[Idiom] Origin of "tearing up Ned" ?

My mother-in-law age 87 born and raised in western Ohio USA uses the phrase " Tearing up Ned" to describe energetic but not well thought out action with a significant potential for damage or unforeseen ( at least to the actor) consequences. eg. " those kids were just racing around the house tearing up Ned". I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts as to the origin of this phrase.

The only thought I had was that it was related to Ned Kelly the Australian outlaw. This seems far fetched to me but maybe his story was better known in the past. Or maybe a radio character?

Maybe it's a regionalism. It's something I have never run across before. (I'm from Missouri and live in NC.) Have you tried Google?

Ned is an old nickname for the devil. Some people say "Holy Ned!" to avoid swearing. She means making a mess, causing trouble, creating a commotion, misbehaving.

It's a great old expression.

Twenty years ago, my father-in-law, who was 80 at the time, and a lifelong resident of Southern Iowa, used the term frequently. Whenever he would see a road crew or something, digging up the road or a ditch or whatever, he would inevitably say, "Well, they sure are tearing up old Ned!" That seems to fit what you were saying the meaning is: making a mess, causing trouble, creating a commotion. That is what I took it to mean as well.

A google search suggests that the expression was in use during the American Civil War, that is in the early 1860s. I think it has long faded from use and from memory.