Elijah Abel was a skilled carpenter who helped build the Kirtland LDS Temple.

Abel was born in Washington County, Maryland, to Andrew and Delilah Abel, likely in bondage.

It is certain that he eventually found his way to the first settlement of the Latter-day Saints, Kirtland, Ohio, where he was baptized into the new religion in 1832.

Abel moved to Cincinnati, Ohio around 1842, where he married Mary Ann Adams.

Abel died in 1884.