Elijah Abel, or Able or Ables (July 25, 1808– December 25, 1884) was one of the earliest African-American members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and was the church's first African-American elder and Seventy. Abel was predominantly of Scottish and English descent and appears to have been the first and one of the few black members in the early history of the church to have received the priesthood, later becoming the faith's first black missionary. Abel did not have his priesthood revoked when the LDS Church invoked a now-obsolete priesthood ban for black men, but was denied a chance to receive his temple endowment by third church president John Taylor. As a skilled carpenter, Abel often committed his services to the building of LDS temples and chapels. He di