Elijah Abel was the first African-American elder and seventy in the Church of Latter Day Saints and one of the very few black members in the early history of the church to be given the priesthood. Some sources state that Abel was ordained an elder by Joseph Smith while other records indicate that he was ordained to the priesthood by Zebedee Coltrin. In 1839, Abel was made a member of the Nauvoo, Illinois Quorum of the Seventy—a high-ranking council within the church. In 1841, when Smith was arrested in Quincy, Illinois, Abel was among a group of seven elders who set out from Nauvoo to try to rescue him, but to no avail. In 1842, Abel worked as a carpenter in Cincinnati, working for John Price at the corner of 6th and Smith Streets, according to the Cincinnati city directory. He remained there for a number of years. At least two of Abel's descendants—his son Enoch and Enoch's son Elijah—were ordained to the priesthood of Latter Day Saints: 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 gravesite to memorialize him, his wife and his descendants. Though there are few facts known about Elijah Abel, for him to have achieved such status in the Mormon Church in the 18th Century is a bit mind-blowing considering the long-standing ban on blacks being admitted to the priesthood and non-white members in general. After Joseph Smith’s death, the ban was instituted and not lifted until 1978.