Remembering 9/11 ~ 25 Years Later –“The Unthinkable Has Happened!”

This is a reprint from a post I wrote in 2012 with a few edits. I can't believe it's been twenty-five years since that horrible day on September 11, 2001.

World Trade Center Wreckage
Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain

Flag at Pentagon on September 12, 2001
Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain

“The unthinkable has happened!” Those are the words I wrote as I began writing about 9/11 in my journal. I can’t believe it’s really been twenty-five years now since it happened. Thomas MacEntee of GeneaBloggers suggested we write a post recalling our memories of that horrific day.

I live on the West Coast. I was awake when 9/11 happened, getting ready for the day. The news was on our TV. An alert came on saying a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. We thought it was just a terrible accident. But then the next plane crashed into the other tower. My husband saw it happen live on TV. Then we knew it was no accident. We were being attacked. We watched this all unfold as if mesmerized. I wrote in my journal that I felt like I was in a nightmare. I was in shock. I went through the motions of getting the kids to school but was gripped with fear of what had just happened.

Our five kids ranged in age back then from high school age down to elementary school. I remember taking my youngest kids to elementary school and as we were waiting out on the playground for the bell to ring, a strange and foreign thought ran through my mind. The vague thought of concern about planes that were in our skies that morning. We live not too far from an Air National Guard station.  Also our city airport isn't too far away. I really wasn't too concerned about our little corner of the world, but still.

After coming home from taking the kids to school, I was of course glued to the television, watching the horrific and unbelievable events of the day taking place.

Then there was the void of airplanes in the sky in the coming days. That was very eerie.

Because we live close to an Air National Guard Fighter Wing, those planes kept flying, but no commercial planes were in the air. One of my sons, who was in elementary school at the time, woke up at 4:00 am on Wednesday morning. He woke me up and said he heard an airplane - he was scared. I told him that it was the military—that it was one of ours. I wrote in my journal, “Isn’t that pathetic that I would have to say those words to one of my children?”

Our world has changed since 9/11. Our sense of security has changed as well. We had the attack at Pearl Harbor, but that was a generation or two ago. Now our generation has it’s own attack on U.S. soil to remember.

I hope that we will always remember 9/11 and those who perished that day, as well as those who risked their lives trying to save others.

And I hope we remember those in the military, some who have made the ultimate sacrifice, who willingly serve so that we can enjoy freedom and safety.

Thanks for reading.

Jana

© 2026 Copyright by Jana Last

MyHeritage Scribe AI ~ Analysis of a Vintage Cabinet Card Photo

I recently shared a blog post expressing how useful the MyHeritage Scribe AI tool is for translating documents.

Scribe AI can also analyze photos, which is really cool and helpful. I uploaded the only photo I have of my maternal 2nd great-grandfather, Mathias Rodrigues Vasques, who was born in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in about 1824, and died there on 7 January 1892.¹ That's him in the photo above.

I was doing research about Mathias to try and find his occupation. I found his death record and uploaded it to the MyHeritage Scribe AI tool and it provided me with some excellent information. I'll share that in a separate post.

I then decided to see what MyHeritage Scribe AI could tell me about the photo of Mathias.

As you can see from the screenshot above, Scribe AI provided Key Findings, Historical Background, Estimated Date, Estimated Location, Visual Clues, and Technical Details located in the dropdown arrows next to the uploaded photo.

Here is a screenshot showing Scribe AI's Key Findings about this photo.

It may be difficult to read, so here are the Key Findings.

A formal, sepia-toned studio portrait of a middle-aged man standing confidently in a military uniform. He features a prominent goatee and mustache. He rests his left arm on an ornate, carved wooden cabinet and his right hand near his belt, holding a sword with a heavy bullion tassel. A fringed, tufted chair sits to his right, holding his kepi hat. The composition is classic 19th-century portraiture, projecting authority and dignity.

The "kepi hat" mentioned in the key findings for this photo looks very much like those used in the American Civil War.

Here is a screenshot of the Historical Background tab.

See that "Copy to clipboard" button below the Historical Background paragraph? I was able to click on that and paste the paragraph below.

This portrait captures a military officer, likely from the Brazilian Empire, during the late 19th century. The elaborate uniform, sword, and medal suggest a man of significant rank and status, possibly a veteran of the Paraguayan War (1864-1870), which heavily influenced South American military fashion. The studio setting with props like the carved cabinet and fringed chair was a standard convention for officers to commemorate their service and social standing. Genealogists should search Brazilian military archives (Arquivo Histórico do Exército or Marinha) for service records of 'Mathias Rodrigues Vasques' and cross-reference the photographer 'S. Castro' in 19th-century Brazilian trade directories to pinpoint the exact city.

Wow! This is incredibly helpful information. And it accurately stated that the subject in the photograph was from Brazil during the late 19th century, as that matches my own genealogy records. Further, it stated that Mathias may have been a veteran of the Paraguayan War (1864-1870). That's another helpful piece of information for future genealogy research. Scribe AI even suggested where to search for records.

Additionally, the information about the photographer "S. Castro" is extremely helpful for my future research as well.

The Estimated Date tab (below) provides more valuable information.

Here is the Estimated Date information.

Prediction: 1870 - 1885. Confidence: Medium-High.

Reasoning: The Cabinet Card format (large photo mounted on card) became widely adopted in the 1870s. The subject's facial hair (imperial beard) and the style of the uniform (kepi, tunic) are highly characteristic of the 1860s to 1880s, particularly the post-Paraguayan War era in South America.

Scribe AI gave a predicted date year range that included a medium-high confidence level. And it even provided the reasoning behind it's analysis.

The Estimated Location tab (below) included a prediction, confidence level, and reasoning behind the analysis.

Here is the Estimated Location information.

Prediction: Brazil. Confidence: High. Reasoning: The subject's name provided in the metadata ('Mathias Rodrigues Vasques') is Portuguese/Brazilian. The photographer's mark ('S. Castro') aligns with this linguistic origin. Furthermore, the uniform—specifically the kepi, tunic cut, and cuff braiding—strongly resembles those worn by officers of the Brazilian Imperial Army or Navy during the reign of Dom Pedro II (mid-to-late 19th century).

I have to say that this is impressive analysis. It is true that Mathias was, in fact, from Brazil. I also appreciate that Scribe AI told me in which branch of Brazil's military Mathias may have served based on his uniform.

Here is the Visual Clues information tab.

And here is the Visual Clues information paragraph.

Text: Embossed text on the bottom right of the mount reads 'S. CASTRO PHOT.' Subject: A man with an 'imperial' style beard and mustache. Uniform: Dark tunic with a standing collar, a single row of metallic buttons, shoulder epaulettes, and elaborate gold braiding on the cuffs indicating officer rank. He wears a white belt with a large, decorative rectangular buckle and a single medal on his left breast. Objects: A military sword with a prominent hilt and heavy bullion sword knot; a kepi-style hat with a front insignia resting on a chair; a heavily carved Renaissance Revival wooden cabinet; a tufted upholstered chair with long fringe.

I love all of the detail that Scribe AI included in the Visual Clues, right down to Mathias' "...'imperial' style beard and mustache." I also appreciate the detailed description of his uniform, the objects in the photo, and the mention of the photographer's name.

The last tab is the Technical Details tab.

Here is the Technical Details paragraph.

The image is a Cabinet Card, a photographic print mounted on sturdy cardboard, which was highly popular from the 1870s through the 1890s. The mount features rounded corners and an embossed photographer's mark at the bottom right. The photograph exhibits moderate degradation, including foxing (brown spots), fading, surface scratches, and edge wear on the cardboard mount.

As you can see, this information is about the photographic medium and its condition. It is amazing to me that this photo has been handed down through the generations and that I inherited such an amazing photo of my maternal 2nd great-grandfather. I keep this precious photo inside an archival photo-safe sleeve.

I have found myself often turning to MyHeritage Scribe AI in my family history research.

Have you used MyHeritage Scribe AI in your family history research?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2026 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 "Brasil, Rio Grande do Sul, Registros da Igreja Católica, 1738-1952," database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939N-F69N-X5 : 31 August 2023), Major Mathias Rodrigues Vasques, 7 January 1892; citing Paróquias Católicas, Rio Grande do Sul (Catholic Church parishes, Rio Grande do Sul). ^↩

My Five Generation Birth and Death Place Pedigree Chart

In 2016, I shared my five generation birthplace pedigree chart here on blog. Today I just finished creating a slightly different pedigree chart. This time I included the birth places and death places of my ancestors in a five generation pedigree chart. I think it's an interesting visual chart that shows immigration in my family tree.

I used an Excel spreadsheet to create this chart. I assigned each country a specific solid color. I've included the country/color legend at the bottom of the pedigree chart.

For my immigrant ancestors who were born and died in different countries, I used two colors in their specific cell on the spreadsheet: the color of their birth country and the color of the country where they died.

For instance, I am in the first spot in the pedigree chart. I was born in the USA. My mom was born in Brazil and died in the USA. So her spot in this chart has both yellow (Brazil) and blue (USA) in gradient form with yellow at the top because she was born in Brazil and blue at the bottom because she died in the USA. Her grandfather, however, has blue at the top of his cell and yellow at the bottom of the cell because he was born in the USA and died in Brazil. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway, I really like how this chart came out. It's an interesting way to see how many immigrants I have in my five generation pedigree chart.

Have you made a pedigree chart like this?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2026 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

MyHeritage Scribe AI ~ A Very Helpful Family History Research Tool

I was doing some family history research today and had to write a blog post about the amazing Scribe AI research tool by MyHeritage.

I have used Scribe AI for several translations lately in my family history research. My maternal ancestry includes Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain. Unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish or Portuguese. I often use Google Translate to help me with documents in Spanish and Portuguese. Lately I have also used Scribe AI to help me with these types of documents.

As you can see from the screenshot above, Scribe AI not only translates documents, it also provides historical context, details mentioned, key findings, suggested next steps, and full text transcription located in the dropdown arrows next to the uploaded document.

The document at the top of this blog post is a Catholic baptismal register from Lisbon, Portugal. I uploaded it to Scribe AI. Scribe AI has been extremely helpful, not only with translation, but with understanding this type of document from Portugal.

Here is a screenshot of the historical context for this document.

It may be difficult to read, so here is Scribe AI's Historical Context for this document:

This document is a Catholic baptismal register (Assento de Baptismo) from the parish of Nossa Senhora do Socorro in Lisbon, Portugal, dated 1885. It officially records the birth and baptism of Constancia. Notably, the document features extensive marginal notes (averbamentos) added decades later. In Portuguese record-keeping, it was customary to update baptismal records with significant life events. These notes provide a comprehensive overview of Constancia's life, detailing her 1912 civil marriage, her husband's death in 1956, and her own passing in 1967. The record also highlights a common social aspect of the era, noting that her mother was an 'exposta' (foundling) raised by the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa.

Wow, this is amazing information! Before I uploaded this document to Scribe AI, I was a bit confused about what the writing in the margin was about, but Scribe AI cleared that up for me.

It is exciting to know that Portuguese baptismal records can include other life events for ancestors  including details about their marriages and deaths.

Here is a screenshot for the Details Mentioned tab:

This is also amazingly helpful as it provides specific details from the document. After opening a tab, there is a "Copy to clipboard" button, which is great. Here is Scribe AI's information from the Details Mentioned tab:

Principal Individual:

• Name: Constancia (later recorded as Constancia Amelia Esteves)
• Role in Document: Subject of Baptism
• Birth: January 7, 1885, at 12:00 PM in the parish of Socorro, Lisbon, Portugal.
• Baptism: April 29, 1885, at 5:00 PM in the Parish Church of Nossa Senhora do Socorro, Lisbon.
• Marriage: Married Tomas da Silva (age 22, born in Fanhões, Loures) on August 11, 1912, at the 1st Civil Registry of Lisbon.
• Death: Died in Penha de França, Lisbon, on January 17 (registered March 31, 1967).

Parents:

• Father: Alberto Magno Esteves, fireman (bombeiro), born in the parish of Socorro.
• Mother: D. Amelia Esteves, a foundling (exposta) of the Misericórdia of Lisbon.
• Residence: Largo do Colleginho, No. 5, Socorro, Lisbon.

Grandparents:

• Paternal Grandparents: José Maria Esteves and Marianna Perpetua Esteves.
• Maternal Grandparents: Unknown (incógnita).

Spouse (from margin note):

• Name: Tomas da Silva
• Parents: Bernardo da Silva and Delmira Candida
• Death: August 12, 1956, in Socorro, Lisbon.

Godparents:

• Godfather: Eduardo José da Silva, married, upholsterer (estufador), resident at Rua dos Ganos.
• Godmother: Amelia Esteves, married, domestic worker, resident at Escadinha da Barroca.

The Key Findings tab provides a summary of the information as follows:

Here is Scribe AI's information from the Key Findings:

• The document is an 1885 baptismal record for Constancia, born January 7, 1885, in Lisbon, Portugal.
• Her father was a fireman, and her mother was a foundling from the Misericórdia of Lisbon.
• Marginal notes added later transform this single document into a lifelong biographical summary, recording her 1912 marriage to Tomas da Silva, his death in 1956, and her death in 1967.

The Suggested Next Steps tab is pretty amazing too.

Here are the suggested next steps:

• You should search MyHeritage for the 1912 civil marriage record of Constancia Amelia Esteves and Tomas da Silva in the 1st Civil Registry of Lisbon to uncover more details about their witnesses and residences.
• You can look for the baptismal record of the father, Alberto Magno Esteves, in the parish of Socorro to trace the paternal ancestry back to José Maria Esteves and Marianna Perpetua Esteves.
• Consider researching the archives of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa. Although the mother, Amelia Esteves, was a foundling, admission records (autos de exposição) sometimes contain clues left with the infant, such as notes or tokens.
• You should check the civil death registers for Constancia (1967, Penha de França) and Tomas da Silva (1956, Socorro) for additional genealogical clues, such as the informant's name, who might be a child or close relative.

I won't share all of the full text transcription or translation of this document from Scribe AI, but I will share the screenshots of those tabs. They don't include the full transcription or translation, however. But you can see that Scribe AI breaks down the text by left margin notes and the main text of the document. Pretty cool!

Full Text Transcription:

Translation:

I am incredibly impressed with the MyHeritage Scribe AI research tool. It has proved to be helpful in my family history research.

Have you tried the MyHeritage Scribe AI tool?

Thank for stopping by!

Jana

© 2026 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

My 14th Blogiversary

My fourteenth blogiversary was yesterday, April 5th.

I began this blog on April 5, 2012 after watching Lisa Louise Cook's live streamed February 2012 RootsTech presentation called Genealogy Podcasts and Blogs 101. I had never heard of genealogy blogs before and the thought of blogging about my ancestors had never even occurred to me before that time. I decided to be brave and jump into the genealogy blog pool and here I am today fourteen years later. I'm grateful to Lisa for her presentation and to RootsTech for live streaming it.

THANK YOU

Thank you to my wonderful readers for taking the time to read my posts and for leaving comments over the years. I appreciate your support very much!

BLOGGING YEAR IN REVIEW

Here are my posts from the last year (since my last blogiversary).

Phebe Waterman's Signature - April 30, 2025

An Exciting Ancestry Hint for Raymunda Villatoro Vasques - July 17, 2025

Family Memories ~ A Christmas Visit - December 21, 2025

Tip: Find All of Your Ancestors' Obituaries - February 3, 2026

Again, thank you for taking the time to read my posts!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2026 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved