine, a deliberate fabrication, or a document Strang misinterpreted or embellished.

Building a Kingdom in Wisconsin

Undeterred by rejection from the main body of the church, Strang gathered several hundred followers—estimates range from 2,000 to 3,000 at the movement's peak—and led them to Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, near present-day Charlevoix, Michigan. By the late 1840s, Strang had established a functioning theocratic state. He crowned himself king in 1850 in a public ceremony, declared himself prophet, and organized a complete governmental and religious structure independent from the main Mormon church. Strang created his own Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, issued his own revelations, and minted his own currency.

The kingdom was not purely religious fantasy—it had real political and economic dimensions. Strang served as both spiritual and civil leader, controlling land distribution, trade, and law enforcement. He established a printing press, published a newspaper, and created a militia called the 'Militia of the Sons of Levi.' Strang's followers built homes, farms, and a small town. They lived communally in many respects, pooled resources, and submitted to Strang's authority on both spiritual and practical matters. The kingdom operated with a level of internal organization that impressed and alarmed outsiders in equal measure.

Why the Succession Letter Mattered

The letter was essential to Strang's authority because it provided a direct line of legitimacy to Joseph Smith. In early Mormonism, the claim to prophetic authority was everything—it justified obedience, sacrifice, and separation from the wider world. Without the letter, Strang was just another charismatic leader. With it, he was the chosen successor to the founder himself. For believers who accepted the letter's authenticity, following Strang to Wisconsin was not fleeing the true church—it was obeying the true prophet's final instructions. The letter transformed what might otherwise have seemed like schism into faithfulness.

The succession letter also reveals how fragile the early Mormon succession was. Joseph Smith had not clearly designated a successor before his death, leaving a vacuum that multiple figures tried to fill. Brigham Young's eventual triumph was not inevitable—it resulted from superior organization, broader support among the apostles, and the ability to lead the bulk of the church safely to Utah. Strang's letter, whether genuine or not, exposed the vulnerability of a religion built around a single prophet's authority. When that prophet died, anyone with a credible claim to his mantle could potentially split the movement.

The End of the Kingdom

Strang's kingdom lasted about a decade before internal and external pressures destroyed it. Local non-Mormon residents resented Strang's growing power and the influx of his followers. Conflicts over land, trade monopolies, and Strang's increasingly autocratic rule created tensions within the community itself. In 1856, two of Strang's own followers—disaffected members of his inner circle—assassinated him. The kingdom collapsed rapidly without its prophet-king. Most of Strang's followers dispersed, some eventually rejoining the main Mormon church (now headquartered in Utah), others drifting into secular life.

Why This Matters Today

Strang's kingdom is a window into how charismatic authority works, how religious movements splinter, and how a single document—authenticated or not—can reshape history. It shows that the early Mormon succession was contested and contingent, not inevitable. Brigham Young's path to leadership was not the only possible outcome; Strang's letter, had it been more widely believed, might have redirected thousands of people away from Utah and toward the Great Lakes. The episode also illustrates the power of religious narrative—Strang's followers were willing to uproot themselves and build a new society in the wilderness based on faith in a letter's authenticity. Whether that letter was real or fabricated, its believers treated it as real, and that belief had material consequences. For historians of American religion and for anyone studying how authority claims are constructed and contested, Strang's kingdom remains a fascinating and instructive case.

Sources

• Strang's letter exists in historical archives but remains disputed by scholars; see works by Roger Van Noord and John Quist on Strangite Mormonism.
• Population estimates for Strang's followers vary across sources; 2,000–3,000 is a commonly cited range at the movement's peak.
• Strang's coronation as king in 1850 is well documented in contemporary accounts and Strangite records.
• Strang was assassinated in 1856 by followers Thomas Bedford and Alexander Wentworth, a fact confirmed in multiple historical sources.