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

Tip: Find All of Your Ancestors' Obituaries

This is a photo of my maternal 2nd great-grandmother, Cynthia Maria (Waterman) Webster.

Until March 2019 I did not know the cause of her death. And now I'm finally sharing this discovery here on my blog.

I love to find newspaper articles about my ancestors. I found three obituaries for Cynthia in different newspapers, but only one of them included her cause of death. Each of them contained different, but valuable information.

Before I share the obituary with Cynthia's cause of death, here are the other two obituaries I found.

This first obituary was printed in The Western News, Stockton, Kansas, on Thursday, 26 September 1895.¹

Transcript of this obituary:

                                                     Death of Mrs. Webster.

  Mrs. Cyntha [sic] M. Webster died at her home in Marysville, Kansas, at 9:40 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22. She had been lingering at death's door for several months, and at different times during that time her children had all been summoned to her bedside to see her pass away, but each time she would revive and linger yet a while. She was the mother of Fred E. Webster of this place, and Frank S. Webster, formerly of this place, but now of Wymore, Neb. She was aged 61 years, 4 months and 2 days.

Information gleaned from this obituary:

Name of Deceased: Mrs. Cyntha [sic] M. Webster

Place of Death: At her home in Marysville, Kansas

Time of Death: 9:40 a.m.

Date of Death: Sunday, September 22nd

Name and Residence of Sons: Fred E. Webster of Stockton, Kansas and Frank S. Webster formerly of Stockton but now of Wymore, Nebraska

Age at Death: 61 years, 4 months and 2 days

This obituary contains fantastic family history information about where Cynthia lived (Marysville) and where two of her sons lived as well. It also provides her date, place, and even time of death as well as her exact age at death. Her exact age at death was listed as 61 years, 4 months and 2 days.

In my research, I have seen different dates and years listed or calculated as her birthdate and/or her birth year ranging from May 20 or May 21 and 1834 to 1844. I love that this obituary was so exact with her age at her death. I wonder if either or both of her sons, Fred and/or Frank, provided information for this obituary. Using this exact age at death information, I used a helpful website called timeanddate.com to calculate her birthdate. The result was 20 May 1834.

This second obituary was printed in The Marshall County Democrat, Marysville, Kansas, on 27 September 1895.²

Transcript of this obituary:

  Died, in this city, Sept. 22d, Mrs. Cynthia M. Webster, in the 62d year of her age. Funeral from their residence Sept. 24th, and the remains were interred in the Marysville cemetery, followed by a large procession of their many friends.

Information gleaned from this obituary:

Name of Deceased: Mrs. Cynthia M. Webster

Place of Death: Marysville, Kansas

Date of Death: September 22nd

Age at Death: In her 62nd year

Date of Funeral: September 24th

Place of Burial: Marysville Cemetery

Again we find wonderful family history information in this second obituary. In addition to the same information provided in the first obituary, this one also includes Cynthia's funeral date and burial place.

And this third obituary was printed in the Marshall County News, Marysville, Kansas, on Friday, 27 September 1895.³ The is the obituary that included her cause of death.

Transcript of this obituary:

Mrs. Cynthia M. Webster wife of E. P. C. Webster died at their home in this city, Sept, 21st, after a long and painful illness, with dropsy. The funeral services were held Tuesday Sept. 23, and a large gathering of sorrowing friends followed the remains to their last resting place in the Marysville cemetery. The deceased was a daughter of Asher and Basheba Waterman, was born May 6, 1834, near Coolville, Athens county, Ohio, and and [sic] grew to womanhood at the same place. She married E. P. C. Webster July 25, 1858. She was the mother of six children, three sons and three daughters. The first child, a daughter, died at the age of three years. The other five are now grown men and women. She has been a christian from childhood; was cradled in the M. E. church and affiliated with the same until the last five pears [should be years]. Since her marriage, she and her family have lived in ten different neighborhoods and communities and everywhere she made hosts of friends and never knew of having an enemy; universally loved by all. She was a remarkable kind and loving mother and a kind, gentle, amiable wife. She filled a place in the hearts of her family that will forever be vacant. Peace to her memory.

What a beautiful obituary! Cynthia must have been a wonderful woman. Like the other two obituaries, this obituary is full of valuable family history information. However, the dates for Cynthia's birth, death, and funeral are incorrect. Her date of birth was actually 21 May 1834.⁴ And her date of death was 22 September 1895.⁵ And the obituary stated that her funeral was on Tuesday the 23rd of September 1895 but the 23rd was on a Monday, not on a Tuesday. It is likely that Cynthia's funeral was held on Tuesday, 24 September 1895, two days after her death.

Information gleaned from this obituary:

Name of Deceased: Cynthia M. Webster

Name of Spouse: E. P. C. Webster

Place of Death: At home in Marysville, Marshall County, Kansas

Date of Death: 21 September 1895 (should be 22 September 1895)

Cause of Death: Dropsy

Date of Funeral: Tuesday, 23 September 1895 (should be 24 September 1895)

Place of Burial: Marysville Cemetery

Father's Name: Asher Waterman

Mother's Name: Basheba [Bathsheba] Waterman

Date of Birth: 6 May 1834 (Should be 20 May 1834)

Place of Birth: Coolville, Athens, Ohio

Marriage Date: 25 July 1858

Number of Children: Six, three sons and three daughters

Church Affiliation: M. E. Church

Additional information in this obituary that is not included in the first two obituaries include the name of Cynthia's husband and their marriage date, Cynthia's cause of death, her parents' names, her date and place of birth, how many children she had including how many sons and daughters, and her church affiliation. All of this information is extremely valuable for family history research.

With this third obituary, I was able to learn that Cynthia's cause of death was dropsy. Dropsy is an older term, known today as edema.

I'm so glad that I didn't stop searching for obituaries after finding the first obituary for Cynthia. If I had stopped searching, I may not have discovered her cause of death. So what's the lesson here? We need to try and locate all obituaries and other documents that we can find about our ancestors to see if they have additional details about our ancestors' lives.

I'm so happy that I was able to finally discover Cynthia's cause of death.

What have you been able to discover through newspaper research about your ancestors?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2026 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 "Cynthia M. Webster," obituary, The Western News (Stockton, Kansas), 26 September 1895, page 4, column 4; online digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/379433198/ : accessed 26 March 2019), Newspapers.com by Ancestry.^↩
2 "Cynthia M. Webster," obituary, Marshall County Democrat (Marysville, Kansas), 27 September 1895, page 8, column 1; online digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/290552521/ : accessed 26 March 2019), Newspapers.com by Ancestry.^↩
3 "Cynthia M. Webster," obituary, Marshall County News (Marysville, Kansas), 27 September 1895, page 5, column 4; online digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/290184469/ : accessed 26 March 2019), Newspapers.com by Ancestry.^↩
4 "USGenWeb, The Tombstone Transcription Project" database, Marysville City Cemetery (www.usgwtombstones.org/kansas/marysvillecitycem.txt : accessed 29 January 2026), C. Marie Webster.^↩
5 Donald Lines Jacobus and Edgar Francis Waterman, The Waterman Family. Vol. 1 (New Haven, CT: E.F. Waterman, 1939), 566.^↩