Joseph Smith Was Super Thoughtful and Kind (So Say These 24 People Who Encountered Him)

 

There is an argument out there that Joseph Smith was selfish. He was not.

He was actually a good and considerate man. More than just an amazing seer stone-user or raiser of the dead, he was a very good fellow by many a-measure. Here are 26 examples - just to really drive the point home!

Take this one for instance. Smith was busy – very busy. He was hurrying up the street like a man on a mission when he heard a pleading voice crack…

1)    Charles Dana

“Charles Dana wrote that his wife became so ill in Nauvoo that he despaired of her life. In desperation, he “mustered courage to go for Bro. Joseph.”

“He found the Prophet very busy and concerned over an important document that had been lost. As Joseph left the house with several others to go in search of the missing item, Dana took the opportunity, “as he was passing out of the gate,” to say, “Bro. Joseph will you go and administer to my wife?” The hasty answer was, “I cannot!” But, with tears in his eyes, Charles pleaded, “Bro. Joseph she is sick nigh unto death; and I do not want to part with her.”

“Charles’s description continues:

““He turned his head, saw my [sic] contenance and answered. ‘I will be there presently.’ My heart leaped for joy: I hurried home. … I had not much more than got there before Bro. Joseph came bounding over the bottom like a chased Roe. He asked me. ‘How long has she been so sick?’ He then walked the house for some minutes: I began to fear that he considered her past recovery; but he finally went to the fire, warmed his hands, throwed his cloak off, went to the bed, laid his hands on her, and while in the midst of his administering to her he seemed to be baffled; the disease, or evil spirit rested upon him; but he overpowered it and pronounced great blessings upon her.””

(https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1978/09/the-spirituality-of-joseph-smith?lang=eng)

And this one – his money was their money!

2)    Wilford Woodruff

“The evening after I arrived in Kirtland several of the brethren came in and talked with Brother Joseph, and asked what they should do, for they had not means to bear their expenses from there to Missouri. Brother Joseph said, “I am going to have some money soon.” The next morning he received a letter containing a hundred and fifty dollars.” (https://josephsmithfoundation.org/joseph-smith-miracles/)

This next one is from a time when Joseph was a boy himself. As I understand it, this is a recollection of someone from the old neighborhood. One who never converted:

3)    Mrs. Palmer

“My father loved young Joseph Smith and often hired him to work with his boys. I was about six years old when he first came to our home. I remember going into the field on an afternoon to play in the corn rows while my brothers worked. When evening came, I was too tired to walk home and cried because my brothers refused to carry me. Joseph lifted me to his shoulder, and with his arm thrown across my feet to steady me, and my arm about his neck, he carried me to our home.” (https://josephsmithfoundation.org/04-character-was-joseph-smith-weak-in-character-while-gifted-in-revelation-how-did-he-influence-people/)

Gathering tons of firewood. Giving out tons of firewood:

4)    Mosiah L. Hancock

“The summer of 1841 I played my first game of ball with the Prophet. We took turns knocking and chasing the ball, and when the game was over the Prophet said, “Brethren, hitch up your teams.”

“We did, and we all drove to the woods. I drove our one-horse wagon, standing on the front bolster, and Brother Joseph and Father rode on the hounds behind. There were thirty-nine teams in the group and we gathered wood until our wagons were loaded… Afterwards the Prophet sent the wagons out to different places where people needed help; and he told them to cut the wood for the Saints who needed it. Everybody loved to do as the Prophet said, and even though we were sickly, and death was all around us, folks smiled and tried to cheer everyone up.” (https://josephsmithfoundation.org/joseph-smith-with-the-boys/)

Trying to cheer up a fatherless toddler:

5)    Mercy R. Thompson

“This indeed was a time of sorrow, but I can never forget the tender sympathy and brotherly kindness he ever showed toward me and my fatherless child. When riding with him and his wife Emma in their carriage, I have known him to alight and gather prairie flowers for my little girl.” (https://josephsmithfoundation.org/joseph-smith-kindness/)

Remember in #2 when his money was as good as their money? Well this one really drives it home. It is very widow’s mite:

6)    Christopher Merkley 

“After the Prophet Joseph came out of prison in Missouri, he called a conference at Quincy, Illinois. While the people were gathering, I was standing near the Prophet when a brother approached him and dunned him for money. The Prophet asked him where he thought he could have money, as he had just gotten out of prison. The man, however, still importuned him. The debt was not the Prophet's, but another brother's who had bought land from this man in Missouri. The Prophet had endorsed for the man who bought. The Prophet told him that under the circumstances he thought he ought not to demand any pay. But the man was very obdurate, and insisted on having it. 

“Brother Joseph finally told him he had just five dollars in his pocket. If four dollars would do him any good, he could have them. These the man accepted. 

“Brother Joseph took five silver dollars out of his pocket and gave him four of them, returning one to his own pocket. While I was walking around with the Prophet, a man came and told him a sister wanted to see him. Brother Joseph went to see her. I followed him. The sister was sick, and her friends had written to her from the East telling her if she would come back they would take care of her. She asked him what she should do. Brother Joseph asked her what she would rather do. She said she would rather stay with the Saints, if she was not too burdensome. He said, "Then stay, sister, and God bless you." He put his hand in his pocket and gave her his last dollar. He then instructed the brethren not to let her suffer. 

“At the close of the conference the Prophet Joseph went to Commerce. On his way he stopped at Lima to take dinner. I met him there and asked him if he would like a little money. 

“He said, "Yes, Brother Merkley. I am now on a journey of fifty miles, and I have not a dime in my pocket." I gave him a sovereign. He took me by the hand and blessed me, and said, "Brother Merkley, may you never want." 

“I never have.” (https://www.ancestry.co.uk/boards/surnames.merkley/39/mb.ashx)

Just like #2 & #6 – a man concerned with other’s welfare:

7)    Andrew Workman

“I first saw the Prophet Joseph in May, 1842. . . . A few days after this I was at Joseph's house. Several men were sitting on the fence. Joseph came out and spoke to us all. A man came and said that a poor brother who lived out some distance from town had had his house burned down the night before. Nearly all of the men said they felt sorry for the man. Joseph his hand in his pocket, took out five dollars and said: "I feel sorry for this brother to the amount of five dollars. How much do you all feel sorry?" (https://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/byu/news-features/byu-fortified-by-faith)

Generosity again:

8)    George A. Smith

“I was selected by President Joseph Smith, Jr., to accompany him to Missouri as a member of Zion’s Camp, being then in my seventeenth year. My father furnished me with a musket, generally known as a Green’s Arm, a pair of pantaloons made of bed ticking, a pair of cotton shirts, a straw hat, cloth coat and vest, a blanket, a pair of new boots, and an extra shirt and pantaloons which my mother packed up in a knap sack made of apron check. The first day we traveled twenty-seven miles and slept in the barn of Mr. Ford, in the town of Streetsborough. My new boots blistered my feet severely, and Joseph gave me a pair of his own, a great relief to me.” (https://josephsmithfoundation.org/joseph-smith-revelation/)

This one’s funny – it shows Joseph Smith as a giddy matchmaker:

9)    Howard Coray

“…the blessing of the prophet came into my mind, viz: that I should soon find a companion. So I thought I would take a look at the congregation, that possibly the fair one promised me might be present. After looking awhile at the audience, my eyes settled upon a young lady sitting in a one-horse buggy. She was an entire stranger to me. I concluded to approach near enough to her to scan her features well, and thus be able to decide in my own mind whether her looks would satisfy my taste.

“She had dark brown eyes, a very bright and penetrating (at least they penetrated me), and I said to myself ‘She will do.”

“The fact is, I was decidedly struck. After the dismissal of the meeting, instead of going for my dinner, I remained on the ground and commenced promenading about to see what I could see. I had not gone far before I came square in front of the lovely miss, walking arm in arm with a Mrs. Harris with whom I was well acquainted. They stopped and Mrs. Harris said, “Brother Coray, I have the honor of introducing you to Miss Martha Knowlton, from Bear Creek.”

“I, of course, bowed as politely as I knew how, and she curtsied, and we then fell into somewhat familiar conversation. I discovered at once that she was ready, offhand, and inclined to be witty; also that her mind took a wider range than was common for young ladies of her age.

“This interview, though short, was indeed very enjoyable; it closed with the hope that she might be the one whom the Lord had picked for me. And this it proved to be.

“I let Brother Joseph into the secret---showed him a letter that I had written designed for her. He seemed to take uncommon interest in the matter. He took pains to see her and talk with her about me, telling her that I was just the one for her. A few letters passed between us. I visited her at her home, proposed, was accepted; and, on the 6^th day of February, 1841, we were married at her father’s house, Brother Robert B. Thompson performing the ceremony.” (They Knew the Prophet, Andrus P. 132-133)

Do unto others. FYI – these two men had just treated JS horribly over several days. He was their prisoner:

10)   Alvah Alexander

“I was only a boy of eleven when I first met the Prophet Joseph, in 1842, but I always loved him, and no amusements or games were as interesting to me as to hear him talk.

“One day I was at his home playing with his children, when he came home and brought two men.  These men had been arrested for abusing Joseph.  He treated them as he would one who had never done him a wrong; gave them their dinner before he would allow them to depart.  Just before they sat down to dinner he brought his children up and introduced them.  Pointing to me, he said, “This is a neighbor’s little boy.” (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2018/06/childrens-reminiscences-of-the-prophet-joseph-smith.html)

This here is a second account of the above. Again, let me stress, these men when the roles were reversed had treated him horribly-horribly!

11) John Lowe Butler

“I went home with brother Joseph to the mansion house and saw the prisoners safe under guard. They did not know what to think. They thought that they were about done for. They thought that they would be killed. They took their trial, but Brother Joseph did not want to hurt them at all, so he let them go home and told them in the future to do unto others as they would that others should do unto them. They looked very sheepish. They went home and left us once more to ourselves…” (https://books.google.com/books?id=XXokDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA404&lpg=PA404&dq=%22i+went+home+with+brother+joseph+to+the+mansion+house%22&source=bl&ots=4ZHU66haOc&sig=ACfU3U13Wn2Gij1PT3hme0blLb0fU445SA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjx8tCekPziAhVZXM0KHXH8A4IQ6AEwAHoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22i%20went%20home%20with%20brother%20joseph%20to%20the%20mansion%20house%22&f=false)

For this next one a large, armed mob came to fight a body of saints. Smith told the saints not to fight, but that God would step in:

12) Levi W. Hancock

“The greatest miracle in our favor was when we had got between the two branches of Fishing River, on a high ridge by a log meetinghouse. We had been told that morning by a colored woman who came to the fence where we were walking, that there were three hundred men who were armed and equipped to fall on us that night and cut us off. Men came riding by who cussed and swore that before morning we would all be in hell, for there was an army before and behind, and death was our portion. Jenkins Salsbury wanted Joseph to let him fight. “No,” said he, “the Lord will give us a bramble to keep off the dogs this night.” In a short time it commenced thundering and the clouds arose. I went into the tent and lay down and knew no more till I found myself one third buried in water. The tent had blown down and all hands were gone. I soon found they had gone to the old church for shelter, where I also went. The lightning flashed and thunder roared one continual sound. The flashes were so connected that one could hardly hear any interval between the flash and the peal of thunder, as if the marshal bands of the whole earth had assembled and were beating the sounds of war. We lay on the benches dripping with water until daylight, when we were called to go and discharge our pieces and load anew, which we did. To our astonishment, two thirds, if not more, went off. It was a pleasant morning. We got our breakfast and soon learned that the two branches of Fishing River were so high we could not cross over. The branch west had raised upwards of forty feet and all boats were gone. We turned our course northward about three miles and camped near an old acquaintance of some in our camp. Next day we were visited by a committee from the mob. Lyman Wight explained to them the cause of our coming, and others spoke, which appeared to give satisfaction. After the meeting, those of the community went away, and Joseph said, “Let us help this man right up his corn.” We all went into our friend’s field and straightened up the corn that the storm had laid low.” (They Knew The Prophet, Andrus, P.20- 21)

After all that stress – a mob there to crush them, a sleepless night in a flood and a meeting with that same mob the next morning, the rest of the townsfolk went home. But Joseph and the saints stayed to help the farmer whose crop had been so damaged. Not damaged by them, mind you. But damaged by the storm.

And here he is again – stepping in to help. This time it’s a little problem solved:

13)  Margarette Mcintire Burgess

“…my older brother and I were going to school, near to the building which was known as Joseph's brick store. It had been raining the previous day, causing the ground to be very muddy, especially along that street. My brother Wallace and I both got fast in the mud, and could not get out, and of course, childlike, we began to cry, for we thought we would have to stay there. But looking up, I beheld the loving friend of children, the Prophet Joseph, coming to us. He soon had us on higher and drier ground. Then he stooped down and cleaned the mud from our little, heavy-laden shoes, took his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped our tear-stained faces. He spoke kind and cheering words to us, and sent us on our way to school rejoicing. Was it any wonder that I loved that great, good and noble man of God? As I grew older I felt to honor and love him, for his mission to earth in restoring the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (http://www.testimonies.20m.com/Recollections%20of%20the%20Prophet%20Joseph%20Smith.htm)

Here's another one that was no doubt small to him – but big to Ben:

14) Benjamin Johnson

“Previous to the dedication of the Temple on the 27th of March, 1836, all who had labored upon it were called together, and in the public congregation received their blessings under the hands of the First Presidency. I had attended all the meetings, listened to the blessings given, and felt a great joy in these prophetic words that filled and thrilled me. Yet all the time I was thinking that these blessings would only be for those who had labored with their hands upon the Temple, and as I had not myself worked upon it, not being strong enough for such labor I would not receive any blessing, and it grieved me exceedingly to think that perhaps through my neglect 1 was to be deprived of that which to me appeared of more worth than all earthly things. When on the last day of blessings, I was standing by the door in the crowded congregation, and oh! how I did yearn for a blessing! And as the last blessing, apparently, was given, the Prophet earnestly looked towards the door where 1 was standing, and said to his brother Hyrum, "Go and see if there is not one more yet to be blessed." Brother Hyrum came to the door, and seeing me, put his hand upon my shoulder and asked me if I had not worked upon the Temple. I said. No sir," but it seemed Hke passing a sentence upon my fondest hopes. He then asked if 1 had done nothing towards it. 1 then thought of a new gun 1 had earned and given as a donation, and of the brick I had helped to make. I said, "I did give often." "I thought," he said, "there was a blessing for you," and he almost carried me to the stand. The Prophet blessed me, with a confirmation of all his father had sealed upon me, and many more also. 1 felt then that the Lord had respect for my great desire. Even to be the youngest and last to be blessed seemed to me a high privilege. When the Prophet had looked towards the door, I felt as though he would call for me, though I could not see how I had merited so high a privilege. But so it was, and my joy was full.”(https://archive.org/stream/BenjaminFJohnsonMyLifesReview/Benjamin+F+Johnson+My+Lifes+Review_djvu.txt)

Here’s a touch of Smith hospitality towards someone who was not a believer:

15) James Leach

“James Leach was an Englishman who had come to Nauvoo with his convert sister and her husband, Agnes and Henry Nightingale. After looking for work without success, James and Henry determined to ask the Prophet for help. James recalled:

“We … found [the Prophet] in a little store selling a lady some goods. This was the first time I had had an opportunity to be near him and get a good look at him. I felt there was a superior spirit in him. He was different to anyone I had ever met before; and I said in my heart, he is truly a Prophet of the most high God.

“As I was not a member of the Church I wanted Henry to ask him for work, but he did not do so, so I had to. I said, ‘Mr. Smith, if you please, have you any employment you could give us both, so we can get some provisions?’ He viewed us with a cheerful countenance, and with such a feeling of kindness, said, ‘Well, boys, what can you do?’ We told him what our employment was before we left our native land.

“Said he, ‘Can you make a ditch?’ I replied we would do the best we could at it. ‘That’s right, boys,’ and picking up a tape line, he said, ‘Come along with me.’

“He took us a few rods from the store, gave me the ring to hold, and stretched all the tape from the reel and marked a line for us to work by. ‘Now, boys,’ said he, ‘can you make a ditch three feet wide and two and a half feet deep along this line?’

“We said we would do our best, and he left us. We went to work, and when it was finished I went and told him it was done. He came and looked at it and said, ‘Boys, if I had done it myself it could not have been done better. Now come with me.’

“He led the way back to his store, and told us to pick the best ham or piece of pork for ourselves. Being rather bashful, I said we would rather he would give us some. So he picked two of the largest and best pieces of meat and a sack of flour for each of us, and asked us if that would do. We told him we would be willing to do more work for it, but he said, ‘If you are satisfied, boys, I am.’

“We thanked him kindly, and went on our way home rejoicing in the kindheartedness of the Prophet of our God.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-37?lang=eng)

Native Americans recognized his kindness, and loved him for it. They even paid it back before too long:

16) Helen Mar Whitney

“Our city was occasionally visited by Lamanites and a deputation of Pottawatamie chiefs were in the city waiting to see Joseph when he returned from Dixon, and as soon as consistent after the trial was over he received them.

“After being assured that all present were friends to Joseph, their orator arose and said: (it being interpreted;) “We as a people have long been distressed and oppressed. We have been driven from our lands many times. We have been wasted away by wars, until there are but few of us left. The white man has hated us and shed our blood, until it has appeared as though there would soon be no Indian left. We have talked with the Great Spirit, and the Great Spirit has talked with us. We have asked the Great Spirit to save us and let us live, and the Great “Spirit has told us that he has raised up a great Prophet chief, and friend, who would do us great good and tell us what to do; and the Great Spirit has told us that you are the man (pointing to the Prophet). We have now come a great way to see you and hear your words, and to have you tell us what to do. Our horses have become poor traveling, and we are hungry. We will now wait and hear your words.”

“Joseph was considerably affected, so much so that he wept…

“… The Prophet had an ox killed for them, and some horses were also prepared for them.

“They remembered the kindness of Joseph and his people, and when driven from our homes they made us welcome upon their land, where we were obliged to make our Winter Quarters.” (https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/womans-view-helen-mar-whitneys-reminiscences-early-church-history/5-scenes-and-incidents)

In this one – he provides a much-needed distraction:

17) Edward Stephenson

“In Missouri, when mob forces oppressed the Saints, we were encamped in Adam-ondi-Ahman, mostly around campfires without tents. One night the snow fell four or five inches. The Prophet, seeing our forlorn condition, called on us to form into two parties—Lyman Wight at the head of one line and he (Joseph) heading the other line—to have a sham battle. The weapons were snowballs. We set to with a will full of glee and fun.” (https://josephsmithfoundation.org/joseph-smith-cheerful/)

Bought a boat to save someone’s job:

18) Dan Jones

“Levi Moffatt had previously complained to Dan Jones of the loss of business resulting from Jones’s conversion to an unpopular religion. Jones relates in his letter to Thomas Bullock the effect of Moffatt’s contact with Joseph Smith:

“He [Moffatt] finally complained to Joseph of sustaining an injury by my embracing “Mormonism,” that touched the quick fibres of a noble and generous soul. When I returned to Nauvoo, Joseph came on board and informed me that the unkind conduct of Mr. Moffat had won me his friendship, and that he had concluded to buy Mr. Moffat’s interest in the Boat…” (http://welshmormon.byu.edu/Resources/pdf/21191.pdf)

He wasn’t too good for anything:

19) John Chidester

“Zion’s Camp, in passing through the state of Indiana, had to cross very bad swamps, consequently we had to attach ropes to the wagons to help them through, and the Prophet was the first man at the rope in his bare feet. This was characteristic of him in all times of difficulty.” (https://www.latterdaylight.com/brother-joseph-vol-2/2018/9/24/chapter-thirty-two-zions-camp-marches-to-missouri)

Even on his death March – he noticed the little guy:

20) Washington B. Rogers

“Joseph had a farm out on the road between Nauvoo and Carthage. ... I well remember the day when they took him to Carthage Jail. We were working on the farm, and we saw him coming up the road, recognizing old Joe Duncan one of his famous horses. We hiked it across the fields to the road and sat on the rail fence, when he came along in charge of the officers. A lot of men that knew us boys quite as well as he did wouldn’t have noticed us if they’d a been in trouble as he was, but not him. He rode over to the fence and got off his horse.

“How are you boys?” he said, and then turning to the officers he said:

“'Gentlemen,' he said, ‘this is my farm and these are my boys. They like me, and I like them.’ Then he shook hands with us and bade us goodbye.” That’s the kind of a man he was, always.” (Personal Glimpses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Andrus, P. 163)

This is the second ball game mentioned – and ends much the same way:

21) Edwin Holden

"In 1838, after the church moved to Missouri, Joseph and some of the young men were playing various outdoor games, among which was a game of ball. By and by they began to get weary. He saw it, and calling them together he said: “Let us build a log cabin.”

“So off they went, Joseph and the young men, to build a log cabin for a widow woman. Such was Joseph’s way, always assisting in whatever he could.” (They Knew the Prophet, Andrus, P. 16)

In this next one death is coming. The men are in Carthage making defensive plans and Joseph is preoccupied with saving someone else:

22) Dan Jones (2^nd Account by him)

“During the forenoon we were visited by Judge Phelps, J. P. Green, J. S. Fullmer and C. H. Wheelock, the last I think brought a revolver in his boot, and left it with the prisoners when he retired; most of my forenoon's work consisted in hewing, with my penknife, a wharped door to get it on the latch, and in preparing to fortify against a night attack, in which Col. Markam was also industrious. The Prophet appeared extremely anxious by his injunctions to the messengers who left for Nauvoo, amongst whom were Dr. Bernhisel, I think, to send out testimonies to exonerate his brother Hyrum.”  

(http://www.scottwoodward.org/Talks/html/Jones,%20Dan/JonesD_TheMartyrdomOfJosephAndHyrumSmith.html)

Providing a home for the homeless:

23) Jane Manning

“Brother Joseph kept out folks a whole week until they got homes, and I was left. He came in every morning to see us and shake hands and know how we all were. One morning, before he came in, I had been up to the landing and found all my clothes were gone. Well, I sat there crying. He came in and looked around.

“Why, where’s all the folks?”

“Why, brother,” I says, “they have all got themselves places. But I hain’t got any place,” and I burst out a-crying.

“We won’t have any tears here,” he says.

“But,” I says, “I have got no home.”

“Well, you’ve got a home here,” he says.” Have you seen Sister Emma this morning?”

“No, sir,” I says.

So he started out and went upstairs and brought Sister Emma down and says, “Here’s a girl who says she’s got no home. Don’t you think she’s got a home here?”

And she says “If she wants to stay here.”

And he says “Do you want to stay here?”

“Yes, sir,” says I… (They Knew the Prophet, Andrus, P. 154)

Here he is trying to help a child’s bruised self esteem:

24) Schuyler Everett

“Our family moved from New York to Nauvoo in the spring of 1843.  While we were staying with our aunt, my sister and I saw a little calf for the first time.  We went out to pet and examine the animal, but it became frightened and broke the rope.  Time and again I got it into a corner, but each time it came near Adelaide, she became frightened and ran in the opposite direction.  Finally I lost my temper and shouted, “You darn fool.  Why don’t you head it?”

“At that moment, Joseph Smith happened to be riding by.  He got off his horse, tied up the calf, and then, patting Adelaide on the head, said, “You’re not a little fool, are you missy?”

(https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2018/06/childrens-reminiscences-of-the-prophet-joseph-smith.html)

He gives away shoes several times in this list. This is one of them:

25) John Lyman Smith

“…the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum visited us and administered to us all, father being delirious from the effects of the fever. Their words comforted us greatly, as they said in the name of the Lord you all shall be well again. Upon leaving the hovel Joseph placed his slippers upon my mother’s feet and sprang upon his horse from the doorway and rode home barefoot. The next day Joseph removed father to his own house and nursed him until he recovered.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/1971/03/july-22-1839-a-day-of-gods-power?lang=eng)

Closing things out – here’s another last encounter with Joseph Smith. It has him giving out loads of boots to the bloodied feet of his people. He went to Carthage soon after:

26) John Lyman Smith (2nd account by him)

“We reached Nauvoo about daylight, and encamped in front of Foster's big brick house near the Temple. Our camp equipage was placed by the side of a log which reached halfway across the street. While I was guarding the baggage, Joseph the Prophet rode up to the log, reached his hand to me and inquired after uncle and aunt. He held me by the hand and pulled me forward until I was obliged to step upon the log. When turning his horse side- ways he drew me step by step to near the end of the log, when seeing that each foot left marks upon the bark he asked me what was the matter with my feet. I replied the prairie grass had cut my shoes to pieces and wounded my feet, but they would soon be all right. I noticed the hand he raised to his face was wet, and looking up I saw his cheeks covered with tears. He placed his hand on my head and said, "God bless you, my dear boy," and asked if others of the company were in the same plight. I replied that a number of them were. Turning his face toward Mr. Lathrop as the latter came to the door of his store, the Prophet said : "Let these men have some shoes." Lathrop said: "I have no shoes." Joseph's quick reply was : "Let them have boots, then."

“Joseph then turned to me and said: "Johnnie, the troops will be disbanded and return home. I shall go to Carthage for trial, under the protection of the governor." Then leaning towards me, with one hand on my head, he said : "Have no fears, for you shall yet see Israel triumph and in peace." This was the last time I saw and spoke with Joseph the Prophet while living, and the sensation and impression made upon me will never be forgotten. On June 20, 1844, the troops disbanded, and we marched home, numbers of my brethren as well as myself being very thankful for the protection our boots afforded to our wounded feet.” (https://archive.org/stream/fateofpersecutor00lund/fateofpersecutor00lund_djvu.txt)

It can be said that Joseph Smith, overwhelmingly, was a kind and considerate man. These stories show he wanted others to do well, and feel noticed and loved.

He was a very good man - who occasionally healed loads of people at once!

Gotta be a good person for that kind of heaven to flow through you.