When Ellen Shearer was born on 10 October 1854, in Springfield Township, York, Pennsylvania, United States, her father, Solomon Shearer, was 33 and her mother, Rebecca Goodling, was 26. She married Jacob Flinchbaugh on 17 September 1871, in York, Pennsylvania, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 8 daughters. She lived in Loganville, York, Pennsylvania, United States in 1910 and York, York, Pennsylvania, United States in 1920. She died in 1925, in York, Pennsylvania, United States, at the age of 71, and was buried in Dallastown, York, Pennsylvania, United States.