Abel Evan's History

Abel Evans

COURAGEOUS ELDER

Based on the book,

Indefatigable Veteran—History and Biography of Abel Evans,

A Welsh Mormon Elder,

written by Ronald D. Dennis,

Rhydybont Press, Provo, Utah 1994

Samuel and Anne Evans were newlywed and poor. They lived in a

laborer’s cottage and worked on a farm in Wales called Hedgehog Castle.

On June 17, 1812, Anne gave birth to their first child, a baby boy. Although

Samuel and Anne had been forced by the laws of England to be married in

the Church of England (also known as the Anglican Church), they were

allowed to choose the church in which their son would be named and

christened. Most parents took their infant children to the local vicar of the

Anglican Church, but Abel’s parents were members of a group called the

Independents. The Independents were “nonconformists” who were fiercely

opposed to many of the Anglican Church’s beliefs. They strongly

encouraged their members to study the Bible and think for themselves.

Farmhouse at Hedgehog Castle

Samuel and Anne took their newborn son to the Independent Chapel

for christening and named him Abel.

Abel grew up as a farm boy, but his family moved to Merthyr Tydfil,

a industrial mining town, by the time he was a teenager. As he grew and

became a man, he probably began working in the mines where cave-ins and

explosions were a constant danger. During winter months, the miners spent

six days a week in the mines and only saw daylight on Sundays. Abel

attended church on Sundays at the Independents’ Bethesda Chapel. He was

well-respected and was asked to serve as a deacon in the Sunday School.

Independent Chapel at Llanboidy

Bethesda Independents Chapel in Merthyr Tydfil

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Abel’s 32nd year of life was one of change. His Mother died of

pulmonary tuberculosis and, within a few weeks, Abel first met the Mormon

missionaries.

Missionary work began in Wales in 1840, when Brigham Young and

Heber C. Kimball were serving missions in the British Isles. Because of the

positive reception they had received in Wales and their love for the people,

the Church leaders sent other missionaries. In 1843, Lorenzo Snow called

William Henshaw, an English convert who had married a Welsh woman, to

establish his family and preach the gospel in Merthyr Tydfil. By the end of

1843, he had baptized nearly eighty converts.

Many negative stories were circulated about the Mormons. A Baptist

reverend in the area wrote:

The foolish and madmen who call themselves

‘Latter-day Saints’ have arrived . . ..

I did not think there were men so stupid in Wales

to believe such a heap of nonsense and

presumption.

I’m sorry to say that a number of the dregs of

society are now believers. They are baptized at

night, and those receiving baptism must undress

for them and go to the water stark naked.

The Independents took a different approach to the Mormons. They

challenged the Mormon missionaries to two debates, the first on the topic of

miracles and the second on baptism. The Independents believed that

miracles such as healings had ceased at the time of Christ and that the proper

method of baptism was by sprinkling. The Independents selected Abel

Evans, rather than their minister, to represent them in the debates. After the

first debate, it was reported that Abel Evans, “an intelligent and gifted young

man,” “a warrior from his youth,” had “appeared victorious in the eyes of

the public. His brethren were extremely proud to have such a young man of

hope in their midst.” During the second debate, Abel Evans, the hero of the

first debate, fell silent. Abel listened to the missionaries he was supposed to

be debating. He was persuaded and his heart was touched. He knew the

message was true, and he had the integrity and courage to follow his new

convictions. After the debate, Abel went with the missionaries to the river

and was baptized.

The Independents were shocked. It was reported that Abel’s father, Samuel

Evans, was greatly distressed: “His lament the next night at the meeting at

Bethesda [Chapel] was extraordinary, and all he could do was wonder and

ponder as to what had bewitched his son.” Samuel Evans soon found out.

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Only four days after Abel’s baptism, Samuel Evans and another of his sons

were baptized, with other family members soon to follow.

For the next six years, Abel Evans served as a missionary in Wales,

preaching the gospel, administering to the sick, casting out devils, suffering

persecution, baptizing many new converts and strengthening the Church.

Although Church records from this period are incomplete, it was reported

that Abel baptized over two thousand souls during his first mission.

At one conference of the Church, individuals possessed of devils were

disrupting the proceedings. The presiding officer commanded evil spirits to

depart and the audience responded with such such powerful “Amens” that

the neighbors thought it had thundered. Although this sent most of the

devils packing, two women who were more stubbornly possessed continued

to be disruptive. The presiding officer closed the meeting, called the elders

together, including Abel Evans, to deal with them. The women, who had

been frequently possessed elsewhere and were living in sin, were biting,

kicking and swearing most awfully. When the women were

excommunicated, they laughed and derided, saying that was what they

wanted. Once the evil spirits were cast out, however, the women dressed

their upper garments which they had previously torn off themselves and

went home without further disruption, weeping bitterly when they learned

they had been excommunicated.

Although Abel had, before his baptism, argued that miracles had ceased, he

became known as one whose priesthood blessings had miraculous force.

Through Abel, the Lord healed many believers of various maladies,

including several cases of cancer and cholera. In one instance, Abel

administered to a sister suffering from a cancer that had terribly eaten away

her face and nose and bored holes in her jaws. The smell of the cancer was

so horrible that no one would stay in the house with her. Following a

priesthood anointing and blessing, the cancer was killed and her face began

to heal. Eventually, she grew new flesh and skin and a new nose.

In a small town on the Isle of Anglesey, the town crier—whose job it was to

make public announcements in a loud voice throughout the town—refused

to announce the sermon Abel Evans would be preaching that evening. Abel

learned that it was the local Methodist minister who was imposing this

restriction. In a letter describing the situation and his response, Abel said:

[The town crier] was free to announce dogs and

swine, fairs and games—in short, everything

except for a preacher of the Saints. Then I had to

take the honor to myself of announcing throughout

the town in his place; and together with

announcing the sermon I was obliged to announce

to the public why I was taking the job of the

restricted crier in question. And the people

testified that I filled his office much better than he.

I don’t intend ever to try to obtain his services

again, rather I shall announce myself. And

perhaps if the crier is not able to escape from the

Methodist clutches of his minister, everyone in

[town] will begin to announce himself also. After

the trouble I took and the threats I received, an

excellent meeting was held, and many testified that

they believed on the sayings that cause some to

begin in Christ.

In late 1849, Abel was notified that church leaders in Council Bluffs, Iowa

(where there was a large company of Welsh Saints), were requesting him to

cross the Atlantic with the next company. Abel began preparations

immediately, and about three months later he boarded the Josiah Bradlee, a

sailing vessel the Church had chartered to take 263 emigrating Saints from

Liverpool to New Orleans.

Abel kept a journal of the crossing.

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The following are some of the excerpts from Abel's Journal:

Feb 19 Harsh wind and almost all the Saints sick. Wm Rees and

myself watching over them day and night.

Feb 20 Everyone very sick except for two, Jones and myself. We

were carrying the pots out and tending to them.

Feb 24 Today we saw a fish half the length of the ship. It was about

thirty yards long!! This sunday I married Lewis Davis

and Sarah Rodgers on board ship.

March 1 The wind very contrary. The elders agreed to pray for a

favorable wind.

March 2 Strong favorable wind driving us along quickly.

March 10 Strong rain. Pouring rather like floodwaters. John Carver

and Mary Ann Eames are married.

March 27 The daughter of Hannah Hughes from Llanelli dies at six in

the morning. She was cast into the sea before seven. She

went from our sight before sinking.

Other passengers kept journals or recorded memories of the voyage. The

leader of the Saints, Thomas Day, recorded what happened when one of the

brethren was involved in two activities at once:

To Day A Church meeting was held upon deck.

James Needham Cought a Fish weighing 10 lbs,

while we was Administering the Sacrament And

drew away many of the Saints which caused

confusion.

Another passenger reported the following healing:

[A] little boy . . . fell through the hatchway of the

vessel, alighting upon his head on the ring an bolt

of the lower hatchway. When he was picked up it

was found that the force of the fall had driven the

iron upon which he struck into his head, and within

a minute afterwards the injured palce puffed up

like a distended bladder. Of course, he was

knocked insensible and apparently lifeless, but

Brother Evans and one or two other Elders

immediately administered to him, and while their

hands were upon his head the swelling entirely

disappeared and he was restored to consciousness

and to health.

Another passenger reported that when a severe epidemic of fever broke out,

threatening the destruction of many on board, Abel Evans felt that their only

hope was securing the favor of the Almighty, and determined to muster all

the faith he could in appealing to the Lord.

He called together four Elders of experience who

were on board, and asked them to retire with him

to the hold of the vessel and unite in prayer. They

did so again and again without any apparent good

result, and Brother Evans marveled at the cause. It

was such an unusual thing for him to fail to have

his prayers answered, that he was surprised that is

should be so that instance, and he could only

account for it by lack of union or worthiness on the

part of the Elders. He therefore called the four

Elders again to retire with him to the hold of the

ship, and took with him a basin of clean water.

When they had reached a scheduled place where

they were not likely to be overheard or distrubed

by others, he talked to the Elders about the

necessity of being united in faith and clear of sin

before God if they desired to call upon Him and

receive a blessing. “ Now,” he said, “I want each

of you Elders, who feels that his conscience is

clear before God, who has committed no sin to

debar him from the enjoyment of the Holy Spirit,

who has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ sufficient to

call upon the Almighty in His name and claim the

desired blessing, to wash his hands in the basin!”

Three of the Elders stepped forward and did so; the

fourth could not—his conscience smote him. He

was therefore asked kindly to retire, and the four

others joined in earnest prayer before the Lord and

rebuked the disease by which the people were

afllicted. The result was that the epidemic ceased

its ravages and the sick recovered from that very

hour, much to the surprise of the ship’s officers

and others on board who knew nothing of the

power by which such a happy result was

accomplished.

Not only was Abel busy with his priesthood duties as an Elder and as 1st

Counselor to Thomas Day, he was also busy romancing a lovely 21-year-old

woman named Mary Jones. Mary was the only member of her family to

convert to Mormonism.

One evening, when Mary was about seventeen years old, Mary was tending

the children of a family that was investigating the Church. Mary was in the

loft with the children where she could not be seen, but she was listening

intently to the missionaries’ words. After one of the missionaries spoke in

tongues, the other interpreted, saying that there was someone listening to

them that night whom they could neither see nor hear. This person, he

continued, would join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and

continue faithful throughout her life. Mary believed the missionary was

talking about her, and four years later she was baptized. As she was

preparing to leave for Zion, Mary asked her mother for a lock of hair to

remember her by. But her mother replied, “No, if you have got to go to

destruction you’re not taking my hair with you.” Leaving her family, she

boarded the Josiah Bradlee, but would soon start a new family with Abel

Evans.

Abel and Mary were probably married in St. Louis, after which they boarded

the steamer that took them to Council Bluffs. They remained in Council

Bluffs for two years with Abel serving as an assistant to the bishop of the

Welsh branch and as a high councilor. A little over nine months after their

marriage, Mary gave birth to a beautiful baby daughter, but she lived only

ten months. In 1852, the Evans family crossed the plains with the Welsh

Company. Upon approaching the Salt Lake Valley, the Welsh members

already living in the valley, sent a welcome wagon with a load of fruits such

as watermelons, mushmelons, potatoes, pickle cucumbers, grapes, and other

treats they had not tasted all summer.

Abel and Mary settled in Lehi, Utah where the family grew with the birth of

more children and the addition of plural wives, Martha Morgan and Jane

Davis. In all, Abel fathered 15 children. Over the years, Abel became an

American citizen and served as a counselor in the bishopric, a member of the

city council and city marshall.

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In April of 1865, Abel attended general conference. His name was

announced as one who was called to serve a mission. He answered the call,

leaving his family behind, and returned to Wales to preach the gospel. In

January of 1866, President Brigham Young called Abel to serve as District

President.

Abel served faithfully for as long as his health would permit. In April, Abel

contracted an illness from standing guard in all night long in poor weather

while Saints were boarding a ship in Liverpool. He continued to serve in his

demanding role, continued to travel and preach, suffering further exposures,

until he was too weak to stand. He would neither complain nor allow others

to speak of his illness while he was on the Lord’s errand.

Abel Evans died on November 30, 1866, in the service of God. His

tombstone in the cemetery at Merthyr Tydfil reads:

“Whoso loseth his life for my sake and the gospel shall find it again.”