[1] The Bensons were a family of farmers, managing a small ranch and growing vegetables in the Sinton area.
[2] With a growing family and business, they moved to a large house with more land, where they maintained a herd of dairy cows and ran a nursery.
J. W. grew citrus and palm trees, even grafting plants to create hybrids, a skill he taught Nettie.
[1] Benson earned an academic scholarship and joined her sister Jennie at Texas Presbyterian College.
[4] She enrolled at the University of Texas, where a course on Spanish North American history given by Charles W. Hackett in 1925 inspired her to pursue the study of Mexico.
However, she moved to Austin in 1941 in order to help her nephew adjust as a new student at the University of Texas, after which she started a new career path with an increased focus on studying Latin American history.
While still enrolled as a graduate student, she gained expertise in library acquisitions and applied this knowledge during her travels throughout Latin America.
She wrote The Provincial Deputation in Mexico: Precursor of the Mexican Federal State while executing her demanding full-time job at the Latin American Collection.
Meanwhile, she gained support from University of Texas president Harry Ransom, who approved a new library acquisitions' budget of $25,000.