Hannah was given her paternal grandmother's full maiden name, Hannah Mendenhall Sanders. She was born 5 April 1836 to Ellis M and Rachel Broom Roberts Sanders in Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware. The family lived on the farm her father had inherited from his Quaker parents. Her mother had been raised Episcopalian. When Hannah was seven, they joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The family moved to Nauvoo, Illinois some time in May of 1845. In 1846 they moved to Winter Quarters on the Missouri River. When she was ready for baptism, it was very cold and the river was frozen over. So she was baptized on the edge of the river in a hole where the ice had been cut out.
The family prepared themselves with provisions, teams, wagons, and cows to journey to the west in 1848. her mother and the rest of the children had a light wagon to ride in and did not have to suffer the hardships that many of the families did. Nevertheless, her mother could often be heard crying, saying that they were taking her children to the wilderness to raise them like Indians. The children would sometimes walk and sometimes ride in the other wagons as they made their way. They arrived in Salt Lake City in September of 1848 where they settled.
In November of 1852, Hannah at age 16, was married to Oliver Boardman Huntington. They moved to Springville in 1858 with their two children. Two more children were born in Springville before they were called to settle in St George. They lived there under very adverse conditions and she gave birth to another child. They returned to Springville in their third year, after losing their crops two years in a row to flooding from the Virgin River.
Hannah was very sympathetic, and took to nursing the sick at a young age. Hannah was a good seamstress and made men's suits by hand. She also sewed burial clothes often sitting up late into the night, sewing by candlelight. She was interested in dramatic arts, and took part in local amusements. She was the first Primary president in the newly organized First Ward.
Hannah and Oliver had nine children, raising seven to maturity. Hannah continued to work with the sick and read many books to increase her skills in medicine. There was never sickness too malignant or contagious for her to go and do her part. She became a licensed midwife in 1893 when a law was passed requiring it. In all her years of practice she did not lose one mother or baby.
Hannah's husband Oliver passed away in February of 1907. She followed nine years later on February 2, 1913. Both are buried in Springville, Utah.