Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Plural wives/Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs/Circumstances of her plural marriage

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The circumstances of the plural marriage of Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs to Joseph Smith, Jr.

Questions

Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs was sealed to Joseph Smith while she was already carrying the child of her husband Henry Jacobs at the time.

• Why would Joseph be sealed to the wife of someone who was not only married to someone else, but pregnant with her husband's child?

Answer

In 1839, at age 18, Zina arrived with her parents in Nauvoo after being driven out of Missouri. Faithful LDS missionary Henry Jacobs courted her during 1840–41. At the same time, Joseph Smith had taught Zina the doctrine of plural marriage, and thrice asked her to marry him. She declined each time, and she and Henry were wed 7 March 1841. Zina and Henry were married by John C. Bennett, then mayor of Nauvoo. They had invited Joseph to perform the ceremony, but Bennett stepped in when Joseph did not arrive:

…Zina asked the Prophet to perform the marriage. They went to the Clerk’s office and the Prophet did not arrive, so they were married by John C. Bennett. When they saw Joseph they asked him why he didn’t come, and he told them the Lord had made it known to him that she was to be his Celestial wife.

Family tradition holds, then, that Zina and Henry were aware of Joseph's plural marriage teachings and his proposal to Zina. While this perspective is late and after-the-fact, it is consistent with the Jacobs' behaviour thereafter. Zina's family also wrote that Henry believed that "whatever the Prophet did was right, without making the wisdom of God's authorities bend to the reasoning of any man."

On 27 October 1841, Zina was sealed to Joseph Smith by her brother, Dimick Huntington. She was six months pregnant by Henry, and continued to live with him.

Joseph Smith and Brigham Young's "mistreatment" of Henry and their "theft" of his family have received a great deal of publicity, thanks to late 19th century anti-Mormon sources, and Fawn Brodie increased their cachet for a 20th century audience. </blockquote>

Henry was to stand as proxy for Zina's post-martyrdom sealing to Joseph, and her marriage for time to Brigham Young. He and Zina separated soon thereafter, and Henry was soon gone on one of his many missions for the Church.

Zina herself clearly explains the basis for her choice:

…when I heard that God had revealed the law of Celestial marriage that we would have the privilege of associating in family relationships in the worlds to come, I searched the scriptures and by humble prayer to my Heavenly Father I obtained a testimony for myself that God had required that order to be established in his Church. Faced with questions from her RLDS interviewer that she felt exceeded propriety, Zina became evasive. She finally terminated the interview by saying, "Mr. Wight, you are speaking on the most sacred experiences of my life…."

Allen Wyatt, "Zina and Her Men: An Examination of the Changing Marital State of Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs Smith Young"

Allen Wyatt,  Proceedings of the 2006 FAIR Conference, (August 2006)

In the society built by the early Saints in the Salt Lake Valley, few women attained the status and fame accorded to Zina D.H. Young. A plural wife to Brigham Young and the third president of the Relief Society, “Aunt Zina” was recognized, known, and adored by virtually everyone. She was widely read, widely traveled, and widely respected. In the last century there have been numerous articles and entire books written about her life and times.

My purpose today is not to recount Zina’s life or add to the many general biographies focusing on her. Instead, I’ll focus on a much more limited period in her life–specifically the period almost wholly contained within the 1840s. It is this period–from the establishment of Nauvoo through the exodus to Salt Lake City–that introduces an amazing amount of change within the Church and, not coincidentally, within the life of Zina.

Zina arrived in Nauvoo with her parents in 1839, at the age of 18, after the Saints were driven out of Missouri. The coming decade formed a crucible in which Zina’s mettle was tested and her character forged. During the decade of 1841 to 1850 Zina would be married to three different men, participate in both polyandry and polygamy, establish several households, participate in the inner circles of Mormonism, be driven out of Nauvoo, travel across the continent, help establish a settlement in Iowa, attend the death of both her mother and father, and give birth to three children by two different husbands. To say that this was a formative decade in the life of a remarkable woman seems an exercise in understatement.

This decade of Zina’s life is also one that is misunderstood by many. Based solely upon this period, it is not uncommon to hear of Zina as both heroine and victim, as pawn and prevaricator. She is viewed by some as weak but by others as strong beyond measure. That this period of Zina’s life can be placed under the microscope and her experiences be used for both good and ill speaks to the remarkable nature of the woman and her times–this time; this one decade of foment and change.

Let me provide just one example of criticism stated by a poster on the FAIR message boards:

"That marriage [of Henry and Zina] started their life and family together. Not long after starting, however, Joseph Smith wedged himself in as a third wheel–that bothers me, but at least Henry and Zina were still able to live and have children together. Then Brother Brigham comes along, and “one-ups” Joseph by taking Henry’s wife and sons as his “property,” and then, to add insult to injury, sends Henry on a far-away mission so he can’t cause any problems when Brigham and Zina start to cohabit at Winter Quarters. Hopefully this better explains why I am so disturbed by Joseph’s and Brigham’s treatment of Zina and Henry."

As shall be seen, nothing is ever as simple or as black and white as critics like to presume. In considering Zina and her relationships with the men in her life, let’s start with her marriage to Henry Bailey Jacobs.

Notes