[2] She is among the most well-documented healers in LDS Church history (male or female), at one point performing hundreds of washing, anointing, and sealing healing rituals every year.

She learned midwifery as a young girl and later made contributions to the healthcare industry in Utah Territory, including assisting in the organization of the Deseret Hospital and establishing a nursing school.

[8] As a young girl, she was taught household skills, such as spinning, soap making, and weaving,[9] and received a basic education.

[6]: 452 In October 1836,[9] after receiving advice from Joseph Smith, Sr., Zina's father sold their property and relocated to the church's headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio.

After Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issued the Extermination Order, Zina's father helped coordinate the evacuation of church members to Illinois.

[10]: 90 [15]: 77–79  Young declined the proposals out of her respect for Emma Smith and for traditional Christian monogamy, and because such a union would require secrecy.

She later recorded, "I received a testimony for myself from the Lord of this work, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God before I ever saw him, while I resided in the state of New York, given in answer to prayer.

"[10]: 94  Smith wrote to her in October 1841 that he had "put it off till an angel with a drawn sword stood by me and told me if I did not establish that principle [plurality of wives] upon the earth I would lose my position and my life.

By that time, Joseph was married to six other women: Emma Smith, Fanny Alger, Louisa Beaman, Lucinda Pendleton Morgan, Nancy Marinda Johnson Hyde, and Clarissa Reed Hancock.

[10] Zina and Henry Jacobs continued to live together as man and wife,[15]: 81–82  and her "connubial relations with Joseph Smith, if any occurred at all, [were] certainly infrequent and irregular.

[15] : 84, 88, 89–91 [21] Biographer Todd Compton believed that this move supported the interpretation that Zina at this time "began to live openly as Brigham's wife".

[2] What is certain is that Henry Jacobs, upon his return, was brought before a church council for his role in performing marriages uniting multiple women to William W. Phelps in England without authorization.

I do not Blame Eny person .... [M]ay the Lord our Father bless Brother Brigham .... [A]ll is right according to the Law of the Celestial Kingdom of our God Joseph".

[15] : 81–82 Zina Young joined the Mormon Exodus to the Rocky Mountains,[22] arriving in the Salt Lake Valley in September 1848.

[citation needed] In order to understand Young's decisions regarding plural marriage, it is pivotal to examine her relationship to the practice of polygamy.

[12]: 128  To her, the decision became a test of the integrity she would show to her faith; she later wrote in her journal, "could I compromise conscience ... lay aside the sure testimony of the Spirit of God for the Glory of this world?

In her last conference of the Relief Society in October 1900 in the Salt Lake Assembly Hall, Zina Young advised, "Sisters, never speak a word against the authorities of this church.

"[23] In later life, Zina Young commented that women in polygamous relationships "expect too much attention from the husband and ... become sullen and morose".

As a midwife (she had learned midwifery from her mother in New York) she "helped deliver the babies of many women, including those of the plural wives of Brigham Young.

"[1]: 654  In 1848, Young enrolled in classes in herbal medicine and home nursing as well, seeking to increase her contributions to healthcare in Utah.

[9] In 1872, she helped establish the Deseret Hospital in Salt Lake City, and served on its board of directors and for twelve years as its president.

[5] After the LDS Church's Relief Society was reorganized church-wide in 1868,[6]: 460  Young was selected as first counselor by President Eliza R.

"[9] The two grew close through their service together in the Relief Society General Presidency; they worked together on projects such as the Deseret Hospital, silk manufacture, and grain storage.

[6]: 460  In addition to Snow, Young counted other prominent women in the Relief Society as her friends, including Bathsheba Smith and Emmeline B.

[6]: 446 At the request of the Relief Society, Young wrote a short autobiography to put in a time capsule as a part of the 1880 Church Jubilee Celebration.

Her "hallmark was intimate care: nursing, midwifery, attendance at the sickbed, radiance in the blessing circle, and powerful spirituality as she spoke in or interpreted tongues".

[24]: 215 When Snow died in 1887,[7] Young became Relief Society General President, a position she held for thirteen years.

[6]: 447 Young is remembered as a member of a well-known circle of early Latter Day Saints, having been sealed to two presidents of the church and having served as a leader of Mormon women in Utah.