I have read the journal/bios of several who personally knew Joseph Smith (first modern prophet and president of the Church), and the writings of such others.

• One is an ancestor who wrote about his deciding to join the Church: he was embarrassed to tell his neighbors, but having read the BoM he could not deny it.
• (They later went on to cross the plains in wagons to Utah with their family, & were assigned to things like helping settle various towns, etc.)
• (This is probably available online now. %%jnl? wkp link?)
• I read journals/bios of 2-3 (+?) children, and know enough relatives & their family culture & history to think they were not just "tricked" by J. Smith.
• There is a very great amount of original source material about Joseph Smith available and increasing, at https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/ .
• There were many who knew Joseph Smith personally, sacrificed their prosperity and comfort to follow his teachings, and wrote about it.