Ellington (January 22, 1856 – August 12, 1907) was born in Attala County, Mississippi.
She was one of the three founders of the Delta Gamma Fraternity along with Mary Comfort Leonard and Eva Webb Dodd in 1873 at the Lewis School in Oxford, Mississippi.She was the daughter of James Madison Boyd (1829–1899; uncle of Eva Webb Dodd) and Caroline A.
Kennedy Boyd (1823–1896).
Her father was a member of Mississippi legislature.
Her mother was a school teacher.
She became a public school teacher until her marriage and was the sole caretaker of four small daughters after her husband (Daniel W.