Maria S. Ellsworth was born in 1918 in Hunt, Arizona. Later she moved to Snowflake where she grew up in a family of eleven, including a twin. As far as she could tell, Maria was able to work hard and not complain.

She graduated from Arizona State Teaching College at Flagstaff on May 29, 1940, and taught kindergarten and first grade.

A couple years later, Maria was visiting Salt Lake City and met and became engaged to George Ellsworth. They were married on the 24th of October in 1942. They had two boys, Stephan and Mark.

Throughout Maria's life she was active in her community. She served in the local PTAs, and two terms on the Logan City School Board, where she was the only female member. She then became a member of the State Accreditation Committee. Maria was the president of the Old Main Society and president of the Faculty Women's League at Utah State University. She was a teacher and served various positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1993 Maria Ellsworth was awarded the prize for the best biography of the year by the Mormon History Association. Her book was titled Mormon Odyssey: The Story of Ida Hunt Udall, Plural Wife, which was published by the University of Illinois. She has also had seven book reviews published by scholarly journals. She died on December 1, 1999, in Logan, Utah.