When Cornelia Nile Tevis was born on 8 February 1898, in Texas, United States, her father, Samuel Childs Tevis, was 26 and her mother, Zena Nile Freeman, was 22. She married Alfred L Sullivan on 14 September 1921. She lived in St. Mary, Louisiana, United States in 1910 and Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States for about 10 years. She died on 2 February 1991, in Portland, Washington, Oregon, United States, at the age of 92.