Yes, the only story we have about the first elves tells that there were 144, 72 male, 72 female. Whether this story is canon or not is debated, but it's the only thing we have to go on. Micheal Martinez wrote a nice article on the subject that can be found here:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/tolkien/54681
Not even he will tell you that his figures are sure to be right, but it's a pretty good estimate I think.