Ellen Mahoney was born in Cork, Ireland in 1827. She married Thomas McGown in 1854 near Peterborough, Ontario.  They lived in Thornbury and Collingwood before settling in the Parry Sound area.  Ellen and Thomas had seven children, though only two of them were still alive in 1903 when Thomas died.

In 1861 Ellen was listed as a Catholic, in 1871 a Congregationalist and a Presbyterian in 1891.

Ellen was 65 when she died on December 11, 1892 from diabetes.