March 30, 2026
Introduction: In this article – one last celebration of Women’s History Month – Gena Philibert-Ortega provides tips to find information about your female ancestor. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.”
Recently a friend sent me some vintage items she thought I could use. One of them was this 1 October 1918 issue of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen’s Magazine. When I looked through this magazine I made a surprising discovery that provided a helpful hint for genealogists researching their female ancestors.
As I paged through the magazine, I saw articles that ranged from rules that railroad employees would need to know, to news and statistics of their members. All the content made sense considering the audience was men who worked for railroads. But at the bottom of one page, I was surprised to see:
What? A short list of women’s deaths? A death report of women in an occupational magazine for men?
This women-focused article is an example of how you can find women listed in reports of the activities of their male relatives. When we research, we need to consider time, location, and what our ancestors were doing – and what records documented those activities.
Let’s explore this more. First, we need to take a look at the Brotherhood and then we need to learn more about why women are featured in their publication.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen
The Brotherhood was originally a benevolent society that evolved. One website describes its history as:
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was founded on December 1, 1873, at Jervis, New York, to provide mutual support for railroad firemen. The Brotherhood early on emphasized insurance, although in the late nineteenth century it became involved in labor/management relations. By the turn of the century, the organization also had changed its name to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, thereby permitting locomotive engineers to hold membership.*
Who were members of the Brotherhood? Men. In particular, white men who worked for railroads as locomotive firemen and enginemen. Women and African American men were not allowed in the early Brotherhood. But women did participate as part of an auxiliary to the Brotherhood.
The Ladies’ Society
Like many groups that limit membership to men, the Brotherhood had a ladies’ auxiliary.
The Brotherhood magazine devoted a few pages to the auxiliary, in which women reported on auxiliary chapter news, correspondence from members, statistics, and the death of members.
Searching historical newspapers, we can learn more about the Ladies’ Society. Here is an article from the Denver Post, featuring a photo of Mrs. Agnes M. Strong, who is the Society’s international grand president.
The article accompanying this photo gives details about the Society.
This newspaper article, reporting on the 1941 auxiliary convention, reveals that the 57-year-old Society’s membership was up to 33,000, 10,000 of which were added in the previous four years. Members belonged to 670 lodges throughout the United States and Canada. According to the article, the auxiliary was founded in 1884 in Tucson, Arizona.
A body entirely separate from the Brotherhood, the Ladies’ Society cooperates with the Brotherhood in matters political, organizational and social. It is secret, both in ritual and in operation. Membership is predicated on close relationship with Brotherhood members – father, brother, husband, or son.
Though it includes only two names, this article tells us important information about the auxiliary, including who could be a member.
In searching for mentions of auxiliary members in historical newspapers, you will find longer articles like the one above – but you might also find shorter mentions of local meetings with information about members, officers, and program speakers.
The Death Report
If you have found a newspaper obituary for your female ancestor, or maybe even have her death certificate, what’s the benefit of seeking out another report of her death? The death report in the Brotherhood’s magazine provides information about the women pertinent to their membership:
- Name
- Lodge
- Date of Death
- Cause of Death
- Amount of Insurance Payout
Now this information is largely derivative, meaning that it is not an original source with information from an informant who was an eyewitness. In fact, we have no idea where they got the information. My guess is it came from the insurance claim for the deceased. Although some of the information can be found in a death certificate, the information about which lodge she belonged to can lead you to additional records that provide a look at her activities and interests.
This information can be combined with a newspaper obituary to help write up a narrative of her life.
For example, consider this information about Maggie Allen from the Salida, Colorado, lodge (found at the bottom of the death report). We learn from the death report that she died of uterine cancer. This could be verified with a death certificate.
What we don’t know from the death report is the name of her male family member who is a member of the Brotherhood. This information could lead to records about him via the Brotherhood and information about his occupation.
When we look for her newspaper obituary, we find more information that we can combine with the Brotherhood death report to write about her.
While it’s not clear from her obituary what male family member belongs to the Brotherhood, we do learn of her husband’s name as well as other family members. Her husband was doing army contract work during the war (World War I). It’s possible his regular line of work was with the railroad.
Genealogy Tip: Always look for obituaries printed in multiple day’s newspapers and other notices having to do with death. In this case, Maggie Allen’s death appears in the newspaper five times.
Googling the Brotherhood brings up several archives across the United States with records. These would be important to pursue to find if they still exist for the Salida chapter.
Enhance HIS Research to Find HER
One of the techniques to research historical women is to research the men in her family. Consider what he was involved in and then seek out historical newspapers, records, documents, and photos that document that activity. In some cases, you might be surprised what you end up finding out about her.
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Note on the header image: from the 1 October 1918 issue of the “Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen’s Magazine.” Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.
* “Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen/Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen Collection, 1885-1966,” Online Archive of California https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf2r29n5dv/