Ella Sheldon Rogers was born in Illinois on January 9, 1874 the daughter of William A. and Amanda Sheldon. In 1893 she married George C. Rogers and by 1900 they are living in La Porte, Iowa. They had two children by that time, Sheldon and Eloyse. George is working as a jeweler. The 1910 Census has them back in Illinois with another child, Donald. George is a watchmaker in a jewelry store, Ella is working as a reporter in a newspaper and Sheldon is a newsboy on the street. George's mother Sarah is living with them. By 1920 they are still living in Marengo, Illinois however Sheldon and Eloyse are gone. Sarah is still living with them. George is a repairman and Ella is handling a boarder in their house. Illinois death records reveal that George Hart Rogers passed away on December 14, 1927 in Cook County, Chicago. Exactly when Ella moved to Kalamazoo is unknown but she is here by 1930, living with her brother William, his wife Margaret and their daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and Dirk Verdries. William and Margaret had moved to Kalamazoo in 1903 as William worked for the Railway Express Agency. Ella lived with them at 824 Stockbridge and attended Western State Teachers College where she graduated in 1932. A photograph is in the 1932 yearbook. At the time of her graduation, Ella is 58 years old.

By 1935 her diary reveals that she is living in Delton with her daughter Eloyse and her husband Leon Leonard and their children. She was teaching at the Kingley School. It appears according to the diary that she had been teaching there for four years. She lived briefly with her sister-in-law Margaret who eventually moved to Jackson to be with her daughter. The entries of the diary end around January, 1942. Ella died on August 13, 1944. No reason is given in the Gazette but she died at Borgess Hospital "after several weeks illness." She is buried in section DD of Riverside Cemetery next to her brother William and his wife, Margaret. The other items are from Ella's daughter, Eloyse Rogers Leonard and her husband Leon.