Amanda Julia Estill was born on October 27, 1882, in Fredericksburg, Texas, to parents Ellen Elizabeth (née Wiley) and James Thomas.

[1][3] In 1909, Estill had been an active member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy at the Fredericksburg, Texas chapter.

[1][5] She published for the Texas Folklore Society and for the San Antonio newspapers,[6] for more than 20 years.

Estill was one of the first members of the Texas Folklore Society to publish information regarding Native American culture in Gillespie County in the article "Indian Pictographs Near Lange's Mill, Gillespie County (Illustrated)" (1925).

[1] Tribes living in Gillespie County included the Tonkawa, Comanche, Kiowa, and Lipan Apache peoples.