Ella Kilburn was born in 1844 in Lawrenceville, Tioga Co, Pennsylvania. She was a daughter of Wells and Ann Guy Kilburn.

The wedding of Ella Kilburn to Robert Parks (he was born around 1845 in Ohio) was reported in the Napa County Reporter, March 26, 1864:

“PARKS-KILBURN -- In Napa, 24th inst. by Rev. P.V. Veeder, Robert G. Parks, to Ella Kilburn, all of Napa. The usual wedding cake and wine were received by the printers, who drank long life and continual happiness to the newly wedded couple. We do not suppose we could say anything that would add to the happiness of our young friends, still we indulge in the hope that this life may be to them one of pure matrimonial felicity.”

The wish for a happy life was not fulfilled for Ella. She died at age 31; a doctor from the Bentley Insane Asylum listed her cause of death as “insanity” (Dr. Edwin Bentley had been appointed Resident Physician to the Napa Insane Asylum in 1874).

Robert Parks was listed in the 1880 census as living in Walla Walla, Washington, with the widow of his father-in-law Wells, Phebe Silvers Kilburn (age 53), and his daughter Ida K. Parks (age 9). His occupation was listed as bookkeeper.