Who was James Strang? Ep. 148

In this episode, Dave just gives some important background information on a controversial figure in Latter-day Saint history: James Strang. He talks about Strang’s interests, the plates he claimed to have discovered, and how they compare to the plates of Joseph Smith.

For the record: I (David) am admittedly not unbiased when it comes to this subject. It is probably apparent from the video that I do not believe in Strang’s truth claims. That said, this was not intended to be a “hit piece” on James Strang. If that had been the goal, this episode would have looked much different. Almost all of the discussion about Strang that I have heard has been in relation to how his claims compare to those of Joseph Smith. Many of those discussing Strang’s story are neither Strangites nor Latter-day Saints. Unfortunately, Strang’s story is often simply used by others to challenge the faith of Latter-day Saints. Thus, I thought it prudent to make this episode in order to outline how Joseph Smith’s claims are significantly different from those of James Strang. If you are one of the few who do believe in Strang’s claims, more power to you — you deserve just as much respect as adherents to any other religion.

Transcript and additional notes: https://bit.ly/3uio9aY

Contact the Strangites: https://bit.ly/2ZEVwaP
“The Diary of James J. Strang” deciphered and transcribed by his grandson, Mark Strang: https://bit.ly/3BT32wK
Scans of original diary of James Strang: https://bit.ly/2XxJI9m
Facsimile and “translation” of Voree plates: https://bit.ly/3b2rEHH
Fairmormon’s treatment of this issue: https://bit.ly/2ZqT5bp / https://bit.ly/3CjphfE
“Chauncy Loomis” article in the Saints Herald (pg. 718-719): https://bit.ly/313xI0S
“Isaac F. Scott” article in the Saints Herald (pg. 831-833): https://bit.ly/313xI0S
Some Strangite apologetics (“Prophetic Controversy #4): https://bit.ly/315zeQ3

Notes:

— Southern Methodist University reports, “At its height, Strang’s movement boasted a membership of 12,000.” Membership had apparently dwindled somewhat by the end of Strang’s life. The Encyclopedia Britannica reports, “Strang had more than 5,000 followers when he was shot on June 16, 1856, by two former Strangites. Though he knew death was near, he refused to appoint a successor. Lake Michigan fishermen subsequently drove more than 2,000 Strangites from their homes and all but extinguished the sect.” Sources: https://bit.ly/3pJIvr9 / https://bit.ly/3CDLV2B

— In the Kinderhook Plates episode, Wilbur Fugate (who admitted the Kinderhook plates were a fraud) described them as being made from copper. It appears he misremembered this detail. They were made of brass. The Church’s website describes the plates as “six bell-shaped brass plates about three inches in height”. Source: https://bit.ly/3nayQHk

— “C. Latham Sholes, who patented the first typewriter, viewed the plates and published his observations in the Southport Telegraph on 30 September 1845: ‘The plates were shown us, and we visited and examined the spot from which they purport to have been taken.’ Sholes was so bewildered by the circumstances that he announced that he could reach no conclusions. In his judgement Strang was ‘honest and earnest in all he said’ and his witnesses were ‘among the most honest and intelligent in that neighborhood’—altogether it was enough to ‘stagger’ him, he wrote. Other descriptions of the plates were minute, as the account of one stranger who described the plates in the Gospel Herald, 23 September 1847, as ‘three small pieces of brass about 2 1/2 inches long by 1 1/4 inches wide, and about the thickness of a piece of tin, fastened together at one corner by a ring passing through them.’ Another visitor described them in the Gospel Herald, 26 October 1848: ‘The Voree plates, the wonder of many, I saw them and the place from whence they were taken. They are about one inch and a half by two and three-fourths, thickly covered with ancient characters of curious workmanship.’” Source: https://bit.ly/3b2rEHH

— Strang’s eyesight was weak by his early 20s due to constantly reading in poor light (see footnote 38 in diary, pg. 51).

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