Some testimonials to the good character of Joseph Smith

Testimonials to the good character of Joseph Smith abound.[1] The Prophet, recalled Jesse N. Smith, was

incomparably the most God-like man I ever saw. I know that by nature he was incapable of lying and deceitfulness, possessing the greatest kindness and nobility of character. I felt when in his presence that he could read me through and through. I know he was all that he claimed to be. [2]

“My first impression of the Prophet,” recalled Daniel Tyler, “was that he was a meek, humble, sociable, and very affable man. . . . My subsequent acquaintance with him more than confirmed my most favorable impressions in every particular.”[3] “As a son, he was nobility itself in love and honor of his parents,” remembered Benjamin F. Johnson. “As a brother he was loving and true even unto death. As a husband and father, his devotion to wives and children stopped only at idolatry.”[4] “The more extensive my acquaintance and experience became with him,” wrote William Holmes Walker in his diary, “the more my confidence in him increased.”[5] “In the winter of 1830 and 31,” remembered Eliza R. Snow,

Joseph Smith called at my father’s home. As he sat warming himself, I scrutinized his face as closely as I could without attracting his attention, and decided that his was an honest face. My adopted motto, “Prove all things and hold fast to that which is good,” prompted me to investigation, as incredulous as I was.

On the 5 th of April, 1835, I was baptized by a “Mormon” Elder. . . .

In the Spring of 1836, I taught a select school for young ladies, and boarded with the Prophet’s family.

Early in 1837, I again resided in the family of Joseph Smith, taught his family school, and had ample opportunity to mark his “daily walk and conversation” as a prophet of God. The more I became acquainted with him the more I appreciated him as such.[6]

[1] See, in addition to the specific materials cited below, the comments of Bathsheba W. Smith (Andrus and Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, 138), William Farrington Cahoon (ibid, 149), and . Compare the impression recorded by the non-Mormon Peter Hardeman Burnett, who served for a time as Joseph Smith’s lawyer and later as first American governor of California (ibid, 126).

[2] The Juvenile Instructor 27 (1 January 1892): 23-24.

[3] Andrus and Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, 55.

[4] Given in Dean R. Zimmerman, I Knew the Prophets: An Analysis of the Letter of Benjamin F. Johnson to George F. Gibbs, Reporting Doctrinal Views of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (Bountiful: Horizon Publishers, 1976), 18.

[5] From the diary of William Holmes Walker, “Incidents, Travels, and Life of Elder William Holmes Walker, including His Immediate Association with Joseph Smith, the Prophet . . .,” 8, copied by Brigham Young University in 1961. In BYU Special Collections.

[6] Andrus and Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, 63.