Lizzie Huntington Ellis was the first wife of W. T. Ellis, Sr., and the mother of W. T. Ellis, Jr. She moved to Marysville from Zanesville, Ohio, in 1859, accompanied by three sisters and a brother. She soon met her future husband there; he had moved from Ohio as well. They were married in 1860, and a daughter was born to them in 1861. Her sister Sarah lived with the couple as well.
In 1863, the family moved into a two-story brick home at the northwest corner of 8th and D Streets, which became the family home for the next 57 years. In 1864, they hired a Chinese cook, Yuen Yeck Bow, who remained with the family for the next 49 years. The family called him "Jack Ellis." In addition, in 1866, Lizzie's husband purchased a Native American girl named Rose from two gold miners for $500, forcing her to work as the family's nursemaid. The gold miners had kidnapped Rose from her parents, intending to force her to serve as a nursemaid for the children of one of them. Instead, they lost all their gold dust to gambling and sold her to Mr. Ellis.
The Ellises' second child, W. T. Ellis, Jr., was born in 1866, and their last child, a daughter named Hope, was born in 1871. In 1876, Rose fell ill with tuberculosis, and in 1878, Lizzie died. Rose died the following year, and in 1886, Lizzie's sister married Lizzie's widower.