Background
Nell was born Ellen Lewis Herndon on August 30, 1837, in Culpeper, Virginia, the only child of Elizabeth Hansbrough and William Lewis Herndon. The family could trace its roots back to the twelfth century and William I, king of Scotland. Ellen's father was a naval officer and moved his family to Washington when he was assigned to help his brother-in-law Lieutenant Matthew Fontaine Maury establish the Naval Observatory.
Young Ellen had a lovely contralto voice, and she joined the choir at St. John's Episcopal Church on Lafayette Square, where she sang for several years before the family moved to NewYork City when she was in her late teens.