Able, Enoch
Biography
Enoch Able was the second child born to Mary Ann Adams and Elijah Able. His father is the most well documented black priesthood holder in the nineteenth-century history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but that status did not seem to afford Enoch any special standing in frontier Utah. Surviving records point to a life on the economic margins for Enoch and an early death at age 49 from pneumonia just like his mother Mary Ann.
Enoch was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1851, two years before his family migrated to Utah in the Appleton M. Harmon Company.[1] Once in Utah the family moved frequently, likely in search of financial stability—a search which Enoch continued into adulthood. Enoch’s family lived in the Salt Lake 19th ward when they arrived in Utah and then moved to Mill Creek by 1857. It was there that Enoch’s older brother Moroni was baptized and possibly Enoch too although a baptismal record has not been found.[2] Enoch would have been old enough for baptism by 1860 when the census taker found the family in the Salt Lake City 13th civil ward.[3] There is no evidence however of the family in the Salt Lake City 13th Latter-day Saint ward. By 1862 tax assessment rolls place the Ables in the tenth ward were LDS records substantiate that fact as they chronicle the birth and blessing of two of Enoch’s sisters.[4] By 1870 the family had moved to Ogden but were back in Salt Lake City by 1877.[5] The 1880 Census listed Enoch again in the 13th civil ward, this time living with his sister Annie and her husband John Burns as well as with his brother Elijah Jr.[6]
Enoch struggled to find a firm financial footing for himself and later for his family. As a teenager Enoch sometimes resorted to extralegal means to try to make money. In 1867, when he was almost sixteen years old a Salt Lake judge fined him twenty-five dollars for attempting to sell a pair of singletrees (the bar at the center of the hitch on a wagon) which did not belong to him.[7] The following year, at age 17, a judge fined Enoch and his brother Moroni five dollars for public drunkenness and a year later he was arrested on charges of stealing ten sheep.[8] Enoch pled guilty to the stealing charge and continued to have minor brushes with the law up through 1895.[9]
While Enoch’s occupation shifted over time he was consistently understood to be mulatto or black throughout his life. News accounts about Enoch sometimes mentioned his race but always in racially disparaging ways. “Colored individual,” “Cullud gemman,” “‘cullud’ gentlemen,” and “cullud row” were all ways in which newspapers referred to Enoch and his associates in the 19th century.[10] Census takers listed Enoch’s race as mulatto in 1860, 1870, and 1880 but in 1900 the enumerator described him as “black.” In 1880 Enoch worked as a miner while in 1900 the census listed his occupation as farmer.[11] Just one year later the Logan death registry described Enoch as a butcher and his race as “partly white.”[12]
In 1883 Enoch married Mary Jordi a French speaking Swiss born immigrant. It was an interracial marriage which was legal in Utah at the time given that the territorial legislature did not outlaw marriages between white and black people until 1888.[13] In 1884 Mary and Enoch lived in the Big Cottonwood LDS ward where their first daughter Emma was born and blessed.[14] The couple’s next daughter Florentine was born in 1886 and blessed in the Logan LDS 5th Ward where Enoch would spend the rest of his life. Florence, as his daughter came to be called, was later baptized in Logan, as were her siblings Emma and Nora.[15] In total the couple had at least seven children together.[16] Mary Jordi Able gave birth to an eighth child, Johnnie Able, in December 1902 according to surviving sources. Johnnie’s death certificate lists his father as Enoch Able, an impossibility given that Enoch passed away on 22 February 1901. It is possible that Johnnie’s birth year was mis-recorded as 1902 and he was instead born in 1901. Otherwise Enoch was not his father.[17]
Even though no baptismal date for Enoch has been found, there is ancillary evidence of his LDS affiliation in most of the locations where Enoch lived. The most solid evidence is an undated Logan LDS 5th ward census which listed Enoch as head of household with two baptized members in the family and five children.[18] Presumably the two people listed as members were Enoch and his wife Mary. The couple’s children were blessed in the wards in which Enoch lived and several were baptized too, which offers additional circumstantial evidence of Enoch’s LDS affiliation.
In 1965, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, the founders of Utah Lighthouse Ministry, went beyond LDS membership to suggest that Enoch was ordained to the priesthood. They published the claim without citation or corroborating evidence in a booklet, Joseph Smith’s Curse upon the Negro, in which they declared that Enoch was ordained an elder on 10 November 1900 by John Q. Adams in the Logan 5th Ward.[19] The inclusion of a specific date, ward, and name added an air of certainty to the claim. Enoch did live in the Logan 5th Ward as did a man by the name of John Quincy Adams but there is no record of a priesthood ordination in the elders’ quorum record book. Elders’ quorum minutes for the 5th ward sometimes did include the names of people ordained to the priesthood but Enoch is not among them. While John Q. Adams does appear on the rolls of the Logan 5th Ward elders’ quorum, Enoch does not. Moreover, there was no quorum meeting that took place on 10 November 1900 in the Logan 5th Ward.[20] It is possible that Adams did ordain Able to the priesthood on that date but until additional evidence comes to light, Century of Black Mormons does not count Enoch as a priesthood holder.
Enoch passed away of pneumonia in 1901 and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Logan cemetery.[21] In reporting his death the Logan Journal called Enoch “a colored resident of the Fifth ward” and noted that he “left a wife and large family in destitute circumstances.”[22] By October of that year the Logan Nation indicated that Enoch’s widow Mary was “indigent” and the County Court allowed her $7.50 in public aid.[23] By 1908 Mary was included on the County Commissioners’ “poor list” but the commission reduced her monthly aid to $3.00.[24] In 1916 the Logan 5th Ward Relief Society granted $5.30 in contributions to Mary to assist in what must have been an ongoing struggle to provide for her family as a single parent.[25] Mary passed away in 1937.[26]
By W. Paul Reeve
Primary Sources
“A Cullud Row.” Salt Lake Herald. 9 May 1882, 8.
Appleton M. Harmon Company. Report, 1853. CR 1234 5, box 1, folder 29, item 2. Church History Library. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Record of Members Collection. Big Cottonwood Ward. Microfilm 26763. Family History Library. Salt Lake City, Utah.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Record of Members Collection. Logan 5th Ward. CR 375 8, box 3748, folder 1, image 124-125, 154-155, 176-177. Church History Library. Salt Lake City, Utah.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Record of Members Collection. Mill Creek Ward. CR 375 8, box 4200, folder 1, image 64. Church History Library. Salt Lake City, Utah.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Record of Members Collection. Salt Lake Stake, 19th Ward. CR 375 8, box 4709, folder 1, image 76. Church History Library. Salt Lake City, Utah.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Record of Members Collection. Salt Lake Tenth Ward. CR 375 8, box 6918, folder 1, image 124. Church History Library. Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Commissioners Proceedings.” Logan Republican (Logan, Utah). 4 January 1908, 8.
“District Court.” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah). 6 October 1869, 2.
“District Court.” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah). 7 October 1869, 2.
“Enoch Able.” Salt Lake Herald. 15 June 1880, 3.
“Enoch Abel.” Salt Lake Tribune. 22 April 1895, 1.
“Enoch Abel.” The Journal (Logan, Utah). 20 April 1895, 2.
“Johnnie Ables.” Salt Lake Telegram. 20 July 1935, 14.
“Local Briefs.” Logan Nation (Logan, Utah). 5 October 1901, 8.
“Local Points.” The Journal (Logan, Utah). 9 April 1895, 8.
“Local Points.” The Journal (Logan, Utah). 11 April 1895, 8.
“Local Points.” The Journal (Logan, Utah). 23 February 1901, 8.
Logan 5th Ward. Elders Quorum. Record Book. LR 1280 13. Microfilm, Reel 13. Church History Library. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah.
Logan 5th Ward. Relief Society. Record Book. LR 4967 14. Church History Library. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Police.” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City, Utah). 26 December 1868, 3.
“Police Matters.” Daily Union Vedette (Camp Douglas, Utah). 26 March 1867, 3.
Salt Lake County. 1862 Tax Assessment. Series 18188. Reel 3, p.1. Elijah Able. Utah State Archives. Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Third District Court.” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah). 6 October 1869, 1.
United States. 1860 Census. Utah Territory. Salt Lake County. Salt Lake City. 13th Ward.
United States. 1870 Census. Utah Territory. Weber County. Ogden.
United States. 1880 Census. Utah Territory. Salt Lake County. Salt Lake City. 13th Ward.
United States. 1900 Census. Utah Territory. Cache County. Logan 5th Ward.
Utah. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Utah Death Index, 1847-1966. Enoch Able. State Archives and Records Service. Salt Lake City, Utah.
Utah. State Board of Health. Certificate of Death. File No. 145. Registered No. 108. Johnnie Ables. Utah State Archives. Salt Lake City, Utah.
Utah. State Board of Health. Certificate of Death. File No. 1590. Registered No. 1650. Marie Ables. Utah State Archives. Salt Lake City, Utah.
Secondary Sources
Able, Enoch. FindAGrave.
Mason, Patrick Q. “The Prohibition of Interracial Marriage in Utah, 1888-1963.” Utah Historical Quarterly 76 (Spring 2008): 108-131.
Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, database. Enoch Able. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Tanner, Jerald and Sandra. Joseph Smith’s Curse upon the Negro. Salt Lake City, Utah: Modern Microfilm Co., 1965.
[1] Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, database, Enoch Able, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Appleton M. Harmon Company report, 1853, CR 1234 5, box 1, folder 29, item 2, Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Although some sources suggest that Enoch was born in 1852, I have favored the earliest sources in listing his birth year as 1851. The 1853 Harmon Company report lists Enoch’s age as 2 at the time of his migration to Utah and his younger sister Rebecca Ann’s age as eight months, an impossible chronology if Enoch were born in 1852. Also the earliest census record, taken in July 1860, listed Enoch's age as eight, meaning he would turn nine in September 1860, another indication he was born in 1851. It is only later census records which seem to indicate a birth year of 1852 .
[2] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Salt Lake Stake, 19th Ward, CR 375 8, box 4709, folder 1, image 76; Record of Members Collection, Mill Creek Ward, CR 375 8, box 4200, folder 1, image 64; Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
[3] United States, 1860 Census, Utah Territory, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, 13th Ward.
[4] Salt Lake County, 1862 Tax Assessment, Series 18188, Reel 3, p.1, Elijah Able, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Salt Lake Tenth Ward, CR 375 8, box 6918, folder 1, image 124, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
[5] United States, 1870 Census, Utah Territory, Weber County, Ogden; Mary Ann Adams Able died in 1877 in the Salt Lake City 13th Ward. See “Died,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City, Utah), 28 November 1877, 2.
[6] United States, 1880 Census, Utah Territory, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, 13th Ward.
[7] “Police Matters,” Daily Union Vedette (Camp Douglas, Utah), 26 March 1867, 3.
[8] “Police,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City, Utah), 26 December 1868, 3; “Third District Court,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), 6 October 1869, 1.
[9] “District Court,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), 6 October 1869, 2; “District Court,” Deseret News, 7 October 1869, 2; “Enoch Able,” Salt Lake Herald, 15 June 1880, 3; “A Cullud Row,” Salt Lake Herald, 9 May 1882, 8; “Local Points,” The Journal (Logan, Utah), 9 April 1895, 8; “Local Points,” The Journal (Logan, Utah), 11 April 1895, 8; “Enoch Abel,” The Journal (Logan, Utah), 20 April 1895, 2; “Enoch Abel,” Salt Lake Tribune, 22 April 1895, 1.
[10] “Police Matters,” 26 March 1867, 3; “Local Points,” 9 April 1895, 8; “A Cullud Row,” 9 May 1882, 8.
[11] United States, 1860 Census, Utah Territory, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, 13th Ward; United States, 1870 Census, Utah Territory, Weber County, Ogden; United States, 1880 Census, Utah Territory, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, 13th Ward; United States, 1900 Census, Utah Territory, Cache County, Logan 5th Ward.
[12] Utah, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Utah Death Index, 1847-1966, Enoch Able, State Archives and Records Service, Salt Lake City, Utah.
[13] On evidence for an 1883 marriage see Enoch and Mary Jordi Able in United States, 1900 Census, Utah Territory, Cache County, Logan 5th Ward; on Utah’s anti-miscegenation law see Patrick Q. Mason, “The Prohibition of Interracial Marriage in Utah, 1888-1963,” Utah Historical Quarterly 76 (Spring 2008): 108-131. The “Act in Relation to Service,” passed by the Utah territorial legislature in 1852 prohibited sex between black and white people but the U.S. Congress outlawed slavery in the territories in 1862, a law that likely nullified the entirety of the servant code passed in 1852.
[14] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Big Cottonwood Ward, microfilm 26763, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
[15] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Logan 5th Ward, CR 375 8, box 3748, folder 1, image 124-125, 176-177, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
[16] United States, 1900 Census, Utah Territory, Cache County, Logan 5th Ward.
[17] Utah, State Board of Health, Certificate of Death, File No. 145, Registered No. 108, Johnnie Ables, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah; see also “Johnnie Ables,” Salt Lake Telegram, 20 July 1935, 14.
[18] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Logan 5th Ward, CR 375 8, box 3748, folder 1, image 154-155, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
[19] Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith’s Curse upon the Negro (Salt Lake City, Utah: Modern Microfilm Co., 1965), 8.
[20] Logan 5th Ward, Elders Quorum, Record Book, LR 1280 13, Microfilm, Reel 13, Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.
[21] Enoch Able, FindAGrave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/101761124/enoch-able; Utah, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Utah Death Index, 1847-1966, Enoch Able, State Archives and Records Service, Salt Lake City, Utah.
[22] “Local Points,” The Journal (Logan, Utah), 23 February 1901, 8.
[23] “Local Briefs,” Logan Nation (Logan, Utah), 5 October 1901, 8.
[24] “Commissioners Proceedings,” Logan Republican (Logan, Utah), 4 January 1908, 8.
[25] Logan 5th Ward, Relief Society, Record Book, LR 4967 14, pp. 13, 16, 29, Church History Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.
[26] Utah, State Board of Health, Certificate of Death, File No. 1590, Registered No. 1650, Marie Ables, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.
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