Nephi tells of going to Jerusalem with his brothers to get the Brass Plates. After killing Laban, Nephi tells of seeing Zoram, Laban's servant, "And I commanded him in the voice of Laban, that he should go with me into the treasury" (1 Nephi 4:20). Later, in verse 23, Nephi says, "and I spake unto him as if it had been Laban."
In Sunday School last year (Lesson No. 33, "President Brigham Young Leads the Saints"), we talked about how Brigham Young came to be Joseph Smith's successor. Our teacher handed out copies from page 67 of "Our Heritage," which quotes George Q. Cannon: "If I had not seen him with my own eyes, there is no one that could have convinced me that it was not Joseph Smith … This miraculous manifestation, seen by many, made clear to the Saints that the Lord had chosen Brigham Young to succeed Joseph Smith as leader of the Church …"
Brother Clawson in our class then volunteered that not only did Brigham Young look like Joseph Smith but he sounded like him as well. He said during a tar and feathering episode, the mobs tried to pour something into Joseph's mouth and during this time they had chipped a tooth, which caused Joseph to whistle from time to time when he talked, and while Brigham Young spoke, he sounded like Joseph, "even to the whistle," Brother Clawson said.
Afterward I asked Brother Clawson where he found this information. He didn't know, but having heard it before, I decided to "look it up." I went to the new Church History Library, and an attendant found a periodical called BYU Studies. The authors of the article provide "Firsthand Testimonies," among which is this from Benjamin Franklin Johnson:
"(He tells of attending the meeting of the Saints as they heard Sidney Rigdon and then Brigham Young after the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.) … (A)s he (Sidney Rigdon) closed his address and sat down, my back was partly turned to the seats occupied by Apostle Brigham Young and other Apostles, when suddenly, and as from Heaven, I heard the voice of the Prophet Joseph, that thrilled my whole being, and quickly turning around I saw in the transfiguration of Brigham Young, the tall, straight and portly form of the Prophet Joseph Smith clothed in a sheen of light, covering him to his feet, and I heard the real and perfect voice of the Prophet, even to the whistle, as in years past caused by the loss of a tooth said to have been broken out by a mob at Hyrum (actually Hiram, Ohio) …
"The Prophet's lost tooth, to which I allude, was, as generally understood, broken out by the mob at Hyrum (Hiram, Ohio) while trying to pry open his mouth to strangle him with acid, from which time, until the tooth was replaced by a dentist neighbor, a year or two previous to his death, there had been a whistle-like sound accompanying all his public speaking which I again plainly heard at the time of which I write."
Berneice Neeley lives in Salt Lake City.