Barrett Ridge, Mississippi
Edmond (Ned) and one of his sisters, Briget, joined other immigrants fleeing the potato famine and went to America in search of a way to provide for their family. On the way over, Briget fell from the boat while sleepwalking and drowned. Ned worked hard when he got to America and sent money home to the family in Ireland. He worked his way south and then moved westward into Mississippi in 1852. Ned married Mary Vina Warren on December 29, 1858 and they settled into a log cabin on a gentle rolling hill near Saltillo. On March 10, 1866 Edmond (Ned) Barrett had made enough money to purchase that land, which became known as Barrett Ridge. Ned and Mary had 11 children, whom they raised in the log cabin on Barrett Ridge. Most of them established homes there and raised their own children on the Ridge.
Mary Herring
Ned was so supportive of her career plans that Mary reconsidered marriage, although she knew both their parents would disapprove. With her studies completed, Mary and Ned became formally engaged at Easter in 1921, and they were married on 6 April 1922 at Toorak Presbyterian Church. They had three daughters: Mary Cecile (Molly) in 1924, Judith Ann (Judy) in 1926, and Margaret Lyle in 1933. Molly would later become a doctor like her mother.