When Donna Alene Tevis was born on 11 November 1882, in Jefferson, Indiana, United States, her father, Armenius Benson Tevis, was 35 and her mother, Cynthia Ann Bear, was 31. She married Richard Brushfield on 26 September 1922. She died on 29 December 1955, in Madison, Jefferson, Indiana, United States, at the age of 73, and was buried in Springdale Cemetery, Madison, Jefferson, Indiana, United States.