| 47 intelligent of his followers, Wingfield Watson, who still lives at Boyne, Charlevoix County, Michigan:-
"'Mr. Strang did claim to be a king only to the Mormon people, and upon the same principles, and the same only, upon which Moses, Melchisedec, Elijah, Elisha, Noah, Enoch, Peter, Joseph Smith, 5 and all the great and leading prophets of God claimed that office since the world began; namely, by an appointment by revelation and an ordination under the hands of angels; and as none of those persons ever proposed in any way to be king only to those who, after a proper investigation of his claims and character, chose to receive him as such, so it was with Mr. Strang. By virtue of this ordination he claimed to hold the conjoint, kingly, prophetic and apostolic office held by all the above-mentioned personages."?-Sketch of James Jesse Strang and the Mormon Kingdom on Beaver Island, pp. 6, 7.
In the fall of 1854 Mr. Strang was elected to the Michigan Legislature to represent the organized counties of Newaygo, Emmet, Oceana, Cheboygan, and Grand Traverse, and the unorganized counties of Antrim, Wexford, Kalkaska, Missaukee, Leelanaw, Presque Isle, Crawford, Alpena, Oscoda, Montmorency, Alcona, Otsego, Ogemaw, Roscommon, and Iosco. He took the oath of office on January 3, 1855, and made quite a good record for ability. Of his election and incidents connected therewith and of his subsequent election, the work quoted above states:-
"In 1852 the king became a legislator. The score of new counties of the northwestern quarter of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan formed at that time what was known as the Newaygo district. It was of immense extent, and its few centers of settlement were widely scattered. The result was that five legislative candidates were voted for, the Mormons solidly supporting Strang, who received a very decided plurality. An attempt was made to arrest him on some charge and thus keep him away from Lansing, but he used his privilege as a legislator to escape that snare.
5 We have seen no evidence that these parties claimed the title of king
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