If the person making the claim about Smith had heard the stories about sentient beings on the Moon, and saw Smith speak a couple of years later, then by 1881 he could have confabulated the two into the Smith tale.
That's essentially the theory, although I don't think the claimant was necessarily thinking of Locke's hoax specifically. But it's likely the claimant confused two or more stories, one of them involving Joseph Smith. Given the fascination with astronomy and cosmology among early Mormons, it's quite likely Smith said something about the moon and people living on it. But the details of dress and longevity probably came from popular tales.
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