ELLEN ELIZABETH BALL, daughter of Wesley Ball and Mary Ann Jones, was born in Lee County, Virginia. Birth date on her tombstone is November 20, 1858; other sources give the date as November 18, 1858.

In 1871, her family started for Fannin County TX, arriving there in 1872. She married Andrew Jackson Anderson near Dodd City on July 5, 1883. The family was living at Kemp, Bryan County OK (Indian Territory) when their son, James Porter was born.

After the birth of her two oldest sons, Andrew Pinkstaff and James Porter, the Anderson family moved to Putnam County, Tennessee, where Andrew Jackson Anderson died in January of 1895. In April after his death, Elizabeth gave birth to twin daughters (Ida Pearl and Lillie Mae) in Tennessee, one of which died at the age of six weeks.
Elizabeth moved back to Texas in 1896, and "moved around quite a bit," living with relatives. On July 19, 1901, she married John H. Young in Lamar County, Texas. They removed shortly to Indian Territory, where they lived until they separated in December of 1901. Elizabeth filed for divorce from Mr. Young in August of 1905 in Montague County, Texas, where she was currently living (J. H. Young was then a resident of Grant, Choctaw County, Oklahoma, Indian Territory). The divorce was granted on January 10, 1906, the same day she married John Harrison Garrett.

Elizabeth married John Harrison Garrett on January 10, 1906, in Montague County, Texas. The wedding ceremony was performed by P.A. Wall, Minister of the Gospel, and the record was recorded in Book H, page 400, Montague County Marriage Records. After the marriage, their house burned when her husband was fixing something to eat on the cook stove in her absence. Her family records and Bible were destroyed at this time. John H. and Elizabeth had no children, but he had children by his first marriage. John Garrett died January 12, 1925, and was buried in Brushy Cemetery, near Bowie, beside his first wife. His death record at the Montague County Courthouse indicated his marital status as "divorced" at the time of his death. It is believed that he and Elizabeth were either divorced or more likely separated for about three years prior to his death. (No divorce record was found at the Montague County Courthouse).

Elizabeth committed suicide (carbolic acid poisoning) and died September 2, 1926, near Sunset in Montague County, at the home of her daughter, Pearl. It is believed that she was depressed by health problems and the failure of her marriage to John Garrett. Elizabeth was buried the next day, September 3, 1926, in Brushy Cemetery, with her brother, Jonathan/James A. "Doc" Ball, and his family.