George Washington Ells was born in 1808 in East Hartford, Connecticut. At the age of 20, he moved to Granville, Ohio. Three years later, at age 23, he entered the bar in Licking County, Ohio, and began practicing law. On December 2, 1827, he married Miss Eliza Pease. Ells remained active in politics in Ohio for 28 years. His first wife, Eliza, died in 1853. In 1855, he moved to Davenport, where he opened a bookstore. He married Mary Deming in 1857. That same year, he served as a Republican delegate to the Constitutional Convention, representing Scott County.