Zina D. H. Young

Zina Huntington was born on January 31, 1821, She had nine siblings. Her father's family was descended from Puritan Simon Huntington, who died at sea in 1633 on the voyage to America. Her father was a veteran of the War of 1812; her grandfather a soldier in the Revolutionary War; As a young girl, she was taught household skills, such as spinning, soap making, and weaving,. Religion had always been important to her parents, and, as a youth during the Great Awakening, Zina Huntington grew up in a home where matters of spiritual importance were consistently included in the family dialogue. Her parents had long been searching for a church they believed to be true when, She also later exhibited the gifts of prophecy and healing. Emmeline B. Wells later wrote of her: "In all spiritual labors and manifestations, she was greatly gifted, and no woman in Israel was more inspirational in prayer.... Her whole life was one of untiring devotion to her Heavenly Father." As General Relief Society President, Young traveled throughout the church performing hundreds of healing blessings every year; she is possibly the LDS Church's most well documented healer, male or female. Young would carefully wash, anoint, and seal healing blessings, even in the presence of her husband Brigham Young and other church leaders. She earned the name "Zina, the comforter", particularly after tending to the sick during the journey west as a Mormon pioneer. == Marriages and children ==

Young recorded in her autobiography that she was courted by Henry Bailey Jacobs when she was eighteen years old. During this time, Joseph Smith also taught her about plural marriage in private conversations; he proposed that she become his plural wife on at least three different occasions. Young declined the proposals out of her respect for Emma Smith and for traditional Christian monogamy, and because such a union would require secrecy. She and Smith were married on October 27, 1841. Her brother Dimick performed the ceremony. By that time, Joseph was married to six other women: Emma Smith, Fanny Alger, Louisa Beaman, Lucinda Pendleton Morgan, Nancy Marinda Johnson Hyde, and Clarissa Reed Hancock. when she married Smith. It is not clear when Jacobs was made aware of the wedding to Smith; he did, however, believe in Smith's prophetic counsel. to justify her subsequent marriages to Smith and later to Brigham Young, evidence from her diaries suggests this assertion is unfounded. Because she believed him to be God's chosen leader, she consented when Young, 20 years her senior, claimed he acted as Smith's proxy and proposed they be married for time (as many other members of the Quorum of the Twelve did with Smith's other plural wives). Brigham was united "for time" with Zina on February 2, 1846, and, at the same time, she was re-sealed to Smith for eternity. Biographer Todd Compton believed that this move supported the interpretation that Zina at this time "began to live openly as Brigham's wife". What is certain is that Henry Jacobs, upon his return, was brought before a church council for his role in performing marriages uniting multiple women to William W. Phelps in England without authorization. Phelps was excommunicated. Henry was "silenced" for performing the marriages. "It was decided in Council that if a man lost his wife He was at liberty to marry again whare He pleased and was Justifyed." arriving in the Salt Lake Valley in September 1848. In Utah Territory, she would raise her two sons from Jacobs, her daughter, and the four children of Brigham Young and Clarissa Maria Ross Young, her sister-wife who had died unexpectedly. She relied heavily upon kinship ties to her brothers and sister for the rest of her life. Relationship to polygamy In order to understand Young's decisions regarding plural marriage, it is pivotal to examine her relationship to the practice of polygamy. Though initially she struggled to understand the morality of the practice, she came to accept it—not because she found virtue in the practice itself, but because it came from Joseph Smith, and he was the prophet. Her "unwavering obedience and unquestioning faith" ultimately determined her decision to be married to Smith and later to Brigham Young. In later life, Zina Young commented that women in polygamous relationships "expect too much attention from the husband and ... become sullen and morose". She explained that "a successful polygamous wife must regard her husband with indifference, and with no other feeling than that of reverence, for love we regard as a false sentiment; a feeling which should have no existence in polygamy". She came to rely primarily on relationships with kin and other women in the community for support and friendship. == Civic leadership and church service ==

Contributions to public health In Utah, once her children were grown, Young became involved in a number of public service activities. She became a school teacher and studied obstetrics under Willard Richards. As a midwife (she had learned midwifery from her mother in New York) she "helped deliver the babies of many women, including those of the plural wives of Brigham Young. At their request, she anointed and blessed many of these sisters before their deliveries. Other women in need of physical and emotional comfort also received blessings under her hands." The two grew close through their service together in the Relief Society General Presidency; they worked together on projects such as the Deseret Hospital, silk manufacture, and grain storage. They also spoke at church meetings together throughout Utah. When Snow died in 1887, Young became Relief Society General President, a position she held for thirteen years. In this capacity, she organized the first Relief Society General Conference; and, during the years of her presidency, the construction of the Salt Lake Temple was completed, women in Utah regained the right to vote, and the Relief Society was featured in the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. She served for a total of 32 years on the Relief Society General Board. In 1891, she became vice president of the National Council of Women. She worked in the Endowment House, and became the first matron of the Salt Lake Temple from 1893, a position she held until her death. == Death and legacy ==

Zina D. H. Young died on August 28, 1901, at age 80. She spent the last two months of her life in Canada with her daughter and grandchildren. Young is remembered as a member of a well-known circle of early Latter Day Saints, having been sealed to two presidents of the church and having served as a leader of Mormon women in Utah. Her tender nature towards Utah women led many to call her "Aunt Zina". Of her, Susa Young Gates wrote: "There have been many noble women, some great women and a multitude of good women associated, past and present, with the Latter-Day work. But of them all none was so lovely, so lovable, and so passionately beloved as was 'Aunt Zina.'" == References ==