 The township was named for James Strang, who led a faction of Mormon settlers to Beaver Island in 1848.Producing mysterious brass plates from the ground, and receiving directives from God, Strang formed a colony on Beaver Island in 1848 called St. James, naming it after himself.Strang led those who accepted him to Nauvoo, Illinois, and then Voree, Wisconsin, before deciding that God wanted him to bring his flock to Beaver Island.