A Child of the Sea; and Life Among the MormonsWilliams, Elizabeth Whitney
History
A Child of the Sea; and Life Among the Mormons
Williams, Elizabeth Whitney
Beaver Island (Mich.); Latter Day Saints -- Michigan; Strang, James Jesse, 1813-1856
Mary said, "Come, I will show you old Tiger's grave, where the woman and
her deaf and dumb sister buried him after Mr. H---- shot him for his
faithfulness to his mistress." We stood beside the spot where the
wronged wife had buried her faithful dog. She had planted a rose bush
beside it. There were many beautiful roses on the bush that season.
Tiger's grave was near the shore of little Font Lake at the place where
he pulled his mistress from a watery grave. We then rode down through
Enoch, and there Mary pointed to a grave with a beautiful lilac bush at
its head with a white picket fence about it. That is where the mother of
four young girls is buried. It almost broke their hearts to go away and
leave their mother's grave. They had asked Mary to see to it sometimes,
which she had promised to do.
THE JOHNSON HOUSE.
Mary said, "Now just one more place to go and see before we go home." We
rode around pretty Font Lake, soon coming to a large two story and a
half house, built very near the sloping shore of the lake. We tied our
horses, walking down the path to the water. There were seats in among
the small cedars, which grew thickly about. The house was still in good
repair. "This is the Johnson House. The people were rich. He was a
merchant living in Buffalo. The King and 'Douglas' went to their home
and soon persuaded them to sell and come here. They built this house,
and out there you can see the large barn. They brought their horses and
carriages. They brought their dead daughter's body and buried it out
there on that little knoll." I looked and saw the white railing about
the lonely grave with rose bushes at the head. We went up stairs and
saw the large dancing hall with its waxed floors which were still
glossy. She told me how beautifully it had been furnished. The parlors
and all the rooms were large. Rose bushes grew near the windows, flower
gardens with blooming flowers. The setting sun was shining through the
windows; the house was clean and it seemed the occupants had just
cleaned house and not yet arranged the furniture. It had such a bright,
cheerful look. Some city visitors had lived there all summer. Yes, these
people were another disappointed family. They had a very handsome
daughter highly educated and a fine musician. Strang and "Douglass" used
to go there to the parties given, the family not knowing at first that
"Charles Douglas" was a woman, that being another one of the king's
jokes. Mr. Wentworth married this daughter and the king's visits became
disagreeable to the young wife. This caused hard feelings and may have
been one of the reasons for Wentworth's shooting the king. We hurried
home as the sun was sinking in the west, and I wanted to get away from
all these empty houses, for every one seemed like an open grave. I staid
with Mary all night and her mother told me many things about their life
on the island.
[Illustration: FONT LAKE, BEAVER ISLAND, WHERE KING STRANG BAPTIZED
HIS PEOPLE.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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