Susan Stephens (maiden name: Hodnett) was born on January 15, 1839, in Georgia to William Collier Hodnett and Caroline Finley. His father was a farmer who owned $6,000 of real estate and $8,000 of personal property. The family lived in Troup County, Georgia, and she attended school there. She married William Anderson Stephens in Troup County on April 10, 1860, and they had at least two children: William, born around 1861; and Mary, born around 1862. Her husband served in the Confederate army and died of disease in Johnson’s Island prison camp. Susan remained in Troup County after the war, and by 1870, she owned $3,500 of real estate and $570 of personal property. By 1900, she was living in her daughter Mary’s household in Troup County. She died on January 3, 1905.