Lee contests legitimacy of Able's ordination.
Harold B. Lee, "Doing the Right Things for the Right Reasons," BYU Devotional Address, April 19, 1961,accessed April 26, 2021
Some are heralding the fact that there was one Negro, Elijah Abel, who was ordained a Seventy by, in the early days. And they'll go to the Church chronology and find out the date of this ordination, and therefore hold that up as saying where we've departed from what was started a-way back, but they forget that also in Church history is this interesting observation. In this connection, President Joseph F. Smith referred to Elijah Abel who was ordained a Seventy in the days of the Prophet Joseph to whom was issued a Seventy’s certificate. But this ordination, when found out, was declared null and void by the Prophet himself and somehow a little lapse, or a little failure to research properly, they had reached a conclusion that they wanted to reach to make it appear as though something had been done a-way back that we've departed from and therefore ought to be set in order. Prophet Joseph Smith says. . . that person who rises up to condemn the church, saying the church is out of the way but he while he himself is righteous then know surely that that man is on the road to apostasy unless he will repent he will apostatize as surely as God lives. [19:18-20:46]