Ella Williams Brownell was born in Newport around 1849. Her father was William Brownell, was at one time the president of the Newport National Bank. Her mother Sally Taggert Williams was also a native Newporter. Ella was the youngest of three children. According to her obituary, Ella was totally blind from an early age as a result of Scarlet Fever. She was sent to the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston. The Perkins Institute included a strong musical education for all of the students, as seen in this advertisement in a Boston paper.