Alice Brown was born on September 10, 1852, in the Cherokee town of Park Hill, Indian Territory and grew up near Fort Gibson. Her father, Dr. John Frippo Brown, was from Scotland and a graduate of the University of Edinburgh. He accompanied the Seminole as a military surgeon during their forced removal from Florida. During this journey, he married Lucy Redbeard, a Seminole from "Katcvlke" or the Tiger Clan. As the Seminole have a matrilineal system, the children of a marriage belonged to the mother's clan. Her parents had a total of seven children.