Ella Cain was born June 9, 1872 in Bodie. She was the daughter of M. J. Cody, the first Land Office Receiver in the Mono County area, and was elected sheriff of Mono County in 1888. Ella grew up in Bridgeport, and eventually returned to Bodie to be teach school there.
On June 15, 1904, Ella married David Victor Cain (the son of J. S. Cain.) Ella and David lived with their two daughters, Ruth and Helen, in Aurora from 1913 to 1917, then returned to Bodie.
Towards the end of her life, Ella and David lived in Bridgeport, where she wrote two books – “The Story of Bodie” and “The Story of Early Mono County.” Ella died on Tuesday, January 25, 1966 at 10:30pm at the Mono Medical Center, at the age of 93.