William Turner Ellis (b. 1866) was the son of a Marylander who became a well-to-do merchant in Marysville, California. Ellis, [known as Bill] carried on the family business and served on Marysville's Levee Commission for forty years. He became the Mayor of Marysville at the age of 28.

Memories: My Seventy Two Years in The Romantic County of Yuba (1939) contains Ellis's account of his boyhood in Marysville and the town's early history from the 1850s and his experiences as a local business and political leader. More than half the book is devoted to Ellis's service on Marysville's Levee Commission. He proudly displays the knowledge of flood control that helped protect Marysville from the Feather and Yuba Rivers and recounts related controversies including the impact of hydraulic mining on flood control costs. Because of Ellis' relentless and careful examination of the Yuba River, the City of Marysville has not flooded since 1875.