Defender Ellis added Shrewsbury's second by nodding in a left wing corner from skipper Liam Lawrence at the far post for his first league goal of the campaign in the eighteenth minute.
Manager Micky Mellon then revealed:
"He had a baby daughter just before Christmas so it's a profitable time for him at the moment. You'll have to ask his missus, but he must be doing something right.
"We came out of the traps quickly and I'm really pleased with the lads. We're delighted to be top, but we won't get carried away."
Jim Collins had opened the scoring five minutes earlier.
Scott Vernon picked out co-striker Collins with a low left wing cross and the former Swindon hit man side-footed home his eleventh strike of the season from six yards as keeper Ryan Clarke was left exposed by his defence.
Ordinary Oxford were always second best and stopper Jayson Leutwiler shut them out on the few occasions they ventured forward.
One minute after Ellis's goal Leutwiler did well to get down to a low fourteen yard shot from striker Danny Hylton and five minutes later he pushed a thirty yard free kick from Michael Collins past his post.
Collins nearly sealed a first half brace in the 40th minute, but dragged his low shot just wide of Clarke's far post from the left side of the box.
Oxford then ran out of ideas as Shrewsbury replaced Sunday's opponents Wycombe as league leaders.
Central defender Nathaniel Knight-Percival came close to adding a third when he rattled the bar with an eight yard header from another Lawrence corner eight minutes after the break.
And in the 69th minute striker Bobby Grant curled a twenty yard effort inches over the bar.
Us boss Michael Appleton heard his team jeered off at half time and on the final whistle but said:
"Sometimes you just have to give credit to the opposition and today they were the better team. You can't be too critical when you come up against a team as strong as theirs. They are top of the table for a reason.
"We also lost both our full backs to injury and you can't account for something like that. It was a learning experience and the lads are intelligent enough to use it going forward."
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