Zina Diantha Huntington

1821–1901

Sealed to Brigham Young 2 Feb 1846 (Turner: possibly spring 1845) — she was 25, he was 45.

This was a sealing, not a marriage in law — plural marriage had no legal standing. What that meant.

Nauvoo temple, January-February 1846

Who she was, and what happened

THE CASE THAT WILL NOT RESOLVE. Married Henry Jacobs in March 1841; accepted Joseph Smith's proposal seven months later and KEPT LIVING WITH HENRY, bearing him a son two months after the sealing. On 2 February 1846, SEVEN MONTHS PREGNANT with Henry's second child, she stood in the temple and was sealed to the dead Joseph for eternity with Brigham as proxy, then to Brigham for time - WITH HENRY IN THE ROOM AS A WITNESS. The clerk wrote: 'Henry B. Jacobs expressed his willingness that it should be so.' Thirty minutes later Henry witnessed a SECOND Brigham sealing, to Augusta Cobb. She gave birth on the Iowa trail in the rain that March. On 22 May 1846 at Mount Pisgah, Henry was sent on a mission to England so ill he had to be carried to the wagon in a blanket; his letters home said 'I dream of you often' and closed with 'give my best respects to Brother Brigham an[d] family.' Zina became the THIRD general president of the Relief Society. DATE DISPUTE, AND IT IS THE HINGE OF THIS WHOLE FILE: Turner puts a FIRST sealing in spring 1845, which makes the February 1846 ceremony a confirmation rather than a new marriage; Compton and Johnson work from the 2 February 1846 temple record. THIS ONE ROW EXPLAINS BOTH OF TURNER'S DISAGREEMENTS WITH JOHNSON. Turner counts 'an additional eighteen women' sealed in the temple (p. 134) where Johnson counts nineteen - the difference is Zina, whom Turner has already counted in 1845. And Turner says only Margaret Alley bore him children among the women sealed to him for the first time in the temple, where Johnson says 'only two, Margaret Alley and Zina Huntington' - the difference is Zina again. Both historians are internally consistent; they are counting Zina in different years.

Key dates

1846 Sealed to him 2 Feb 1846 (Turner: possibly spring 1845) A sealing, not a marriage in law: plural marriage had no legal standing.
1901 Died 27 Aug 1901

Nothing here is inferred. Johnson's Table 1 has one date column, so where an event is documented but undated it is shown as "no date" rather than given a spurious one — the missing date is itself a fact about how these records were kept. Only two of the fifty-five have a civil marriage date; for the other fifty-three the single date records a sealing, because plural marriage had no standing in law.

What survives in her own words

She left words of her own.

DIARIES, and a full scholarly biography of three generations of Zinas.

Bradley & Woodward, Four Zinas (Signature, 2000) and JMH 20:1; Compton ch. 4

15 of the fifty-five left words of their own. The rest are known only through other people's papers. What that silence means.

The record

Born: 1821
Died: 27 Aug 1901
Died at: Salt Lake City
Outlived Brigham Young?: Yes
Marriage or sealing: 2 Feb 1846 (Turner: possibly spring 1845)
Her age at the marriage: 25
His age at the marriage: 45
Age gap: 20 years
Phase of his life: Nauvoo temple (Jan-Feb 1846)
Type of sealing: To Joseph for eternity, to BY for time ?
Already married to another man?: Yes (Turner n. 56) - the central case ?
Her other husbands: (1) Henry B. Jacobs (2) Joseph Smith
Widow of Joseph Smith?: Yes
Sexual relationship?: Yes - children
Children by Brigham Young: 1
Lived with him?: Yes - from 1846 onward
Divorce or separation: None recorded
Named in his will?: Yes
Sealed to him as an adopted daughter first?: No ?
Kin tie to him or another wife: Sister of Presendia Huntington Kimball
Left the church?: Remained LDS (documented) - became Relief Society general president
Remarried after Brigham Young?: No
Her later husband(s): None recorded

Source and confidence: Turner pp. 134, 136-37; Compton ch. 4; Johnson pp. 61, 63 and Table 1; Bradley & Woodward, JMH 20:1

A blank or “not established here” means the fact was not documented in the sources behind this table. It does not mean zero, and it does not mean no. We leave it empty rather than guessing, because inventing a detail of her life would be another way of not listening to her. The size of that gap is the argument for the book she never got.