James Strang - Assassination

Assassination

James Strang made foes among his own people, too. One of these, Thomas Bedford, had been flogged for adultery on Strang's orders, and felt considerable resentment toward the "king." Another, Dr. H.D. McCulloch, had been excommunicated for drunkenness and other alleged misdeeds, after previously enjoying Strang's favor and several high offices in local government. These conspired against Strang with Alexander Wentworth and Dr. J. Atkyn, who had allegedly endeavored (unsuccessfully) to blackmail the Strangites into paying his numerous bad debts. A decree that female Strangites must wear "bloomers" only added fuel to the fire for Bedford and other malcontents on Beaver Island. Pistols were procured, and the four conspirators began several days of target practice while finalizing the details of their murderous plan.

Although Strang apparently knew that Bedford and the others were gunning for him, he seems not to have taken them very seriously. "We laugh with bitter scorn at all these threats," he wrote in the Northern Islander, just days before his murder. Strang's refusal to employ a bodyguard or to carry a firearm or other weapon made him an easy target.

On Monday, June 16, 1856, Strang was waylaid around 7:00 PM on the dock at the harbor of St. James, chief city of Beaver Island, by Wentworth and Bedford, who shot him in the back. All of this was carried out in full view of several officers and men of the USS Michigan, a US Naval vessel docked in the harbor. Not one person on board the ship made any effort to warn or to aid the intended victim.

Strang was hit three times: one bullet grazed his head, another lodged in his cheek and a third in his spine. One of the assassins then savagely pistol-whipped the fallen prophet before running aboard the nearby vessel with his companion, where both claimed sanctuary. Some accused Captain McBlair of the Michigan of complicity in, or at least foreknowledge of, the assassination plot, though no hard evidence of this was ever forthcoming. The so-called "King of Beaver Island" was taken to Voree, where he lived for three weeks, dying on July 9, 1856 at the age of 43. After refusing to deliver Bedford and Wentworth to the local sheriff, McBlair transported them to Mackinac Island, where they were given a mock trial, fined $1.25, released, and then feted by the locals. None of the plotters was ever punished for his crimes.