Excerpt from the "Illustrated History of Nebraska...,", Volume I, by Morton J. Sterling, published 1905, pages 584-585:

BARNES, MARY J. (DRIPS), wife of Francis M. Barnes, Barnstown township, Gage county, Neb., was born on the present site of Bellevue, Neb., Nov. 15, 1827. She was the eldest daughter and second child of Major Andrew Drips, and his wife, Ma-com-pli-mie, an Otoe woman. Major Drips was one of the first white men to cross the continent as a trapper and trader. He was of Irish descent and a son of Thomas Drips. He served in the War of 1812, fought under Andrew Jackson at New Orleans, was mustered out at New Orleans, and immediately engaged with the American Fur Co. About 1815 he went up the river as far as Bellevue, Neb., for the purpose of trade.

Major Drips first married Ma-com-pli-mie, and Indian woman of the Otoe nation, in 1822 or 1823. They had five children: Charles A., born at Bellevue, Mar. 27, 1824; Mary J., born at Bellevue, Nov. 15, 1827; Catharine, born July 12, 1832; William, born in the Rocky mountains, Aug. 12, 1834; Glorvina, born in the same place, Sept. 6, 1836. Catherine J. married Wm. Mulkey, and died in Kansas City, Mo., in 1904.

Charles A. and Mary J. were sent in 1824 to St. Louis, and placed by their guardian, John B. Sarpy, in the family of Joseph Wells. Later Mary was sent to the Convent of the Visitation at Kaskaskia, Ill., and Charles to St. Mary's college at Perryville, Mo. Major Drips made several journeys across the plains, and after his connection with the American Fur Co. he had a trading post at Ash Point, seventeen miles below Ft. Laramie. In 1852 his daughter Mary crossed the plains with him to Ash Point, and again in 1853.

About 1838 Major Drips removed his family to the present site of Kansas City, and there his first wife died in 1846. He was married in 1848-49 to Louise, daughter of Louie Jeroux, a Canadian-Frenchman, and his wife, a Yankton Sioux. They had five children: Andrew Jackson, Kansas City; Thomas, deceased; Annie Marie, deceased; George W. Wagner, S. Dakota; and Julia, wife of John Pecotte, Lake Andes, S. Dakota. A daughter of Andrew Jackson Drips, Catharine Mulkey Drips, married James H. Branch, and now resides in Kansas City.

In 1856 Mary Jane Drips was married in Kansas City to Francis M. Barnes, and three years later they removed to Nebraska territory.