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

My AncestryDNA Ethnicity Inheritance Results

My Ancestry DNA results were updated recently. This update included a new interesting feature called Ethnicity Inheritance. This feature "estimates which regions" I inherited from my father and my mother.¹ Initially, the inheritances were labeled Parent 1 and Parent 2. I was able to edit those labels to Maternal and Paternal. In my case, it was pretty easy to see that Parent 2 was my father, Jan Albert Iverson, because the ethnicity regions for Parent 2 only came from Sweden and Norway.

My father's maternal grandparents, Carl Albert Gillberg and Maria Hilda Carlsson were immigrants from Sweden. My father's paternal grandparents, Christopher Iverson and  Anna Christopherson, were children of Norwegian immigrants.

The rest of my ethnicities come from my mother, Maria Elizabeth Webster, who was born in Brazil. From her I inherited ethnicities from Portugal, Sweden & Denmark, England & Northwestern Europe, Indigenous Americas--Mexico, Indigenous Americas--Yucatan Peninsula, Wales, Spain, Senegal, Basque, Northern Africa, and Northern Italy.

My mother's mother, Sarah Vasques Madeira, was born in Brazil and was mostly of Portuguese ancestry. My mother's father, Debs Warren Webster, was also born in Brazil. Debs' father, Frederick Emory Webster, was born in Ohio, USA, and Debs' mother, Esther Matus Villatoro, was born in Arriaga, Chiapas, Mexico.

Here is my ethnicity inheritance from both of my parents.

Sadly, both of my parents have passed away. I sure do miss them. My dad never took a DNA test, but my mom did take one before she passed away.

I am the manager of my mom's Ancestry account and have been able to access her DNA ethnicity inheritance results. I have been able to differentiate between Parent 1 and Parent 2 in my mom's results based on the known ethnicities of her father and mother. I will share those results in a future post and compare them with mine.

Have you been able to differentiate between Parent 1 and Parent 2 in your Ancestry DNA ethnicity inheritance results?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana Last

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1 ”Ethnicity Inheritance,” Ancestry Support (https://support.ancestry.com : accessed 13 July 2022).^↩

I Found My Dad in the 1950 US Census

The 1950 US Census was released two days ago on April 1st. Thank you to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for making this census available and for the ability to search the census. The search ability was made possible through optical character recognition (OCR) and artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning so the search function may not be accurate. I was able to find my dad, Jan A. Iverson, by searching for his stepfather, Wayne Crawford. ¹

Here's the page of the 1950 census showing my dad living in the household of his stepfather, Wayne Crawford, and his mother, Ingrid. The family was living in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon. I highlighted my dad in a red box. My grandmother, Ingrid, was one of the people on this page who were asked additional questions. Her answers were included at the bottom of the page. They are also highlighted in a red box.

Here's a close-up of my dad's family:

Information about my dad:

Address: 6925 N. Amherst

Name: Jan A. Iverson

Relationship: Stepson

Race: W

Sex: M

Age: 14

Marital Status: Never married

Birthplace: California

What was this person doing most of last week? Other

Did this person do any work at all last week? No

Was this person looking for work? No

Does this person have a job or business? No

And here's the bottom of the census page with answers by my grandmother highlighted in red:

Additional information about my grandmother, Ingrid:

Was she living in the same house a year ago? Yes
Was she living on a farm a year ago? No
Was she living in this same county a year ago? Yes
What country were her father and mother born in? Father: Sweden, Mother: Sweden
What is the highest grade of school that she has attended? S2
Did she finish this grade? No
Has she attended school at any time since February 1st? 30 or over
Last year, in how many weeks did this person do any work at all, not counting work around the house: None
Income received by this person in 1949: None in each category

If I had not already known that Ingrid's parents were from Sweden, this additional information section would have given me that information. This section also provided information that she had lived at the same house and in the same county in 1949. It was also interesting to see the highest grade of school that she had attended. The code was S2 for her. At the bottom of the page the codes are explained. The code S2 was within the elementary school codes. I am surprised to learn that her highest grade level may have been second grade in elementary school. I have to wonder if that code was incorrect. Interestingly, in her vocal history Ingrid said, "mother did not start me in first grade until I was eight years old."² And in her Book of Remembrance, Ingrid wrote that when she was fourteen years old her family sold their home in Salt Lake City and moved to Los Angeles, California due to the Depression.³ She also said, "I worked there at a home as a mothers helper" and that "because of finances" she and one of her sisters were not able to finish school. The family history memories that she wrote in her Book of Remembrance were written in cursive. Because of this, I believe she must have had more than a second-grade education. I am so thankful that she wrote about her life in this Book of Remembrance and that my dad interviewed her in 1977.

To search the 1950 US Census at NARA, click HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2022 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 1950 U.S. census, Multnomah Co., OR, Portland, ED 37-566, sheet 16, household 192, line 23, Jan A. Iverson; U.S. National Archives, _1950 Census_ (https://1950census.archives.gov/search/ : accessed 1 April 2022).^↩

2 Crawford, Ingrid (Gillberg), Antioch, California. Interview by Jan Albert Iverson, 11 July 1977. Audio and transcript. Privately held by Jana Last, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Clovis, California. 2022.^↩

3 Crawford, Ingrid (Gillberg), Blue Book of Remembrance, Privately held by Jana Last, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Clovis, California, 2022. ^↩

Yearbook Finds - My Dad was on the JV Football Team in High School

It's football season here in the United States. As I'm typing this, I'm looking forward to watching two upcoming college football games on TV with my husband. When I was a kid, I would sometimes sit in front of the TV and watch football with my dad, Jan Albert Iverson.

While looking through the yearbook collection on Ancestry.com, I found this really fun photo that shows my dad as a member of the Junior Varsity Football team at his high school. My dad attended Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, Oregon. This photo was from the 1953 Benson Polytechnic High School yearbook.

My dad was a member of the JV Football team during his sophomore year. Included with his senior picture in the 1955 Benson High School yearbook was information about activities and sports my dad was involved in during high school. With that information, I browsed through different years in the Benson Polytechnic High School yearbooks online at Ancestry.com and found this awesome photo. The red arrow is pointing to my dad.

Here's a close-up of my dad. It's fun seeing him in his football uniform during high school.

I'll be posting more fun yearbook finds in future posts.

Thanks for stopping by!

© 2019 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

My Dad. Member of the Tech Pep Staff in High School

Did you know that Ancestry.com's yearbook collection is free to search until September 2nd? I already have access to Ancestry, but I began looking through their yearbook collection after seeing several genealogy friends posting yearbook photos on Facebook that they had found on Ancestry.com.

I inherited several of my mom's school yearbooks, but none of my dad's yearbooks. So, it's been fun to find photos of my dad in Ancestry's yearbook collection.

I found this great photo of my dad, Jan Albert Iverson, in the 1955 Benson Polytechnic High School yearbook. I didn't know he was a member of their Tech Pep Staff. What a fun find!

I added the arrow and the boxes in this photo after I downloaded it from Ancestry. The red arrow is pointing to my dad. Here's a close-up of him.

My dad was a senior in high school in 1955. I've found and downloaded other fun pictures from this yearbook, which I will share in future posts.

Have you searched the yearbook collection at Ancestry.com yet?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2019 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

My Dad's Business Card When He Worked as an Escrow Officer

In a previous post I shared one of my Dad's business cards. It wasn't his business card as an employee for a large corporation, but for his own personal business called EZuse Software.

Today I'm sharing another business card that belonged to my Dad. This is a card he had as an employee in a company called City Title Insurance Company. It was located at 601 Hamilton Street in Redwood City, California.

From the business card it looks like my Dad worked as an Escrow Officer at the company.

Our family lived in Redwood City for several years when I was a young child. I was curious about the company my Dad worked for so I did a Google search for City Title Insurance Company, but nothing with that name came up in the results. And whatever building this company occupied back when my Dad worked there doesn't show up on Google Maps.

As you can see in the Google Maps screen capture below, the pin for the address is in a parking lot. And the addresses on the buildings on either side of the parking lot are 500 on one side and 627 on the other side. So it appears 601 Hamilton Street is no longer there.

I'm intrigued by the City Title Insurance Company's telephone number on my Dad's business card. Emerson 9-4121 sounds like a Telephone Exchange Names phone number that was used previous to today's all-number calling system.

I'm so glad we still have this old business card from when my Dad worked as an Escrow Officer. He later became a computer programmer and worked for a large corporation in San Francisco.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2019 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

Happy Valentine's Day to My Parents

Happy Valentine's Day to my parents in Heaven. This is the first time they will be able to be together on Valentine's Day since my Dad passed away on April 29, 2009. 💕

Aren't these photos cute? They were taken before my parents, Jan Albert Iverson and Elizabeth Webster, were married. The top photo was taken in 1959. I'm not sure when the bottom photo was taken.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2019 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

The Passing of my Beautiful Mom, Elizabeth Webster Iverson

I'm sad to announce that my dear, sweet, beautiful Mom, Elizabeth Webster Iverson, passed away on October 27, 2018. She had been suffering from moderate to severe Dementia, most likely Alzheimer's, according to a Neurologist we went to see in early January 2018. She declined at a rapid pace from her initial diagnosis of mild dementia in early November 2017.

My husband and I were with my Mom when she passed away. Our family will miss her, but we are happy in the thought of her joyous reunion with her beloved husband and our Dad, Jan Albert Iverson, who passed away on April 29, 2009. She must have also had a very sweet reunion with her own Mom, Sarah Vasques Madeira, who passed away when my Mom was almost four years old. My Mom also must be so happy to be with her other family members who've passed away before her.

I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we will have the opportunity to see and hug my Mom again someday. I'm so grateful to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and for His atoning sacrifice that makes this possible.

I'm so happy that my Mom is free from the horrible Dementia that took her away from us little by little over this past year. We will miss her, but we're so happy for her freedom from pain and suffering.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jana

© 2018 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

My Dad's Business Card

My late father, Jan Albert Iverson, was a computer programmer by profession. He worked at a large corporation for years. He also had his own small side business, too. 

While going through my parents' belongings at their house before we put it on the market, I came across one of my dad's business cards. This was not a business card from the large corporation where he worked, but from his own business.

His business was called EZuse Software. Two of the products developed were for educational use. They were called Quiz Master Construction Set and USA Construction Set.

Quiz Master Construction Set was software for teachers or anyone who wanted to create quizzes for students or for self-testing. The USA Construction Set was set up for educational questions about the states in the USA.

I decided to do a search in Google for my dad's name and EZuse Software. There were actually some hits online. I've included them here below:

List of Atari 400 800 XL XE Games: EZuse Software

Atari Mania lists and has links to the Quiz Master Construction Set and the USA Construction Set. If you click on the link for the USA Construction Set, you will actually see pics of the program's floppy disks. Pretty neat.

Product Review for Quiz Master Construction Set - November 1986

In his review, Gregg Pearlman begins by writing the following:

"Ever hear of a bouncy, colorful, musical real estate quiz? How about a perky multiple-choice biology exam? Ezuse Software's Quizmaster Construction Set can provide either one, as well as a whole range. of quiz possibilities, from riddle-guessing games to foreign language tests to Trivial Pursuit game questions. You decide on the subject and type in the questions and answers."

Quiz Master Construction Set Mentioned in the ST New Products - August 1988

Gregg Pearlman begins his write-up about Quiz Master Construction Set by writing the following:

"EZuse has ported its popular and inexpensive 8-bit Quiz Master Construction Set over to the Atari ST...."

Antic Magazine Archive: I/O Board

In the link above, my Dad responded to a review. He began,

"Thanks for the positive review of USA Construction Set..."

The U.S.A. Construction Set Manual

Archive.org has a copy of the USA Construction Set Manual on its website at the link above. Pretty cool!

I'm so proud of my dad and that he created his own business. He was always a hard worker and provided for his family very well. I love him and miss him so much.

Have you found any business cards for your ancestors?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2018 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

Saving My Dad's Canvas Painting Apron From the Estate Sale

We've had a lot going on around here lately. We've been getting my parents' house ready to sell. My dad passed away in 2009 and my mom has been living in a memory care facility since mid-January. There was still a mortgage on the house, so it was necessary to sell their home. In order to do so, we held an estate sale on June 15th and 16th. Getting ready for the estate sale was a big job. Our family needed to go through my parents' belongings in the home to determine what should be sold and what should be kept. Of course, family history items/heirlooms such as photos, etc. were kept.

We hired an estate sale company to run the estate sale. They set everything up, advertised, priced the items for sale, and then when the estate sale was done, they cleared the house and put all of the items that didn't sell in the garage for donation.

I thought that we had gone through all the places that would have family history items before the sale began. But, on the first day of the estate sale, one of my friends was at the sale and found some family history items, including photos! She texted me and told me what she found and sent pictures of the items. She held onto them until I got there. The one closet we didn't really go through before the sale was in the den/office. It was packed with office supplies. That's where my friend found the family history items. And in that closet I also found my dad's canvas painting apron!

My dad was an artist. We kept all of his paintings. They were not included in the estate sale, of course.

It's really fun to see the different colors of paint on my dad's apron.

I'm so grateful to my friend for finding the family history items, which led me to find my dad's canvas painting apron.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2018 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

Fun New Feature on FamilySearch ~ Compare-a-Face

There's a fun new feature on FamilySearch. It's called Compare-a-Face. And it's really cool. It compares photos of you with photos of your ancestors.

Here's what the feature looks like on my FamilySearch home page.

Simply click on "Try Compare-a-Face"

and you will see the next screen where you can upload your photo, or photos. As you can see, I uploaded several different photos of myself.

Here are some of my results with two of the photos I uploaded:

Comparing photos with my maternal great-grandmother, Esther Matus Villatoro.

Comparing photos with my paternal grandmother, Ingrid Anna Gillberg.

Comparing photos with my maternal grandmother, Sarah Vasques Madeira.

Comparing photos with my Mom.

Comparing photos with my Dad, Jan Albert Iverson.

See the ancestor photos at the top of the page? To compare with another ancestor, just click on one of their photos.

This shows my photo compared with the photo of my 3rd great-grandmother, Amanda Melvina Carlisle.

See where it says "List" with the arrow at the top left of the page? Click on that and it takes you to a list of your matches.

You can also upload more photos.

It was fun and interesting to compare photos of myself with photos of my ancestors. If you'd like to give this fun new feature a try, click on the link below.

FamilySearch Compare-a-Face

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2018 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

A Precious Photo of Chester Malvin Iverson

In June 2016, I shared the exciting and wonderful news about a new cousin connection I made because my family tree is on WikiTree.com. This new cousin's name is Maureen. She is so awesome and sweet and it's been really fun sharing and receiving family history photos and information with her. I'm grateful that Maureen has been so willing to share these precious photos, documents, and information with me. I'm also grateful that she has given me permission to share them on my blog.

In my post from last June I shared one of the beautiful photos that Maureen shared with me. It was a photo of Rose Josephine Iverson, my first cousin twice removed.

Today, I'd like to share another of the photos that Maureen shared with me.

Chester Malvin Iverson
Photo Courtesy of My Cousin Maureen

This is Chester Malvin Iverson, my first cousin twice removed, and one of Rose Josephine Iverson's brothers.

Chester was born on 26 August 1900 in Benson, Minnesota to his parents, Iver Martin Iverson and Mary Cecelia Miller.

He was the second oldest of five children born to Iver and Mary.

Chester enlisted in the United States Navy in Seattle, Washington when he was only 16 years old, just shy of his 17th birthday.

In an upcoming post, I will tell you more about Chester and his service in the Navy during WWI.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2017 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

Wednesday's Child ~ Remembering Thomas William Iverson

Photo courtesy of Jaci, Find A Grave volunteer #47592448

Thomas William Iverson was my paternal first cousin once removed. He was the son of my granduncle and grandaunt, Christian Julius Iverson and Florence McIntosh.

Thomas was one of three children born to Christian and Florence. Sadly, Thomas passed away when he was only six months old. His death must have been so heartbreaking for his family.

Thomas was born on 27 September 1929 in Hennepin, Minnesota and passed away on 31 March 1930 in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota.

While doing research about little Thomas on Ancestry.com, I was directed to the People Finder page on the Minnesota Historical Society's website. That website gave me Thomas' birth information. I'll show you how I found it.

On Ancestry.com, I was given this search result about Thomas. I clicked on "Go to website."

The following box popped up. I then clicked on "OPEN WEBSITE."

 I was taken to this page on the Minnesota Historical Society's website.

I typed Thomas' name in the search box.

The correct Thomas William Iverson was at the top of the results list.

I clicked on Thomas' name and the following page appeared.

Isn't this great? It shows the birth date and place for Thomas. It also includes Thomas' mother's maiden name as well as his birth certificate number. And as you can see, there is an option to purchase the birth certificate as well.

It's so sad that little Thomas passed away at such a young age. If you'd like to see Thomas' Find A Grave Memorial page, please click on the link below.

Thomas William Iverson's Find A Grave Memorial Page

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2017 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

When Did My Grandparents Vote In Their First U.S. Presidential Election?

Katherine R. Wilson's recent post titled My Grandparents’ First U.S. Presidential Election caused me to wonder about my own grandparents and when they may have been able to vote for a U.S. president for the first time in their lives too.

While doing research for this post, I found a helpful website called "270 TO WIN." The website includes a "Historical Presidential Elections" feature under the "Presidents" tab. You can see presidential election results from 1789 to 2012.

Arthur Harry Iverson

The first presidential election my paternal grandfather, Arthur Harry Iverson, would have been able to vote in was held in 1936. He was 25 years old at the time and was living in California. The candidates were Franklin D. Roosevelt and Alfred M. Landon.

Ingrid Anna Gillberg

My maternal grandmother, Ingrid Anna Gillberg, would not have been old enough to vote in that election. Her first opportunity to vote in a U.S. presidential election would have been in 1940. At that time she would have been 27 years old and was living in California. The candidates were Franklin D. Roosevelt and Wendell L. Willkie.

Debs Warren Webster

My maternal grandfather, Debs Warren Webster, immigrated to the United States in 1952. He became a U.S. citizen in 1973, so his first chance to vote in a U.S. presidential election was in 1976. Debs would have been 63 years old at the time and was living in California. The candidates were Jimmy Carter and Gerald R. Ford.

Willis Quillin

My maternal grandmother, Willis Quillin, (technically step-grandmother, but she is Grandma to me) immigrated in 1952 along with her husband Debs and their family. She also became a U.S. citizen in 1973. Therefore, her first opportunity to vote in a U.S. presidential election was in 1976. She was 56 years old at the time and was living in California. The candidates were Jimmy Carter and Gerald R. Ford.

Did my grandparents actually vote in these U.S. presidential elections? I don't know. But these are the dates when they were first eligible to vote.

How about your grandparents? When was their first opportunity to vote in a U.S. presidential election?

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2016 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved