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Elijah Abel, or Able (July 25, 1808 – December 25, 1884) was one of the earliest African-American members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is considered by many to have been the first African-American elder and seventy in the Latter Day Saint movement. Abel, although predominantly of Scotch and English descent, appears by his African heritage to have been the first and one of the few black members in the early history of the church to have received the priesthood. And it was his distinction to be the faith's first missionary to have descended in part through African bloodline. But in 1849, Brigham Young declared all African-Americans ineligible to hold the priesthood and Abel's claim to priesthood right was also challenged. As a skilled carpenter, Abel often committed his services to the furthering of the work and to the building of LDS temples. He died in 1884, shortly after serving a final mission for the church (in his lifetime he officially served three) to Cincinnati, Ohio.

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Born	25 July 1808 Frederick, Maryland
Died	25 December 1885 (aged 77)
Zodiac	Leo
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