Biography

Nina Viola Stevenson Howell was the first wife of one of the better-known Black Mormons of the twentieth century, Abner Leonard Howell. She was born and raised in Michigan and met Abner during the time he studied law and played football at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. After their marriage, Nina relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah with Abner, bringing their first two children with them. Nina lived the rest of her life in Salt Lake as a Latter-day Saint after she and Abner joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1921. As an older man, Abner sometimes spoke to Church groups about his perspective as a Black Mormon. By that time Nina had died and Abner had married Martha Ann Stevens, a woman whose family had a long history in the Church. He often mentioned his second wife’s heritage and even served an unofficial mission with her, but he left no record of his life with Nina. Even so, their forty-one yearlong marriage included relocating from Michigan to Utah, devoting themselves to a new religion, having six children, two of whom died as youngsters, and establishing a home together. Nina was the wife of his youth and the mother of his children. She is now the matriarch of their numerous posterity.

Nina Viola Stevenson was born on January 17, 1882 in Milan Washtenaw, Michigan to Joseph Henry and Mary E. Wilson Stephenson.[1] On her father’s side, her family traces their descent from Henry Stephenson, a man born into slavery in Missouri, but who, in the course of his long life escaped to Ontario, Canada with abolitionists.[2] Nina’s father, Joseph, Henry Stephenson’s son, was born in Canada, as was Nina’s mother, Mary. She and Joseph immigrated to the United States in 1881 and married two years later. They settled in the Detroit area where Joseph worked as a general laborer.[3]

The Stevensons had three daughters; Nina was the oldest. She attended four years of high school in Michigan, which gave her a more extensive education than her father had. He was not able to read or write. In 1904, Nina met Abner Leonard Howell, a young man studying law at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Abner, who was born in Louisiana, spent most of his youth in Salt Lake City, Utah where his parents and sisters settled after a long journey westward from Mansfield, Louisiana. Abner was an excellent athlete and combined his law studies with playing football for the Michigan Wolverines. Nina and Abner married on August 30, 1904 in Detroit, Michigan.[4]

The couple had their first child, a baby boy, Jay Marshall Howell, on November 26, 1904. Abner tried to keep up with his studies while supporting a wife and child, but it proved to be too much, so he left the university and worked as a waiter and later as a bricklayer. Nina gave birth to their second child on November 14, 1905, this time a daughter, Gay June (Abbie) Howell, just a year after Jay was born. The Howells stayed in Michigan until 1909, the same year Nina’s mother died.

Nina, Abner, Jay, and Abbie moved to Salt Lake City by 1910.[5] Abner had spent much of his boyhood in Utah and members of his family still lived there, including his mother. As a result Nina and Abner’s young family had familial support in Utah. However, Nina left her father and sisters behind in Michigan and had to make a life for herself and her family in a place completely unfamiliar to her.[6] Abner’s close ties to many Salt Lakers likely helped to mitigate her isolation and provided her with a community. On November 2, 1910, Nina gave birth to Lucille Mary Howell, so she would have been very busy with three young children.

The Howells first lived in the northern most part of the city, in a neighborhood called “Swedetown.” They had three more children while living there: Paul Cecil, born in 1912; Edna Viola, born 1915; and Floyd Leonard, born 1917. Their home was located within the boundaries of the 23^rd Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Neither Abner nor Nina were members, but Abner was well acquainted with many Mormons and was sympathetic to the Church’s teachings. It was in this ward that the Howells’ eldest son and daughter were baptized and confirmed as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both Jay and Abbie joined the Church in 1915.[7]

By 1920, the Howells had moved south to the area of Holladay below the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains where they raised sheep and cultivated a small farm.[8] Glen Robert, their youngest son was born in 1920 and their youngest daughter, Mary Juanita followed in 1922.

Nina and Abner’s son, Paul Cecil, suffered from kidney disease, as Nina’s mother had, and died of uremia at the age of eight.[9] His death may have been the catalyst that finally lead to Abner’s baptism into the Church. He later said he had grown up thinking like a Latter-day Saint, despite not being a baptized member. In any case, Nina joined him in requesting baptism. Elmer Christensen baptized them and their ten-year-old daughter, Lucille Mary, into the Church on February 26, 1921. Elmer V. Howell confirmed Nina on March 6, 1921 in the Holladay Ward.[10]

The Howells continued to reside in Holladay throughout the next several decades. When Mary Juanita was born, they took her to their ward to be blessed and named.[11] As each of their children reached baptismal age, Abner and Nina had each one baptized and confirmed as a member of the Church.[12]

During the years Nina and Abner lived in Holladay, their children grew into maturity and began to pursue their own careers and paths. Undoubtedly, like all mothers, Nina Howell experienced the joys and worries associated with children marrying and establishing their own families. She and Abner opened their home to their adult children and family members who needed their support. Nina enjoyed the happiness of having grandchildren, but also the sadness of losing a baby grandson.[13] In 1939, another of her own children died. The Howells’ youngest daughter, Mary Juanita, suffered from juvenile diabetes. At that time, very little could be done to control her condition and she passed away when she was only sixteen.[14] Six of Nina’s eight children survived to adulthood, but losing two young ones would have been very difficult.

Nina shared many life experiences with her neighbors in Holladay. When World War II began, three of her sons served in the military and both returned safely home. Nina, however, encountered unique problems in the Church because of the race she and her children shared. The Howells were the only Black family in their ward and in the wider neighborhood. Neither her husband nor her sons were allowed to be ordained to the lay priesthood that was conferred upon white Mormon boys at the age of twelve. Abner made peace with his secondary status in the Church, but it must have been difficult for Nina to watch as Church policy excluded him and her sons from full participation. Nina, however, remained a member until her death.

At the age of sixty-two, Nina suffered a stroke and died at home on February 26, 1945.[15] She was buried in the Holladay Memorial Park Cemetery near her children and grandson. Abner would be buried next to her in 1966.[16]

by Tonya S. Reiter

[1] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Holladay Ward, part 1, CR 375 8, box 2896, folder 1, image 242, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Holladay Ward (Utah), microfilm 26,618, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Nina is listed by the name of “Carrie” on a few later records, but it seems to have been a nickname. Nina used the spelling “Stevenson” for her surname, but the name seems to originally have been, “Stephenson.”

[2] See: “Interview of Henry Stephenson,” in Slave Testimony: Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, Interviews, and Autobiographies, ed. John W. Blassingame (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1977), 529-531.

[3] United States, 1900 Census, Michigan, Wayne County, Plymouth, District 196.

[4] Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952, Abner Howell and Nina Stevenson, Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan.

[5] United States, 1910 Census, Utah, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, Precinct 3.

[6] Nina’s sisters did not fare well in Detroit. One was incarcerated and the other was murdered.

[7] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection, Holladay Ward (Utah), microfilm 26,618, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[8] United States, 1920 Census, Utah, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, Precinct 1.

[9] Utah, State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death, Paul Cecil Howell, file no. 293, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[10] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members, Holladay Ward (Utah), microfilm 26,617, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[11] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members, Holladay Ward (Utah), microfilm 26,617, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[12] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members, Holladay Ward (Utah), microfilm 26,619, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[13] Utah State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death, Albert Benjamin Howell, file no. 1756, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[14] Utah State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death, Mary Juanita Howell, file no. 905, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[15] Utah State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death, Nina Viola Howell, file no. 352, registrar no. 4, Utah State Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah; “Nina Viola Howell,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), 26 February 1945,

[16] Nina Viola Stevenson Howell, FindaGrave.com.

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