Smith Lafayette Russell was born in Lincoln, Illinois, on January 23, 1895, the eldest of three sons of William Polk Russell, at that time Professor of Mathematics at Lincoln University, and his wife, née McGuire. The family moved to Claremont, Calif., in 1904, where Smith's father, after an unsuccessful forray into business, had taken a position as Instructor in Mathematics. Smith entered Pomona College in 1911. Because of his age he and his family decided not to push through college in four years, and after a chequered college career that included a year at the University of California in Berkeley he graduated from Pomona in 1917. In December 1917, he married Florence Mildred Dodge, who had been born in Hanford, California, on November 16, 1895, the daughter of Fred Almyr Dodge and his wife, May Florence Davis. Florence was also a member of the Pomona College class of 1917.

The couple later founded, and with their son Wilfred "Bill" Russell, co-owned Decora Ceramics. Smith died in 1979, and Florence in 1998.

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