Wingfield Scott Watson (April 22, 1828 – October 29, 1922) was a religious leader of the Latter Day Saint Strangites.
He read a pamphlet called "River Guide" that told of the assassination of Joseph Smith and the expulsion of the Latter Day Saints from Nauvoo, Illinois.
[1] At the time, Jane was widowed and had a young infant son named Robert, whom Watson adopted.
[3] He also read the Book of Mormon and decided to travel to Salt Lake City to join the Latter-day Saints.
[3] While returning to Wisconsin, Watson met Samuel Shaw, who was an elder of James Strang's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Instead of traveling farther to Salt Lake, Watson decided to stay in Beaver with the Strang colony.
Watson left for Chicago, Illinois, in July of that year,[3] and the Strangite colony disintegrated.
Hickey convinced Watson to move to Black River Falls, Wisconsin, where several of the residents of Beaver Island were living.
Six years later, Hickey convinced Watson to move again, but this time to Boyne City, Michigan.
[1] They included "The Prophetic Controversy, A Letter from James J. Strang to Mrs. Corey" and "The Necessity of Baptism; and of Having Authority from God to Preach the Gospel".
[1] The Strangites believed that this area had been sanctified by God as a settling place of the Latter Day Saints.