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

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|L=Joseph Smith/Polygamy/Plural wives/Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs/Circumstances of her plural marriage
|H=The circumstances of the plural marriage of Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs to Joseph Smith, Jr.
|S=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?
|L1=Question: 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?
|L2=Question: Did Joseph Smith and Brigham Young steal Henry Jacobs' family?
|L3=Question: What did the husband of Zina D. Huntington know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?
|L4=Question: Did Brigham Young tell Henry Jacobs in front of hundreds of people that he needed to find another wife?
|L5=Allen Wyatt, "Zina and Her Men: An Examination of the Changing Marital State of Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs Smith Young"
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{{:Question: 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?}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith and Brigham Young steal Henry Jacobs' family?}}
{{:Question: What did the husband of Zina D. Huntington know about her sealing to Joseph Smith for eternity?}}
{{:Question: Did Brigham Young tell Henry Jacobs in front of hundreds of people that he needed to find another wife?}}

{{PerspectivesBar
|author=Allen Wyatt
|authorphoto=WyattAllen.png
|title=Zina and Her Men: An Examination of the Changing Marital State of Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs Smith Young
|link=http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2006-fair-conference/2006-zina-and-her-men-an-examination-of-the-changing-marital-state-of-zina-diantha-huntington-jacobs-smith-young
|authorlink=http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/authors/wyatt-allen
|publication=Proceedings of the 2006 FAIR Conference
|date=August 2006
|summary=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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Let me provide just one example of criticism stated by a poster on the FAIR message boards:
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"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."
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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.
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[[es:José Smith/Poligamia/Esposas plurales/Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs/Las circunstancias de su matrimonio plural]]
[[pt:Joseph Smith/Poligamia/Esposas plurais/Zina Diantha Huntington Jacobs/As circunstâncias de seu casamento plural]]