[citation needed] Information is not currently available as to when he moved to the United States or where he first resided, although it is believed that he arrived in the USA around 1889.
Once in Asheville, he saw the need for an institute to support young African American men of the area and along with other prominent African American citizens, persuaded Vanderbilt to provide critical funding so they could establish the Young Men's Institute,[3] modeled after YMCA.
[citation needed][6] Stephens and Elizabeth Riddick, a teacher at Catholic Hill, moved to Topeka, Kansas, in 1895, where they married and founded a kindergarten.
While in Topeka, Stephens was reported to have fallen out with other leaders in the African American community and been pushed out by them of his leadership position with the Institute.
In her widowhood, she was active in Bridgeport's Phillis Wheatley branch of the Young Women's Christian Association.