Ellen Flood was the daughter of William Cullen Flood and Margaret Healey Flood. Margaret was born and died in Ireland. William Cullen Flood of Exford, Ireland, preceded his family in leaving his beloved native sod to settle in the United States in Savannah, Georgia. When he became established there, he sent for the family, which included his daughter Ellen, who was born in 1831. Encountering fierce storms on the voyage, their ship was long overdue when it finally landed. During those days, Ellen's father had waited anxiously at the docks, so torn with grief and anguish that he died before the ship arrived.

There were quite a few Irish in Georgia at that time and among them was John W. McGrath, born in Limerick, Ireland, in 1822. John and a friend consoled the grief-stricken Ellen, and John's friend believed he had won Ellen's affection. He headed west to establish himself and John headed South. John promptly landed a job with the Jackson Railroad in Mississippi and returned to Savannah to claim Ellen for his own. John, a civil engineer, was working for the railroad and laying the track from New Orleans to Brookhaven. He and Ellen moved north as the railroad progressed. By the time the railroad reached Brookhaven, Ellen put her foot down and said she would not go any further. John purchased a whole block, including a house, from the Mason family, the property facing on Cherokee Street. They loved to tell of their first night in the house. Hearing a noise upstairs, they went up to investigate. The Masons had forgotten to take their goat!

(Biography information written by Adine Becker Hill for "The Becker Family" 1994 Becker Family Reunion, and provided for this memorial courtesy of Bettie Hatcher Cox)