Emma Ida Dutcher, daughter of Doctor Egbert and Ida (Smith) Dutcher, was born in Nineveh, Broome County, New York, on May 25, 1879. She came to Prescott, Arizona Territory, with her parents, who decided to move west because her mother was diagnosed with tuberculosis.

Emma attended Prescott High School and then Mills College in Oakland, Alameda County, California, where she studied literary courses and graduated in 1902.

Ida Sarah (Densmore) Durbin was born on July 31, 1859, in Wisconsin, the daughter of Elizabeth (Davis) of Morgan County, Ohio, and Joel Henry Densmore of Chelsea, Vermont. Ida came to Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona Territory, from Golden City, Jefferson County, Colorado with her parents and siblings in 1875. Her brothers and sisters were Etta S., wife of James Maxwell; Eva Belle, wife of Joseph E. Nesbit; Nellie Lulu, wife of John Boone Crosby; Viola, wife of Joseph Andrew Gilmore; Edwin J., husband of Nancy Bell Lacy; Willis; and Paul Henry, husband of Emma Wright.

Effie Maxon "Maxie" (Webster) Dunning was born in the midst of a blizzard on March 8, 1888, in the old Webster homestead, called "The Maples," in Sennett, New York, the daughter of Florian Emerson and Marie (Maxon) Webster. She first attended an old stone schoolhouse and then the Sennett Schools. Maxie went to Mount Holyoke College, where she was a member of Gamma Kappa Sorority.

Adah Lenore (Francis) Dumas, daughter of John W. and Nellie Mae (Beal) Francis, was born in Flagstaff, Coconino County, Arizona Territory, on October 20, 1888. Her father, the first elected sheriff of Coconino County, operated a large merchandise store known as the Flagstaff Commercial Company. Adah’s maternal grandparents were one of the first white families in Flagstaff, and her grandfather, Marvin Beal, was a member of the Flagstaff school board.

Mata Eliza Dexter was born August 16, 1872, in New Albion, Cattaraugus County, New York, the daughter of Cordelia Ann (Day) and Thomas B. Dexter. Mata’s mother died early, and Mata was living with her father and brother, James, at her maternal grandparents’ home in New Albion, New York, in 1880.   She attended Edinboro State College in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, and taught there, as well as in Kentucky.

Elizabeth (Davis) Densmore was born in Morgan County, Ohio, in 1833, the daughter of Sarah (Moore) Davis of Centre, Beaver County, Pennsylvania and John Davis of Beaver, Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth married Joel “Henry” Densmore of Chelsea, Vermont, in Lee County, Iowa, on April 28, 1856.  This couple had eight children: Ida Sarah Durbin (born July 31, 1859, in Wisconsin); Henrietta Maxwell (born November 12, 1861, in Colorado); Eva B. Nesbit (born in 1863, in Colorado); Nellie Lu Chartz Crosby (born May 1866, in Colorado); Viola Gilmore (born in 1871, in Colorado); Edwin “Edward” Joel (born December 16, 1872, in Iowa); Willis (born in 1878, in Arizona) and Paul Henry (born June 15, 1880, in Arizona).

Etta Allen (Young) Middleton Martin Denny was born in Williamson Valley, Yavapai County, Arizona Territory, on September 7, 1884, the daughter of Emily Ann (Sanders/Saunders) of London, England and De Witt Clinton Young, a U.S. Army scout. She was the youngest of ten children.  The Young family settled in the Walnut Creek and Williamson Valley areas in 1878.

Harriet Eliza (Sanderson) Deming was born June 19, 1872, in Colfax, Jasper County, Iowa, the daughter of Captain John W. and Sarah N. (Coe) Sanderson. Harriet and her brother Will were orphaned at an early age and reared by maternal relatives in New England.

Prior to 1892, she married Reverend Clyde Washington Deming in Massachusetts. They moved about frequently in the New England area, which was typical of Methodist ministers in those days.

Laura Elizabeth (Theobald) Delk was born April 29, 1902, to Phoebe (Lauer) and John Nicholas Theobald in Marietta, Washington County, Ohio. When Laura was two years old, her mother became very ill with what was then known as consumption. The family doctor insisted that Phoebe move to a drier climate, so the family boarded a train to Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona Territory.  There Phoebe made a miraculous recovery.

Alice Jane (Donovan) Curnow, the second daughter of Edward and Sarah (McNally) Donovan, was born in Whitefield, Lincoln County, Maine, on February 13, 1861. Edward, an engineer, went to California to work shortly after Alice’s birth, leaving his family in Maine, where he apparently believed his children would receive a better education.  Alice attended a convent school in Whitefield until 1873 and then attended Augusta, Maine schools.