The third General Relief Society President, after Emma and Eliza, was Zina D. H. Young.
Zina Diantha Huntington was born in Watertown, New York, on January 31, 1821. Zina’s uncle, Samuel Huntington, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Zina would be the second of the “Four Zina’s”; her mother being first. Her daughter, Zina Young Card would in turn name her own daughter Zina.
One day in her early teens, Zina came home from school and found a book on the windowsill. She looked through it, feeling the Spirit rush through her, and instantly knew it was true. After being baptized by Hyrum Smith, at the age of fifteen, she felt the gift of tongues fall on her and was able to see it manifested throughout her life. Emmeline reports, in Zina’s biography, that “she has perhaps as perfect a gift of interpretation of tongues as any person in the church”.
Zina’s family traveled to Kirtland where they met Joseph Smith, who had recently purchased four Egyptian mummies. To keep them safe from the mob, the mummies were hidden under Zina’s bed, for a time.
Her family moved with the Saints to Missouri and were expelled a year later. Cholera descended upon the uprooted Saints and Zina’s entire family became sick. All recovered but her mother. Joseph offered comforting words to her at this time, including bearing witness of a mother in heaven.
Zina attended the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo at its second meeting. Sisters continued gathering together, even after the group was disbanded. With husbands, fathers, and brothers gone, women gathered together for solace, prayer, and spiritual strength. In these meetings, Zina would demonstrate her gift of tongues and interpretation to the comfort of the women.
In Nauvoo, Zina married Henry Bailey Jacobs, of whom she bore two sons. Around this same time, she was sealed for eternity to Joseph Smith with Henry’s approval. Her husband, Henry, served many missions, but moved on to California without Zina. Many of Joseph’s wives were given to Brigham Young, upon his death, so Zina joined Brigham’s family, having been sealed to him for time only, to the SL Valley. On the way west, she gave birth to her second son.
Zina’s father would stay in Mt. Pisgah, to help the Saints there. Getting sick, he died within eighteen days. Thus, her mother died in the expulsion from Missouri; her father died in the expulsion from Nauvoo.
The first few years in the SL Valley were hard as the settlers worked to build homes, plant gardens, making by hand everything they needed. Zina spent her time with household duties such as making candles, soap, and clothing. Clothing included carding, spinning, dyeing, knitting, weaving, and sewing. Zina particularly enjoyed visiting the sick, where she would give them blessings of health, and mother them to wellness. She was sought after as a midwife. She had several favorite home remedies, one which involved “good-sized live toads”.
As a wife of Brigham Young, Zina gave birth to her third child, a daughter. As well, she took over the raising of the children of a sister-wife, at her passing.
When the Relief Society was organized in the SL Valley, Zina traveled along with Eliza to visit, organize, and help where she could, later to serve as her first counselor. Many times they would call a meeting of the women. After the first meeting, the attendees would shift position (because it was mostly the same women involved) for a meeting of the Primary, or Young Women’s Association, or Sericulture, or Suffrage; always Eliza and Zina at the head, conducting, organizing, and motivating. They were true sisters, besides being sister-wives. Eliza was known as the head while Zina was known as the heart, of the female organization. The women loved Zina for her love for them. She would seek out the poor, lift the weary, aid the sick, and love them all.
When the women wanted to buy fancier cloth for fancier dresses, Brigham Young’s answer was to buy them silkworms and tell them to make the silk themselves. In 1876, Zina would be called as the first, and only, President of the Deseret Silk Association; it lasted for fifty years. Zina was squeamish about the little worms and would scream every time she had to deal with them.
Because of ill health, Zina spent some time in Hawaii, where she could recuperate. She spent much time organizing a Relief Society, helping the poor and the sick, and blessing the lives of the sisters.
Zina was able to take a trip back east to visit her family; a brother she hadn’t seen in forty years, and other relatives. She was able to gather records for genealogical purposes to do work in the temple. She also attended national suffrage meetings. Being heavily involved with the Utah movement, she requested time to speak. She was turned down, because of her allegiance to Mormonism and Polygamy. Ironically, coming from Utah, she was the only one there who could vote, yet she was denied the opportunity to speak.
In 1888, at age sixty-seven, Zina was called as the general president of the Relief Society. Her counselors would be Bathsheba W. Smith and Jane S. Richards, Sarah M. Kimball and Emmeline B. Wells served as secretaries. Zina served as president for thirteen years. During this time she also served as temple matron.
Zina was visiting her daughter in Cardston, Alberta, Canada, when she suffered a stroke. She died on August 28, 1901.
Information is taken from:
1) Elect Ladies by Janet Peterson
2) “A Distinguished Woman”, written by Emmeline B. Wells for the Woman’s Exponent, serial starting 1 Nov. 1881
3) Women of Covenant by Jill Mulvay Derr
Loved finding this site. Was disappointed that you would purposely leave details out because you “couldn’t believe them”. This part of her history, while hard to grasp, is truth and should be shared. I, too, was shocked when I first learned it and upon further research found that her testimony and explanation as to why these things occured was inspiring and is important to note. Thanks for the all the wonderful information shared here.
Actually, I have reported the “difficult to understand” part of the history. Polygamy was just plain difficult to explain. What I left out was some of the spiritual nature of it and the emotional acceptation they had to have had, which is just hard to fathom. I’m not a historian, and don’t claim any authority whatsoever, so it was hard to write with neutrality. But I kind of sound like a jerk saying that I can’t believe this stuff. Sorry about that. I guess what I really meant was that I don’t have a good explanation as to the whys and wherefores, I can’t make this stuff comfortable, and I question my own emotional abilities. But these circumstances did exist and we just have to wait and see for the complete explanation.
May I just clarify, I believe all of these early women are some of the choicest of Heavenly Father’s daughters, sent to earth to pave the way for the rest of us. Their ability to deal with such spiritual manifestations and understanding is truly astounding and exemplary. I just wonder if I could have done it as gracefully.
I appreciate your candor about your feelings, but if one is going to write about history, one should not shy away from the facts.
Yes, it’s beyond hard to understand this. If you read the diaries Zina wrote while living in Nauvoo, the only conclusion one can come to is that she was what we would call a “religious fanatic” today. She obsessed about religion. Given that trait, it’s no wonder she was likely to do what she was told to do by her religious leaders. She “married” Joseph Smith because he told her to. She left her husband Henry while on the trek west because Brigham Young told her to. Brigham’s reasoning was that because she had been sealed to JS, Henry no longer had any claim to her, and that as JS’s heir, Zina “belonged” to Brigham as his “property.” So, it isn’t accurate to imply that Zina’s husband, Henry, went to California without her willingly. His letters to her from California, professing his love for her and their children, are heartrending in the extreme. Those letters have been published—and I suggest you read them.
Although not complete, Wikipedia gives a good synopsis of her life. The material there is easily verified by historical sources if you care to seek them out—and can stomach submitting yourself to some very uncomfortable information. Most people just don’t want to know about it, frankly, because it doesn’t fit our expectations of what these early church members were like. And no, most of the women did not submit “gracefully,” even if they became polygamous wives. Read their private words. They reflect the truth and are more honest than their public declarations.
Zina’s oldest son, Zebulon Jacobs, was the clerk of the Joseph Rawlins wagon train of 1868. My grandparents, Isaac and Ruth Blair, along with seven of their children were on that train. Their two year old son Albert was my father. I am the youngest ever identified son of a Utah Pioneer.
Thanks for sharing!