Elizabeth Simon was born around 1846 in New York or New Jersey to Henry and Catherine Simon. Her father was a jeweler who owned $6,400 of real estate by 1860. The family moved to Providence, Rhode Island, in the 1840s, and she grew up and attended school there. By the early 1860s, she was working in a fancy goods store. She supported President Abraham Lincoln in the election of 1864, writing, "I think he is the man for us now." By 1870, she was working as a dressmaker. She remained in her mother’s household until at least 1900. By 1920, she was living with her brothers, Adelson and George Simon, in North Attleborough, Massachusetts. She died sometime after 1920.