Abel Evans
Abel Evans is noted in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as “an indefatigable veteran” (Millennial Star 11:40). Since his baptism into the Church in 1844, “he had labored as a missionary for his new religion in an effort to bring his fellow countrymen to a knowledge of the true gospel of Jesus Christ as he had come to understand it. His first converts came just four days after his own conversion—his father, a sister, and two brothers.”[1] He traveled throughout South and North Wales to teachand many people accepted the gospel.
He was the second person baptized in Wales. In 1849, he was selected to serve as first counselor in the presidency in Wales. [2]
Evans was born on June 24, 1812, at Carmarthenshire, South Wales. He lived on a farm until he was about nine years old when the family moved to the industrial town Merthyr Tydfil where he spent time in his boyhood and youth working in the Welsh coal mines.
When the Latter-day Saint missionaries came to Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, Abel Evans was picked by the local nonconformists to debate them. By the end of the second debate, he found he couldn’t sustain the nonconformists’ arguments. He was baptized that day.[3]
He immigrated to America in 1850 and married for the first time when he landed in America. He had met Mary Jones onboard. In 1852 they crossed the plains with ox teams and settled in Lehi, Utah. He held a number of civil offices, including marshal of Lehi.[4]
In 1865, he returned to Wales as a missionary. Sleeping in a damp bed for eighteen months caused him to develop a bad cough. He worked until he died on November 30, 1866. He is buried in the Cefn Coed cemetery in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.
He had two other wives beside Mary Jones: Martha Morgan and Jane Davis. He was the father of sixteen children.
