When Trena Bothelda Nelson was born on 27 June 1891, in Cave Valley, Chihuahua, Mexico, her father, James Mark Nelson Sr., was 25 and her mother, Hannah Botilda Mortensen, was 17. She married Shirley Holman Johnson on 27 May 1910, in Colonia Chuichupa, Chihuahua, Mexico. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 5 daughters. She lived in Tempe, Maricopa, Arizona, United States in 1930 and San Antonio Judicial Township, Los Angeles, California, United States in 1940. She died on 28 August 1979, in Norwalk, Los Angeles, California, United States, at the age of 88, and was buried in Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, Los Angeles, California, United States.