While visiting friends in
Heidelberg in 1853, Ney met a young
Scottish medical student, scientist, and philosopher named Edmund Montgomery. They kept in touch, and, although she viewed the institution of marriage as a state of bondage for women, after he established a medical practice in
Madeira, they were married at the
British consulate there on November 7, 1863. Ney, however, remained outspoken about women's roles. She refused to use Montgomery's name, often denied she was even married, and once remarked: She wore pants and rode her horses astride as men did. She liked to fashion her own clothes, which, in addition to the slacks, included boots and a black artist frock coat. On January 14, 1871, Ney and Montgomery, accompanied by their housekeeper, Cenci, immigrated to Georgia, to a colony promoted as a resort for consumptives. Their first son, Arthur, was born there in 1871, but died two years later (possibly of
diphtheria, but the cause of death is disputed). Unfortunately, the Thomasville colony did not work out as they had hoped. Baron and Baroness von Stralendorff returned to
Wismar, Germany where he died on July 1, 1872. Ney and Montgomery looked elsewhere in the United States for a place to live, including
Red Wing, Minnesota, where their second son, Lorne (1872–1913), was born. Later that year, Ney traveled alone to Texas. With the help of Julius Runge a businessman in
Galveston, she was shown
Liendo Plantation near
Hempstead in
Waller County. On March 4, 1873, Montgomery and the rest of the family arrived, and they purchased the plantation. While he tended to his research, she ran it for the next twenty years. ==Death and legacy==