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

---

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

---

 

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.^↩

Family Memories ~ A Christmas Visit

My maternal grandparents, Debs Warren Webster and Willis (Quillin) Webster, were from Brazil. In the summer of 1952 their family immigrated to the United States of America. My mom was fourteen years old at the time they immigrated to the USA. They settled in Southern California. To learn more about their immigration story, click the The Debs Webster Family Immigration Story tab at the top of this blog.

When I was growing up, my maternal grandparents lived in Hacienda Heights, California. My family traveled to visit them quite a bit while I was growing up, and my grandparents would travel to visit us. It was fun and interesting when we'd get together. I remember hearing Portuguese spoken all around me. Unfortunately, I was never taught the language.

Since it's almost Christmas, I figured it was the perfect time to share some photos from when our family traveled to spend Christmas with my grandparents at their home in Hacienda Heights in 1969. 

This is a photo of my Grandpa Debs and Grandma Willis Webster at their house in Hacienda Heights, California. Technically, my Grandma Willis was my step-grandma. My mom's mother died when my mom was almost four years old and my Grandpa Debs married Willis when my mom was five years old. Willis was the only maternal grandma I knew. So to me she was just Grandma. And she was a wonderful grandmother!

Here's a photo of my parents, brothers, and myself with my grandparents.

  

After all the festivities it was time for our family to head back home. But before we left, Grandpa Debs took a couple more photos.

The first one is of my grandparents with my brothers and myself. I love what Grandpa Debs wrote on the top margin of this photo: "They Came For Christmas." I like to think that this little statement meant that our Christmas visit meant a lot to him.

Here's a photo of my parents, brothers, and myself posing in front of our little 1964 green Volkswagen Beetle. Again, my Grandpa Debs wrote a little something on the top margin of the photo. This time it was, "Bye Bye."

I miss my grandparents. They were so kind and loving. I also miss my parents, who were also kind and loving.

At this joyous time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, I'd like to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2025 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

An Exciting Ancestry Hint for Raymunda Villatoro Vasques

A couple of years ago I clicked on a hint on my tree in Ancestry.com. I'm so glad I did because it turned out to be a very important hint. Of course, hints should be analyzed for accuracy. Thankfully, this hint was accurate.

The hint was for my maternal second great-grandmother, Raymunda Villatoro Vasques, who was from Arriaga, Chiapas, Mexico.¹ The hint was this baptism record (below) for Adolfo Villatoro, which states that he was born on 27 September 1885, and was baptized in November 1885 at Tonala, Chiapas, Mexico.²

The baptism record states that Adolfo was the son of Raymunda Villatoro and that Adolfo's maternal grandparents were Demetrio Villatoro and Ysabel Vasquez. I know that this Raymunda Villatoro is my 2nd great-grandmother because the names of her parents in this record are the same as her known parents in other records I have.

I had no record or knowledge of Adolfo Villatoro before this hint, so this is an exciting discovery. Unfortunately, the baptism record does not include Adolfo's father's name. Hopefully I will be able to find records that include the name of Adolfo's father.

What exciting discoveries have you found through Ancestry hints?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2025 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

---

1 "Chiapas, Mexico, Civil Registration Deaths, 1861-1987," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 October 2015), image 151 of 2067, entry for Raymunda Villatoro (Arriaga, Chiapas, Mexico), November 1923; citing Chiapas Civil Registry State Archives, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, Academia Mexicana de Genealogia y Heraldica.^↩
2 "México, Chiapas, registros parroquiales y diocesanos, 1557-1978," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-3LWC-9?cc=1616412&wc=MCS8-CPX%3A123518301%2C123518302%2C123718501 : accessed 8 June 2022), image 1141 of 3013, entry for Adolfo Villatoro, September 1885; citing Parroquias Católicas, Chiapas (Catholic Church parishes, Chiapas).^↩

Phebe Waterman's Signature

Here it is. The signature of my maternal 4th great-grandmother, Phebe (Barker) Waterman. I wrote about her in a previous post. 

Phebe (Barker) Waterman was the wife of my 4th great-grandfather, Dr. Luther L. Waterman, who served as a surgeon in the Revolutionary War.

I found Phebe's signature at the bottom of Page 3 in her husband Luther's Revolutionary War pension file.¹ She was 82 years old at the time she signed this document.

In this document, dated 8 September 1838, Phebe appeared before an Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Athens County Ohio. It looks like Phebe was unable to appear in court. The bottom paragraph states the following:

Sworn to and subscribed before me on the day & year above written. And I hereby certify that the said Deponent is a credible person, and that she is unable from bodily infirmity to appear in open court.

Geo. Walker, Associate Judge

The purpose of this document was to obtain a widow's pension due to Luther's service in the Revolutionary War. In the document, Phebe gave an account of Luther's service during the war to the best of her ability. She also explained where and when she and Luther were married and that she remained a widow since Luther's death.

I have added Phebe's signature to the My Ancestors' Signatures tab at the top of this blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2025 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

---

1 “U.S. Revolutionary War Pensions, 1800-1900," database with images, Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/ : accessed 13 January 2013), (W. 4,379 Conn. Continental), pg. 3, headed “U.S., Revolutionary War Pensions, 1800-1900,” entry for Luther Waterman; citing Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, compiled ca. 1800 - ca. 1912, documenting the period ca. 1775 - ca. 1900, National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication, Record Group 15, NAID: 111514579.^↩

My 13th Blogiversary

My thirteenth blogiversary was this past Saturday, April 5th. I had a busy weekend, plus I'm currently under the weather, so here is my blogiversary post a couple days late.

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 thirteen 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).

Have You Tried The MyHeritage In Color™ Tool? - April 29, 2024

Preserving Memories ~ Disneyland in the Summer of 1955 - June 24, 2024

Death Dates in US-City Directories - September 4, 2024

Ancestor Relocation Information in US-City Directories - October 11, 2024

Preserving Memories ~ The Mystery of Grandpa Webster's Property - January 23, 2025

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2025 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

Preserving Memories ~ The Mystery of Grandpa Webster's Property

As I've mentioned previously, I've worked on a large family history project. I've scanned photos, slides, and negatives of various sizes that I inherited from my parents and my maternal grandparents. I have also scanned photos and negatives from my own collection. I'm not finished with this scanning project yet.

Part of my family history scanning project included scanning small black and white photos from a Kodak envelope. The writing on the outside of the envelope looks like my mom's handwriting. She wrote, "Pictures from the lot Dad had and Oswaldo Silva is the agent."

My mom's dad was Debs Warren Webster. Regular readers of my blog may remember that Debs and my mom were born in Brazil and immigrated to the United States of America in the summer of 1952, along with their family. I wrote a series of blog posts about their immigration trip, which can be found by clicking "The Debs Webster Immigration Story" tab at the top of my blog.

The Kodak envelope contains eleven photos with writing on the front and/or back of each photo. They were written in Portuguese. Unfortunately, I can't speak or read Portuguese so I turned to Google Translate for help. I won't share all eleven photos here.

I wish I knew the story behind these photos. Sadly I can't ask my mom about them because she passed away in October 2018. I'm thankful she wrote what she did on the Kodak envelope to give me a sense of what was happening in the photos.

From the photos, it looks like my grandfather, Debs Warren Webster, owned a piece of land (lot) in Brazil. I think the piece of property was in Brazil because the sign indicating my grandfather was the owner of this property is written in Portuguese, and my grandfather was born and lived in Brazil.

According to Google Translate, the writing on this photos says, "Sign on Site" and the sign says, "Property of D. Warren Webster, Attorney Dr. O.A.Silva," and I assume that is the telephone number at the bottom. Unfortunately, I don't know the specific location of this property.

Here are more photos from the Kodak envelope.

I believe the man wearing a tie was Oswaldo Silva, my grandfather's attorney (agent). I don't know who the other men were in this photo.

As you can see in these next few photos, it appears that my grandfather's lot was subsequently enclosed by a wall and a door was installed to access the property.

This looks like my grandfather's Attorney (agent), Oswaldo Silva in front of my grandfather's lot. The arrow is pointing to the "Property of D. Warren Webster" sign in this photo and in the next one.

Here is a photo of Oswaldo Silva in front of his 1950 Chevrolet. On the back of the photo Oswaldo wrote that his car was a dark green 1950 Chevrolet 4 door Fleetline, that he owned it for four years, and that it only had eighty-thousand kilometers on it.

I have questions about the circumstances surrounding these photos. When were these photos taken? And who took the photos? The information about Oswaldo's car is an interesting clue. The car was a 1950 Chevrolet that Oswaldo owned for four years. Did Oswaldo buy the car when it was new or later as a used car? Were these photos taken in 1954 or later? My grandfather and his family immigrated to the U.S.A. in the summer of 1952. Did my grandfather go back to Brazil in 1954 to help oversee the sale of his property? Or were these photos taken by Oswaldo Silva and sent to my grandfather at his new home in the United States? I know my grandparents visited Mexico in 1955 because I have their pictures from that trip. But, I am not aware of any trip they may have taken to Brazil in the 1950s. They did visit Brazil in 1986. And my grandfather visited Brazil in 1992 after my grandmother passed away.

In any case, this is an interesting find in my scanning project.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2025 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

Ancestor Relocation Information in US-City Directories

In my previous blog post, I shared that death dates can be found in US-City Directories. I also said that I would write a blog post about another interesting and helpful item that can be found in US-City Directories. Today I'm going to tell you about that helpful item.

While indexing the record set, US-City Directories, 1902-1935 [Part I], at FamilySearch.org, I noticed that instead of a street address, the words "removed to" followed by a specific place were listed next to some people's names. "Removed to" next to a person's name means that they moved away from that particular city. In other words, if a person moved from Kalamazoo, Michigan that person may not have been excluded from the Kalamazoo City Directory. Instead, the city directory may include that person's name and the place to where that person moved. How cool is that?! So, if you've been wondering why you can't find an ancestor in the place you think they should be, a US-City Directory may be able help you find them.

Here is an example from the 1891 Seattle, Washington, US-City Directory.¹ James S. Adams is listed with an occupation as a printer who "removed to S F, Cal." (By the way, this is not my ancestor.)

I did a search for James S. Adams in San Francisco, California and found a James S. Adams in the 1891 City Directory for San Francisco California, living at 743 Pine.² His occupation was listed as a compositor. Wikipedia has several definitions of Compositor, one of which is the following: "Compositor may refer to: Compositor (typesetting), a person or machine which arranged movable type for printing."³

This James S. Adams, compositor, living in San Francisco, at 743 Pine in 1891 very well could be the same James S. Adams, printer, in the 1891 Seattle, Washington, City Directory, who removed to San Francisco, California.

US-City Directories are very valuable resources for family history research. Removals (where someone "removed to") are just one of many items listed in the Potential Content section of the FamilySearch Research Wiki article, United States Directories.

Have you been able to trace your ancestor using US-City Directories?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2024 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

---

1 U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995, image 70 of 597, James S. Adams; image, “Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1891.”, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 October 2024).^↩
2 U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995, image 101 of 1668, James S. Adams; image, “San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1891.”, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 October 2024).^↩
3 Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), “Typesetting,” rev. 20:27, 25 August 2024.^↩

Death Dates in US-City Directories

Last week I was doing some indexing at FamilySearch.org. One of the record sets I indexed was US-City Directories, 1902-1935 [Part I]. While indexing this record set, I noticed that some of the entries included the age of the person and a death date. Here is a screenshot of one of them.

Wow! I don't remember seeing this kind of vital event information in US-City Directories before during my personal family history research.

I looked up United States Directories in the FamilySearch Research Wiki and saw that death dates are included in the long list of potential content found in directories.¹ How awesome is that?!

These death dates should be taken as clues that can help us find the actual death record for an ancestor. While preparing this post, I did more research in US-City Directories and found another person with a death date and age next to their name.² (This is not one of my ancestors.)

Highlighted in this directory is a Bernard M. Desenberg (aged 74) who died on September 14, 1901. I did a search for his death certificate and found it in Ancestry.com. His death certificate listed his death date as September 27, 1901.³ So, yes, the death date listed in the US-City Directory is a helpful clue, but as you can see, his death day was incorrectly listed as 14 in the directory instead of 27.

I was curious about the source of the death information found in US-City Directories. And I found my answer at the Library of Congress website. I learned from their US-City Directories Research Guide that "City directories are compiled through door-to-door surveys...."⁴ Interesting! So, it's possible that whoever was providing information to the survey-taker that day gave the wrong day of death for Bernard M. Desenberg. But, they were correct about the month and year of Mr. Desenberg's death.

US-City Directories are fantastic resources. I found another interesting and helpful item that can be found in US-City Directories. I'll share more about that in an upcoming post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2024 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

---

1 FamilySearch Wiki (www.familysearch.org/wiki), “United States Directories,” rev. 03:29, 21 March 2024.^↩
2 U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995, image 121 of 355, Bernard M. Desenberg; image, “Kalamazoo, Michigan, City Directory, 1902.”, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 September 2024). ^↩
3 U.S. City Directories, Library of Congress, (www.guides.loc.gov/united-states-city-telephone-directories/city-directories, accessed 4 September 2024).^↩
4 "Michigan, U.S., Death Records, 1867-1952," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 September 2024); certificate image, Bernard M. Desenberg, 27 September 1901, no. 400; citing Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan.^↩

Preserving Memories ~ Disneyland in the Summer of 1955

As I've mentioned previously, I've worked on a large family history project. I've scanned photos, slides, and negatives of various sizes that I inherited from my parents and my maternal grandparents. I have also scanned photos and negatives from my own collection. I'm not finished with this scanning project yet, but I'm taking a break at the moment.

Today I want to share some digitized images that were scanned from medium format negatives that belonged to my maternal grandparents, Debs and Willis (Quillin) Webster. They are photos of a trip they took to Disneyland in the summer of 1955. I have some printed photos from this trip that have an August 1955 date stamped on them. Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955.

My mom's mother, Sarah Vasques Madeira, died when my mom was almost four years old. Her father, Debs Webster, married Willis Quillin a couple years later in 1944. Willis was the only maternal grandmother I knew. And she was a wonderful grandma to my brothers and me. Although technically she was our step-grandma, she was lovingly referred to as grandma by us. So, that's how I will refer to her in this post.

My mom, her parents, her brothers, and grandmother immigrated to the United States from Brazil in the summer of 1952. They settled in the Los Angeles area, specifically Pomona. I think it's so awesome that my mom and her family went to Disneyland three years after their immigration to the USA. And it's awesome that they went to Disneyland shortly after it opened. I wish I knew if they were there on the day it opened or not. But, even if they didn't go on opening day, they were there soon after Disneyland opened, which is very cool. My mom turned seventeen years old on July 24, 1955. I wonder if they went to Disneyland for her birthday. I'm so glad they took photos of their time there.

It's also neat to see what Disneyland looked like in the summer of 1955.

Here they are on Main Street standing in front of the Wurlitzer Music Hall. My mom is the third from the right. She's standing next to her younger brother, Edwin (second from the right). Her other brother is seventh from the right. He's standing in front of my grandma (in the plaid skirt). My mom's grandmother, Helena Rohwedder Quillin, is the sweet lady holding her purse (sixth from the right). Apparently, the Wurlitzer Music Hall closed sometime in the late 1960s. Something else is there now.

Here's another photo in front of the Wurlitzer Music Hall. My grandma (in the plaid skirt) and her mom (my great-grandmother) are standing next to the man in the baseball cap. 

And here's another photo of Main Street. My mom and some of her family were walking on the sidewalk close to the street. My mom is the one with her left arm up and a bow in her hair. Her two brothers are on her left and my grandma is on her right. It's pretty cool to see Main Street back then.

Here's my mom and her family walking along at Tomorrowland. My mom is second from the right in this photo. My grandma is on her right.

It's difficult to see my mom and her family in this photo but it's a pretty cool photo because it shows Autopia on the left. See that Richfield sign above all the people on the left? That was Autopia. I had to look up what Richfield was and learned that it sponsored Autopia back then. My mom and her family are facing away from the camera in this photo and are close to the TWA Moonliner. My mom had a bow in her hair.

Speaking of Autopia, here is a photo of my grandma in an Autopia car. She's in the light car on the left. Interestingly, there wasn't a center guide rail on the track like there is now. Wow!

Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed going down memory lane with me as we visited Disneyland in the summer of 1955 with my mom and her family.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2024 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved