"Joseph Smith is a great man, a man of principle, a straight forward man; no saintish long-faced fellow, but quite the reverse. Indeed some stumble because he is such a straight forward, plain spoken, cheerful man, but that makes me love him the more. . . . I have seen and been in the company of Joseph, and heard him speak several times. I love him, and believe him to be a Prophet of God, and called to do a great work in these last days on the earth."
Letter from John Needham to his parents, July 7, 1843, Nauvoo, Illinois, published in Millennial Star, Oct. 1843, 89.
