Florence John (Herndon) Russell was born in Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona Territory, February 12, 1889, the daughter of Florence (Wilson) and Judge John C. Herndon. She graduated from Prescott High School in 1910.

On May 25, 1912, she married David Wentworth Russell, who was at that time an attorney. They had a son, John Herndon Russell, who was born June 5, 1914, and died in 2006. The couple also lost an infant daughter, Patricia Mary, (1917-1918).

Florence was a charter member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) General George Crook Chapter.  As reported in a Days Past article in The Daily Courier October 25, 1998, the DAR installed a flagpole in Prescott in the near identical spot as officials had raised a flag in 1864 at the beginning of the Arizona Territory.   This spot is near the Governor’s Mansion, which is now part of the Sharlot Hall Museum.  The article further states: “At that ceremony in 1929 during the patriotic exercises that accompanied the initial presentation of the flagpole and flag to Sharlot M. Hall, Mrs. David W. Russell, regent of the local DAR chapter, said, “Its presence told of the loyalty, love and courage of those who came here so long ago to establish a new territory in the wilderness.”  Dressed in a colonial gown, Mrs. Russell expressed the desire of the two-year-old chapter to “bring back to the mansion something of its early customs, part of which was the flag flying from dawn to dusk each day.” The bronze plate on the granite boulder marking the site at the Sharlot Hall Museum reads: “Erected by General George Crook Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution on July 4, 1929.”

In addition to participating in the General George Crook Chapter of DAR, Florence was the first Arizona state regent of the DAR. She was also worthy matron of the Golden Rule Chapter of the Eastern Star.

Florence's mother, Florence Wilson Herndon, and her grandmother, Louisa Wilson, are also represented in the Territorial Women’s Memorial Rose Garden.

Florence died in Walnut Creek, California, on December 25,1981. David died at the age of 77, on June 28, 1955, and is buried in the mausoleum at Mountain View Cemetery, Prescott, Arizona.

Donors: John and Nancy Russell
Photo Located: PVF – PO-1708p
Updated: 08/20/2015, N. Freer