Zina Diantha Huntington wondered in her youth why she could not have been born in mor exciting times. Ironically, only a year before her birth, Joseph Smith had received the First Vision, and while she was a child, the Book of Mormon was translated less than a hundred miles away.
Born January 21, 1821 in Watertown, New York, Zina was the seventh of nine children born to William and Zina Baker Huntington. At one point, her father spent days studying the scriptures in an effort to choose sides in a controversy between the Presbyterians and the Congregationalists. He decided that neither were correct, as both lacked the prophets, apostles, or spiritual gifts found in the scriptures. Upon hearing about a “new and golden Bible,” he and a neighbor decided to investigate. When the neighbor returned with a testimony and a copy of the Book of Mormon, most of Zina’s family were converted, as well. Zina’s parents were baptized in April 1835, but Zina herself did not join until Hyrum Smith and David Whitmer visited the Huntington home, at which point she felt the time for her baptism had come. She was baptized by Hyrum Smith that very day, August 1, 1835, at the age of 14.
In 1836, following the advice of Joseph Smith, Sr., the Huntington family moved to Kirtland, Ohio. There Zina became fast friends with Eliza R. Snow, despite the seventeen year age difference. The family moved on to Far West, Missouri, then to Adam-ondi-Ahman (also in Missouri) and Nauvoo, Illinois. During the move, cholera struck the entire family, and Joseph and Emma Smith took them all into their home. Zina’s mother passed away there.
On March 7, 1841, at the age of 20, Zina married Henry Bailey Jacobs. She bore him two sons. She was also sealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith and later to Brigham Young. When the Saints left Nauvoo in 1848, Zina and her children joined the Young family in the migration to Winter’s Quarters and later to Utah.
Within a few weeks after reaching the Salt Lake Valley, Zina noticed the children running around with nothing to do. She promptly started a school, and soon had 45 children. In the 1850s, Zina took a course in obstetrics from a doctor visiting the territory, and delivered numerous babies throughout the remainder of her life. She was instrumental in establishing the Deseret Hospital and served on its board of directors for years. She also founded a nursing school and directed a school of obstetrics. Fabric was scarce in the valley, and so in the 1870s, Brigham Young asked Zina to establish a silk culture. Zina acted as president of the Deseret Silk Association when it was formerly organized in 1876 – this despite the fact that she described silkworms as “a terror.” The industry met one of its goals of providing fabric, but never managed to reach its secondary goal of creating income.
Although Zina had not been present for the original Relief Society meeting in Nauvoo on March 17, 1842, she was voted in as a member during the second gathering. Relief Society work continued through the Utah territory in scattered ways, and Zina was chosen as treasurer in 1866; in 1880, when Eliza Snow was called as president, Zina was called as first counselor. The two women traveled throughout the territory, providing the primary link between the Church headquarters and the women in distant areas. The Relief Society Presidency also organized the Primary Association and the Young Ladies’ Retrenchment Society. When Eliza Snow passed away in 1888, sixty-seven year old Zina Young was called to be the third president.
As President, Zina continued to visit various sisters in the outlying settlements, encouraged the units to improve medical care and provide nursing classes, campaigned for the re-establishment of women’s voting rights rescinded by the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887, represented the women of Utah in the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and was elected as one of the vice presidents of the National Council of Women, which council the Relief Society became a charter member of. While she was President, the Relief Society spread outside of Utah and into New York, Canada, and Hawaii. When the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated in 1893, Zina was called to be president of the sisters’ department – what we would today call the temple matron.
Zina Young passed away on August 28, 1901 in Salt Lake City, having suffered a stroke the week before. She was beloved by all who knew her, and was dubbed “Aunt Zina” because of her kindly ministrations. The Relief Society motto, “Charity never faileth,” is inscribed on her tombstone.
Related Articles:
Relief Society Presidents: An Introduction
Relief Society Presidents: Emma Hale Smith
Relief Society Presidents: Eliza Roxy Snow