Leonora married William E. Barry, a native of Ireland who had emigrated to Canada and then to New York, on 30 November 1871. A painter and musician, he moved with his wife to Potsdam, New York, where the couple had their first child, Marion Frances, in 1873. Even though teachers were in short supply following the Civil War, after her marriage to William Barry she encountered discrimination in her workplace: state law required her to give up her vocation as a teacher because she was now a married woman. This forced her to turn to manual labor. The family moved frequently, including to Haydensville, Massachusetts, and Amsterdam, New York, and she gave birth to two sons, William Standish in 1875 and Charles Joseph in 1880. When her husband died of a lung disease, and her daughter shortly afterward, Barry began to work as a seamstress but found the job too tiring. She then took a job in an Amsterdam hosiery factory where she and her fellow working women faced harsh conditions, long hours, and low pay. She often found herself working upwards of 70 hours a week, and with pay based on output, she made only eleven cents her first day and only 65 cents her first week."Leonora Marie (Kearney) Barry, Labor Organizer ", Women of Courage Profiles.
