{"id":111152,"date":"2026-10-19T09:48:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/?p=111152"},"modified":"2026-10-19T09:48:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:48:27","slug":"family-history-month-week-3-what-am-i-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/family-history-month-week-3-what-am-i-missing.html","title":{"rendered":"Family History Month, Week 3: What Am I Missing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article \u2013 to celebrate Family History Month in October \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega discovers some missing information about her maternal great-grandfather. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

How are you doing with your Family History Month goals? I\u2019m slowly getting through my genealogy to-do list<\/a>. One thing I\u2019m noticing in my timelines is that there are decades of information that I\u2019m missing. It\u2019s easy to add things like the census, but what\u2019s more difficult and takes more time are records for the in-between census years.<\/p>\n

I took some time looking at my paternal grandfather\u2019s timeline and realized I needed to add more about his life after the 1950 census \u2013 specifically, his time working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. While I do have a few records, the majority of what I need will most likely come from historical context and social history. His descendants don\u2019t understand what his life was like working for the railroad, so I need to do some historical research to help with that.<\/p>\n

In addition to that research, I realized that there was some information from my maternal side that needed more work. I decided to start with that goal for Week 3 of my Family History Month challenge.<\/p>\n

Learning More About My Maternal Great-Grandfather<\/strong><\/p>\n

My maternal grandmother was a genealogist. She and other family members spent time tracing family and writing up family history narratives. These narratives are helpful in learning about my ancestors, but they lack references to records and source citations.<\/p>\n

These narratives could be enhanced by adding records that were not available to past generations of genealogists. I\u2019d like to take these writings and add to them so that there is more to the story for descendants to discover.<\/p>\n

One of the narratives I\u2019d like to enhance is one written by a cousin about my grandmother\u2019s father, my great-grandfather Benjamin McNeil (1881-1956). This three-page history was read at his funeral on 2 June 1956. There\u2019s quite a bit that can\u2019t be enhanced with records, such as information about his personality, but there is some information that records could help with (and source citations).<\/p>\n

For example, one of the sentences in the funeral sketch reads:<\/p>\n

During this time, besides providing for his own family, Ben helped his mother file and prove up her homestead, and he helped his brothers build her a home.*<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is information I can add to with homestead records and newspaper notices.<\/p>\n

The Homestead<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, to clarify this sentence I might add a few details not found in the original sentence based on the narrative and my own knowledge. Namely, the time period and his mother\u2019s name. Now it reads:<\/p>\n

During this time, between 1913-1939, besides providing for his own family, Ben helped his mother, Mary Ann Smith McNeil, file and prove up her homestead, and he helped his brothers build her a home.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A search through GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> for his mother\u2019s name provides results that include notices regarding her homestead, which in turn provide us with some dates.<\/p>\n

Her local newspaper, the Snowflake Herald<\/em> in Snowflake, Arizona, has several notices about her homestead, including this one that appeared on 8 November 1918.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Snowflake Herald (Snowflake, Arizona), 8 November 1918, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From this notice we see that on 20 May 1914 Mary McNeil made a homestead entry and has now \u201cfiled notice of intention to make three-year proof, to establish claim to the land.\u201d The witnesses include her son Benjamin McNeil.<\/p>\n

So, between 1914-1918 Benjamin might have been helping her with her claim and improvements, and also serving as a witness. This notice isn\u2019t the only one I found; I found several that date back to 1914 when she first filed. I also found this mention in the \u201cgossip column\u201d about her filing.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Snowflake Herald (Snowflake, Arizona), 25 April 1914, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So now I have more to help me add to the information about his mother\u2019s homestead and to provide a source citation. I had previously contacted a regional branch of NARA (National Archives) to obtain her homestead claim, so I can include that information as well. Best of all, if Benjamin was helping her, I can narrow down that time period to approximately 1914-1918 \u2013 more information for my timeline about his life!<\/p>\n

In a paragraph prior to the sentence about helping his mother, there is a reference to him \u201chomesteading\u201d but not much other information.<\/p>\n

It was at this time that they began to homestead the McNeil Ranch where they lived for so many years.<\/p>\n

I have no idea where this is or if it was a government homestead or just a reference to living in a place. Once again, searching GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> provides more information: the published notice of the land he was homesteading.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Snowflake Herald (Snowflake, Arizona), 16 February 1917, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now I can add information about his homestead based on this newspaper article, searching the Bureau of Land Management General Land Office<\/a> website, and requesting his homestead records through NARA.<\/p>\n

Enhancing the Benjamin McNeil Sketch<\/strong><\/p>\n

The more I read this funeral sketch about Benajmin McNeil\u2019s life, the more I realize that it was a great piece of nostalgia for those at his funeral \u2013 but for later generations it leaves a lot of questions. Historical context and sources for some of the information presented is needed to help present-day family better understand his life more than half a century after his death.<\/p>\n

Yes, I have a great biographic sketch for my great-grandfather, but it is missing information. It\u2019s time for me to update it. Technology and access to records have evolved, which means that we can take older research and make it more complete.<\/p>\n

What are you working on for week 3? Let me know in the comments below.<\/p>\n

* Frost, Jane. Story of the Life of Benjamin McNeil. 2 June 1956. Pg 3. Photocopies in the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/p>\n

Create a free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.<\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> Family History Month graphic. Credit: https:\/\/depositphotos.com\/home.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Related Articles:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n