The Author's Immediate Recognition of the Prophet Joseph Smith
Published October 12, 2026 at 6:40 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While the author was a boy visiting the upper landing in Nauvoo during a Church conference, he saw the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum for the first time. Without anyone pointing them out, he recognized the Prophet instantly, feeling there was something about him that distinguished him from all other men he had ever seen.
In Their Own Words
“It was the Author's privilege to thus meet the Prophet at the close of a session of the Conference of the Church at the upper landing at Nauvoo. The Conference of the Church was in Session; and large numbers crowded to the landing place to welcome the emigrants. Nearly every prominent man in the Church was there. Familiar with the names of all and the persons of many of the prominent Elders, the Author sought with a boy's curiosity and eagerness, to discover those whom he knew, and especially to get sight of the Prophet and his brother Hyrum; neither of whom he had ever met. When his eyes fell upon the Prophet, without a word from any one to point him out or any reason to separate him from others who stood around, he knew him instantly. He would have known him among ten thousand. There was that about him, which, to the Author's eyes, distinguished him from all the men he had ever seen.”
— Edward W. Tullidge, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 18 August 1898 (Vol. 60, No. 33). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1898-08-18_60_33 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 60, No. 33, 18 August 1898, p. 514 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1898-08-18_60_33
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