Elijah Abel

There are some people who make their mark on history, and then they seem to fade off into the sunset without anyone ever getting to know much, if anything, about them or the contributions that they made. One such person in Latter-day Saint history is Brother Elijah Abel. If the question were asked, even of people who have been Church members all of their lives, “Who was Elijah Abel?”, it is a great probability that a majority of people would have no idea as to who he was or the significant role that he played in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

From Slavery to Baptism to Building Temples to Marriage

Elijah Abel was the first African-American Elder and Seventy during this dispensation. He was born on 25 July 1810 in Washington County, Maryland to Andrew and Delilah Abel. It is likely that his family were slaves. There is some historical evidence that he used the Underground Railroad to escape slavery into Canada.

He eventually found his way to the first settlement of the Latter-day Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, where he was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in September 1832 by Ezekiel Roberts. He also became a personal friend of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Elijah was skilled carpenter, and in 1841 he and others formed a partnership called "The House Carpenters of the Town of Nauvoo." He was blessed during his lifetime to assist in the construction of temples in Kirtland, Nauvoo, and Salt Lake City.

In 1842, in Cincinnati Ohio, Elijah married Mary Ann Adams and they had eight children.

Priesthood Ordination and Patriarchal Blessing

Elijah Abel was one of the few Black members in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to receive the Priesthood. He was the first Black member to be ordained an Elder. He was ordained on 3 March 1836 in Kirtland, Ohio by Zebedee Coltrin.

At the time of his ordination, he was given a Patriarchal Blessing by Church Patriarch Joseph Smith, Sr. The following is the text of Elijah Abel’s Patriarchal Blessing, pronounced by Joseph Smith, Sr., circa 1836:

Brother Able, in the name of Jesus Christ I lay my hands upon thy head to bless thee and thou shalt be blessed even forever. I seal upon thee a father’s blessing, because thou art an orphan, for thy father, hath never done his duty toward thee, but the Lord hast had his eye upon thee, and brought thee through straits and thou hast come to be rec[k]oned with the saints of the most High. Thou hast been ordained an Elder and anointed to secure thee against the power of the destroyer. Thou shalt see his power in laying waste the nations, & the wicked slaying the wicked, while blood shall run down the streets like water, and thy heart shall weep over their calamities. Angels shall visit thee and thou shalt receive comfort. They shall call thee blessed and deliver thee from thine enemies. They shall break thy bands and keep thee from afflictions. Thy name is written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Thou shalt travel in the East and visit foreign countries, speak in all various tongues, and thou shalt be able to teach different languages. Thou shall see visions of this world and other worlds and comprehend the laws of all kingdoms, and confound the wisdom of this generation. Thy life shall be preserved to a good old age. Thou must seek first the kingdom of heaven and all blessings shall be added thereunto. Thou shalt be made equal to thy brethren and thy soul be white in eternity and thy robes glittering: thou shalt receive these blessings because of the covenants of thy fathers. Thou shalt save thousands, do much good, and receive all the power that thou needest to accomplish thy mission. These and all the blessings which thou canst desire in righteousness, I seal upon thee, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

(W.A. Cowdery Assist. Recorder [emphasis added])

First Black Seventy and Missionary

Elijah was also the first Black Seventy. He was ordained a member of the Third Quorum of the Seventy on 20 December 1836 in Kirtland, Ohio by Zebedee Coltrin and became a "duly licensed minister of the Gospel" for missionary work in Ohio. His ordination was certified in Nauvoo, Illinois. In 1839, he was made a member of a Nauvoo Seventies Quorum. While living in Joseph Smith’s Nauvoo home, he was given “the calling of an undertaker” by the Prophet. In 1902 President Joseph F. Smith recalled a seventies meeting held in Utah on March 4, 1879:

Bro Elijah Able [sic] gave an outline of his history and experiences during a period of forty years. Of his being in Kirtland. Of his appointment an[d] ordination as a Seventy, and a member of the 3rd Quorum. He related some of the saying[s] of the prophet Joseph who told him that those who were called to the Melchisadec [sic] Priesthood and had magnified that calling would be sealed up unto eternal life.

Elijah was also the first Black missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Listed as a “minister of the gospel” in an 1837 edition of Messenger and Advocate, he served missions to Canada and New York in 1838, and another mission to Ohio shortly before his death.

His Canadian mission provoked concerns at a seventies conference in Quincy, Illinois, where Jedediah M. Grant “communicated to the council a short history of the conduct of Elder Elijah Abel, and some of his teachings etc. such as … that in addition to threatening to knock down Elder Christopher Merkley on their passage up Lake Ontario, he publicly declared that the Elders in Kirtland made nothing of knocking down one another.

In 1841, when Smith was arrested in Quincy, Illinois, Abel was among a group of seven elders who set out from Nauvoo to try and rescue him, although by the time they reached Quincy, Smith had been taken back to Nauvoo.

In 1843, Abel’s desire to engage in missionary work in Cincinnati, Ohio, presented special difficulties for a traveling high council comprised of Apostles John E. Page, Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, and Lorenzo Snow. Despite their respect for “a coloured Bro.,” the brethren felt “wisdom forbids that we should introduce [him] before the public … [but] Bro Abels [sic] was advised to visit the coloured population.

Life in the Salt Lake Valley

In 1853 Elijah and his family migrated in the Appleton Harmon pioneer company to Utah Territory. After arriving in the Salt Lake Valley with his family, he worked at many trades, including managing the Salt Lake Farnham Hotel. He also performed minstrel shows with his family while living in Ogden.

In Utah, Abel remained a seventy, and in 1884 he served a final mission in Canada, during which he became ill. He died upon his return home to Utah Territory.

At least two of Abel's descendants — his son Enoch and Enoch's son Elijah — were ordained to the priesthood: Enoch was ordained an elder on November 27, 1900; and Elijah was ordained an elder on September 29, 1935.

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

References

• "Elijah Abel and the Changing Status of Blacks Within Mormonism", 12(2) Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 22-36.

External links

• Elijah Abel at BlackLDS web site.
• Account of Abel's mission activities