Elijah Abel, Black Mormon Elder before 1978

Elijah Abel -- a.k.a. Elijah Able -- (July 25, 1810 - December 25, 1884) was the first black Elder and Seventy in The Latter Day Saint movement, and one of the few black members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to receive the priesthood prior to 1978.

Abel was born in Maryland as a slave, and is believed to have escaped slavery on the Underground Railroad into Canada. His parents were Delilah and Andrew Able. He was baptized in September 1832 by Ezekiel Roberts, and he married Mary Ann Adams, another African American according to the 1850 Hamilton County Ohio census and 1860 Utah census.

He was ordained an Elder in March 1836 in Kirtland, Ohio, probably by Joseph Smith, Jr.. In December 1836. In June of 1836, Elijah Abel is listed as one of the Elders of the church in Kirtland.
(Messenger and Advocate, Vol. 2, No. 9)

Although Elijah held the priesthood and was respected, it was a delicate matter at this time. Apostle John E. Page maintained that while "he respects a coloured Bro, wisdom forbids that we should introduce [him] before the public." Apostle Orson Pratt then "sustained the position of Bro Page" on this question. Apostle Heber C. Kimball also expressed concern about this black priesthood holder's activities. In response, Elijah "said he had no disposition to force himself upon an equality with white people." Toward the end of the meeting, a resolution was adopted restricting Abel's activities. To conform with the established "duty of the 12 [Apostles] ... to ordain and send men to their native country Bro Abels [sic] was advised to visit the coloured population. The advice was sanctioned by the conference. Instructions were [p.131] then given him concerning his mission."
(See "Minutes of a conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held in Cincinnati, June 25, 1843," LDS Church Archives)

He served missions in New York and Canada. He was also made a member of the Nauvoo Seventies Quorum. In Nauvoo, he worked as a mortician, at the request of Joseph Smith. He was a carpenter by profession, and assisted in the construction of temples in Kirtland, Nauvoo, and Salt Lake City.

In 1841, when Joseph Smith was arrested in Quincy, Illinois, Elijah Abel was among a group of seven elders including Hosea Stout who set out from Nauvoo to try and rescue him, although by the time they reached Quincy, Smith had been taken back to Nauvoo:
"Sunday, 6.-News of my arrest having arrived in Nauvoo last night, and being circulate through the city, Hosea Stout, Tarleton Lewis, William A. Hickman, John S. Higbee, Elijah Able, Uriel C. Nickerson, and George W. Clyde started from the Nauvoo landing, in a skiff in order to overtake me and rescue me, if necessary. They had a heavy head wind, but arrived in Quincy at dusk; went up to Benjamin Jones's house, and found that I had gone to Nauvoo in charge of two officers."
(History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 365)

In 1847, he accompanied Brigham Young to Utah, where he managed the Farnham Hotel. As a carpenter, he assisted in constructing the Salt Lake Temple; however, in 1853 he was barred by Brigham Young from entering the temple to receive his own Endowment. He had already been through the Kirtland Temple for washings and anointings and he was already baptized for the dead in Nauvoo.
(See "Elijah Abel bapt for John F. Lancaster a friend," as contained in Nauvoo Temple Records Book A100, LDS Church Archives. Also see two other entries in this same record: "Delila Abel bapt in the instance of Elisha [sic] Abel. Rel son. Bapt 1840, Book A page l"and "Delila Abel Bapt. in the instance of Elijah Abel 1841, Rel. Dau. Book A page 5)

Brigham Young was very strict in his speech and dealings with colored people as evidenced by his following statements:
"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so."
(Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, page 110)

In Utah, Abel remained a Seventy.
(Minutes of the Seventies Journal, December 10, 1883)

In 1884 he served a final mission in Canada. He became ill and died two weeks after his return home to Utah. A detailed summary of Elijah Abel being ordained to the priesthood and his faithful service to the church was written by the Assistant Church Historian Andrew Jenson:
"ABEL, ELIJAH, the only colored man who is known to have been ordained to the Priesthood, was born July 25, 1810, in Maryland. Becoming a convert to 'Mormonism' he was baptized in September, 1832 by Ezekiel Roberts and, as appears from certificates, he was ordained and Elder March 3, 1836, and a Seventy April 4, 1841. An exception having been made in his case with regard to the general rule of the Church in relation to colored people. At Nauvoo, Illinois, where he resided, he followed the avocation of an undertaker. After his arrival in Salt Lake City he became a resident of the Tenth Ward. And together with his wife, he managed the Farham Hotel in Salt Lake City. In Nauvoo he was intimately acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith and later in life was the the especial friend of the late Levi W. Hancock. In 1883, as a member of the Third Quorum of Seventy, he left Salt Lake City on a mission to Canada, during which he also performed missionary labors in the United States. Two weeks after his return he died. Dec. 25, 1884, of debility, consequent upon exposure while laboring in the ministry in Ohio. He died in full faith of the gospel."
(L.D.S. Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, page 577)

"Elijah Abel, an early black convert, faithful pioneer, and missionary, was born 25 July 1810 in Frederick, Maryland. He was baptized during September 1832 by Ezekiel Roberts in Kirtland, Ohio, and ordained an elder on 3 March 1836. Zebedee Coltrin ordained Elijah a seventy in the third quorum on 20 December that same year.
Elijah Abel was a carpenter by trade, but in Nauvoo he served as the undertaker. He was a member of the Kirtland Safety Society, signing his name to the articles of agreement whereby the firm would be managed. In 1853 he and his wife arrived in Utah, where they managed the Farmham Hotel. In 1883 he served a mission to Canada. He died 25 December 1884 in Salt Lake City, just two weeks after his return from the mission field."
(Encyclopedia of Latter-Day Saint History)

Also in 1884 the Mormon newspaper Deseret News printed Elijah Abel's obituary:
"ABLE. -- In the 13th Ward, December 25th 1884, of old age and debility, consequent upon exposure while laboring in the ministry in Ohio, Elijah Able. Deceased was born in Washington County, Maryland, July 25, 1810; joined the Church and was ordained an Elder as appears by certificate dated March 3d, 1836; was subsequently ordained a Seventy as appears by certificate dated April 4, 1841; labored successfully in Canada and also performed a mission to the United States, from which he returned about two weeks ago. He died in full faith of the Gospel.
'Funeral at 16th Ward Assembly Rooms Saturday, Dec. 27th, at 10 a.m. Friends invited.'"
(Deseret News, Dec. 26, 1884)

In 2002, a monument was erected in Salt Lake City over his grave site to memorialize Abel and his wife. The monument was dedicated by LDS Apostle Elder M. Russell Ballard.