Talk:Zina D. H. Young

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[edit] Questions

A couple of questions I have from reading this article.

  1. Did she give blessings as a priesthood holder? This is fascinating and I would like this to be a bit more clear.
  2. Did she marry Joseph eternally or temporally? Was she still married to her first husband or was he dead or disaffected? Why did she do this?
  3. Same things with Brigham Young. She had one child so I know she we at least married to him temporally. But what happened to her first husband? (Obviously, Smith was dead at that point.)
  4. Was she working against the church or its members or was she supported by the church and its members as she advocated her social causes? Was she controversial? I can't tell by reading this.
  5. The two timelines make it confusing. When did she get baptized and how did that affect her life? We should talk about the most important things first, and then the details later.

I would love to see these points clarified. Great article, nonetheless. Jgardner 21:41, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Keep in mind I'm working from just a couple of LDS Church sources here, and she is a "woman," so many of the details are vague. I know there is at least one full length biography published but I haven't tracked it down yet. So, from what I know --

  1. Info from the Enc/of/Mormonism. Not uncommon in the period for women to give blessings to one another and to their children and occasionally to men, particularly if they were ill. These did not invoke the priesthood but the power of the Holy Ghost. Eliza R. Snow was also known for blessing others. In addition, the public expression of the "gifts of the spirit" was more common and more appreciated than in our skeptical age.
  2. No info -- but my memory says he became disaffected with the Church and they were divorced. She was well acquainted with both Joseph and Emma - so perhaps it was a matter of caring for her after her first husband was out of the picture.
  3. No info -- but they did have one child, she cared for his children by another wife and they spent public time together at least. A very different marriage than the distant and formal one Brigham had with ERSnow, which was probably never consummated.
  4. The church was very socially progressive at the time about the rights of women and social causes. Before becoming a US territory, all Mormon women in Deseret had the right to vote. That was one of the things the feds required them to eliminate if they were going to be part of the union. Brigham Young was strongly in favor of women's rights (in the context of the time), believing that women should vote, receive an education, go into the professions (he personally sponsored several women to medical/dental schools) and own businesses. One of the sources says he sent Zina to the "east" on women's suffrage business, asking her to represent the church's viewpoint and to clarify rumors and concerns about polygamy.
  5. She was baptized with her family when she was fourteen, and then they all went through the Kirkland and Missouri experiences together. (I think I gave the baptism date in my original version -- but Wiki ate my first draft and I had to start over.)

The role of women in the early church is a fascinating topic and quite historically obscure to most Mormons - I think it was quite controversial during the "feminist" movement of the 1960's and 70's. There might be an article in it. I will refine this article once I find a more comprehensive source. The next RS article on Bathsheba Smith will also be somewhat cursory to begin with. Please put in anything else you find. WBardwin 23:23, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Zina Young's Marriages

AHA! Regarding questions #2/3 above. Bad memory. Sealed to Joseph Smith with husband's permission. He also approved her sealing "for time" to Brigham Young. Will look for his death date.

"With all that openness, there is still enough restraint to keep a careful covering around the intimate Zina. Her relationship to Henry Bailey Jacobs, the husband who stood approving as her earlier sealing to Joseph Smith was confirmed by proxy in the Nauvoo Temple and who witnessed her sealing "for time" to Brigham Young, seems not uncordial here. That first marriage, described in later biographical studies as an unhappy one, is not overtly so in these accounts. Zina shows pride in Henry's calling as seventies president; she accepts as dear friends the Saints who were kind to him on his missions; she cares for him in sickness and notes his progress on their house. There is little of the intimate view of their lives, but one cannot expect that, considering the times and the mores of Victorian America. On the whole, if she is not an enthusiastic bride, Zina does seem a contented wife." (From discussion about the contents of Zina's diary -- see external link on page.) WBardwin 00:21, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)
But this must be what I remembered. "....Sister Zina was married in Nauvoo, and had two sons, but this not proving a happy union, she subsequently separated from her husband. Joseph Smith taught her the principle of marriage for eternity, and she accepted it as a divine revelation, and was sealed to the Prophet after the order of the new and everlasting covenant, October 27, 1841, her brother Dimick officiating." by Andrew Jenson, LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, 1951.
"Arriving in Winter Quarters in 1847, both men (Jacobs and Oliver Huntington) were excommunicated for bringing plural wives with them but were later rebaptized. Continued on to Utah in 1848. In 1851 he (Jacobs) was disfellowshipped and later excommunicated. Moved to California, remaining there until 1880, when he returned to Salt Lake City, where he died" in 1886. BYU Studies/Mormon Biographical Register.
Brigham Young married Zina D. Huntington 1846. One child: Zina Prescinda, born 1850.
Contradictory. Plural marriage was always a thorny thing!! WBardwin 00:30, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Additions and reorganization

Primarily I added som e information regarding her plural marriages, but I also reorganized the text, so that it tells the story in chronological order. I"ve always preferred to read a story in chronological order. Can anyon expand the following sentence. It lacks parallelism. The following statement could be improved: She was taught household skills, such as spinning, soap making, and weaving, and received a basic education, inlcuding ...--ErinHowarth 22:50, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What happened to Henry?

Suddenly she is married to Brigham Young and her first husband is gone. Divorce? Widowed? Where'd he go?

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