Ellen Frances Stanley was born on March 18, 1843, in Enfield, New Hampshire, to Joseph and Hepzibeth Stanley. Her father was a cabinetmaker who owned $1,000 of real estate and $750 of personal property by 1860. She grew up and attended school in Enfield.
She married Nathaniel S. Wheeler on April 6, 1868, and they had at least five children: William, born around 1872; Harry, born around 1875; Daisy, born around 1878; Grace, born around 1879; and Robert, born around 1883. They lived in Enfield, and her husband worked as a painter. By 1870, they owned $200 of personal property. Her husband died of chronic nephritis on December 27, 1903, and she passed away of “apoplexy cerebral” in Enfield on October 16, 1909.