From an article by Carol DiPirro-Stipkovits:

I have loved maps since grade school, and I’m still fascinated by them. I’ve been gifted several over the years and my home now has a dedicated wall to hold the collection of both those and estate sale finds, which includes a large pull-down from a local elementary classroom dated 1964. Am I aging myself? Do these still exist? 

Understandably, when I discovered the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, I was thrilled. David Rumsey is President of Cartography Associates, a digital publishing company based in San Francisco. In 1980, after a successful career in real estate, Rumsey, who is clearly even more fascinated with maps than I am, began to collect eighteenth and nineteenth century maps of North and South America, the era during which modern cartography began. Eventually, he expanded his collection to rare sixteenth through twenty-first century maps of America, North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Pacific, Arctic, Antarctic, and the world. The collection now contains over 150,000 maps and other cartographic items and is one of the largest private map collections in the world. In 1995, Rumsey made his collection available to the public by building the online David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. There are now over 130,000 items online with new additions being added regularly. The collection is available on his website davidrumsey.comfor free viewing.

How can these maps help genealogists? Old maps bring your ancestors’ hometowns to life. They give you a glimpse at what the world looked like when your ancestors lived there and what was happening at that time. You can also see borders change over the years. 

To search this collection, find as much information about your ancestor’s hometown as possible—country, state, ancestral town name, other geographical details such as nearby villages, rivers, railways, etc. These are all clues to find the right place on a map. I pay attention to railways as I have ancestors who were employed as trainmen so likely lived close by. Use the search box at the top right of the site. If you can’t locate your ancestral town, try searching nearby village names. 

If your ancestor lived in an area that was involved in a disaster, say the Chicago Fire or San Francisco earthquake, using these as search terms may show reconstruction plans or detailed drawings of buildings that were damaged or destroyed. 

The newest feature is “search by text on maps,” which can be accessed next to the search box. A quick search of “Tonawanda” came back with 694 results. The maps can be viewed by hovering your cursor over each result. When you find a map you’re interested in, choose ‘Open in Georeferencer’ and use one of my favorite tools on this site: map overlays. There’s so much you can do with this feature including overlaying it with a modern map to find lost street names.  You’ll want to play with opacity until its easily readable. Clicking Compare in the bottom right will give you additional maps of the same area. 

Historic Scottish “cabinet papers” dating from the period leading up to parliamentary union with England have been published online for the first time.

Researchers have spent four years painstakingly transcribing and editing the records of the Scottish Privy Council, described as one of the “most important” parts of Scottish government, between the years 1692 and 1708.

The records, which have now been published in a freely-accessible online database, provide “key insights” into the executive government of the day during a period that included revolution, Jacobitism, and the formation of the union with England.

Alastair Mann, honorary senior research fellow at the University of Stirling, said: “The Scottish Privy Council was one of the most important institutional branches of Scottish government in the early modern period, focusing on the period from the revolution of 1689 to the union of 1707.

“This record is the nearest we have to ‘cabinet papers’ of the time and provides key insights into executive government during a dynamic period of revolution, Jacobitism, famine, economic struggle and parliamentary union with England.”

The Scottish Privy Council Project was launched in 2020 and saw researchers at the universities of Stirling and Dundee study, edit and translate more than three million words contained in the records.

Alan MacDonald, senior lecturer at the University of Dundee, said: “Privy Council records were edited and published in a series of printed volumes – nearly 50 in total – covering the period 1545 to 1691.

“Given the importance of the Privy Council in early modern Scotland, these volumes quickly became central to Scottish historical scholarship, sustaining countless books, articles, and doctoral theses with the breadth and richness of material they contained.

“However, the withdrawal of public funding in the 1970s meant that the final tranche of Privy Council records, covering the years up to the council’s abolition in 1708, has always remained unpublished.

“While most of the Privy Council’s registers were written in something very close to the English of the period, they presented some linguistic difficulties, especially around the use of specifically Scots terms, chaotic punctuation, and a wholly unstandardised approach to spelling.”

Dr Mann added “It is our hope that this website and its records are a foundation for research into government and policy in a dramatic period of flux and transition in the economic, political and social life of the people of Scotland.”

The Scottish Privy Council Project was funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

The database can be found at https://spcr.ac.uk/.

The following is an announcement written by Findmypast:

This Findmypast Friday, discover three centuries of global history.

We've updated our South African record collection this week, adding over 1.6 million baptism, marriage and burial records from across the country to three of our existing record sets. 

These new additions cover the years 1660 to 1996, so there are over 300 years of global history to delve into. We've also added pages to ten newspaper titles, spanning from 1910 right up to 2003.

South Africa Baptisms

We updated our South African baptisms this week - there are around 1.2 million new and improved records for you to discover, with both images and transcriptions available.

South Africa Marriages

There are also new images and transcriptions to explore within our South Africa marriage set. These additions are from Cape, Free State, Kwazulu-Natal and Transvaal.

Explore this record.

In addition to both spouse's names and ages, you may be able to glean an address, a marriage place and additional notes from within these records. Be sure to check the original image to ensure that no key information is missed. 

South Africa Burials

Rounding off this week's trio of South African updates we have 400,546 new and improved burial records, from four provinces across the country. 

New pages from Skegness to Sussex

There are 153,774 new pages to discover this week. 

West Lancashire Evening Gazette, 1 April 1953.

We've updated ten regional titles including the West Lancashire Evening Gazette and the Sussex Express.

Here's a full rundown of what we've added to our newspaper archive this Findmypast Friday. 

Updated titles:

• Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News, 1990, 1992, 2000
• Dewsbury Reporter, 1990, 1994-1995, 1999-2002
• Epworth Bells, Crowle and Isle of Axholme Messenger, 1911-1915, 1935-1939, 1951-1959, 1970-1973, 1994-1995, 1997, 2000-2003
• Halifax Evening Courier, 1991-1992, 1995, 1997
• Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette, 1994-1996, 2001-2002
• Littlehampton Gazette, 1979-1980, 1992
• Skegness Standard, 1989-1990, 1992, 2003
• Sussex Express, 1965-1973, 1985, 1992, 1994-1995
• West Lancashire Evening Gazette, 1953, 1974, 1987, 1999
• Worthing Herald, 1990, 1992

Last week we added over 13,000 19th century military records - explore the full release here.

Solve a WW2 mystery

For the third weekend of our family history challenge, it's time to jump forward to the eve of the Second World War.

Using the 1939 Register, see how the family's life looked on the brink of yet another global conflict. What can you discover with this detail-rich resource?

Tune into the Family History Show

Join Ellie and Liam for the Family History Show, as they dig into the life of Audrey Hepburn using some fascinating family history records.

Watch now

Today is the first day of the month. That is a good time to back up your genealogy files. Then test your backups!

Your backups aren't worth much unless you make a quick test by restoring a small file or two after the backup is completed.

Actually, you can make backups at any time. However, it is easier and safer if you have a specific schedule. The first day of the month is easy to remember, so I would suggest you back up your genealogy files at least on the first day of every month, if not more often. (My computers automatically make off-site backups of all new files every few minutes.)

Given the events of the past few months with genealogy websites laying off employees and cutting back on services, you now need backup copies of everything more than ever. What happens if the company that holds your online data either goes off line or simply deletes the service where your data is held? If you have copies of everything stored either in your own computer, what happens if you have a hard drive crash or other disaster? If you have one or more recent backup copies, such a loss would be inconvenient but not a disaster.

Of course, you might want to back up more than your genealogy files. Family photographs, your checkbook register, all sorts of word processing documents, email messages, and much more need to be backed up regularly. Why not do that on the first day of each month? or even more often?

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) has identified the suspect in the murder of Melonie White.

On Aug. 27, 1994, two hikers found a female body near Gypsum Wash in the Lake Mead Recreation Area and called 911. The next day the Clark County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Melonie White. The cause of death was determined to be a homicide due to evidence of strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head. The LVMPD Homicide section took over the investigation.

At the time, all investigative efforts were exhausted in the attempt to identify the suspect responsible for White’s murder. The case remained unsolved and was assigned to the LVMPD Homicide Cold Case Section.

In May 2010, during a review of White’s murder, LVMPD Homicide Cold Case detectives requested additional forensic testing of the evidence left at the scene. A DNA profile was located and loaded into CODIS, but there was no match.

In 2021, cold case detectives, with the assistance of the Vegas Justice League, sent the unknown suspect profile to Othram to identify the suspect.

On Aug. 26, 2024—almost 30 years to the day of recovering White’s body—detectives were notified by Orthram that forensic genetic genealogy identified Arthur Joseph Lavery as the suspect in this case.

Lavery was living in Las Vegas at the time of the murder and moved to California in the mid 2000’s. He died on Feb. 20, 2021, from heart disease and complications from COVID.

Republished courtesy of LVMPD

Scotland’s People has released records of around 180,000 admissions to HMP Barlinnie, Glasgow, dating from 1882 to 1899. This release also includes a prisoner photograph album, providing photographs of over 2,000 inmates. This release gives researchers an exciting opportunity to explore the story of Scotland’s largest and most infamous prison. Users can explore the construction of the prison itself, and uncover the stories of people who spent time in Barlinnie.

Barlinnie Prison, situated on the north-eastern outskirts of Glasgow (no date).
Image credit: © Newsquest (Herald & Times)

Building Barlinnie

HMP Barlinnie was built to replace eight small prisons across Glasgow city and the west of Scotland. Glasgow's rapid population growth in the 19th century meant these existing custodial facilities were increasingly rundown and overcrowded. Major General Thomas Bernard Collinson, the architect and engineer to the Scottish Prison Department, was called up to produce plans for Barlinnie prison. The original drawings consisted of four accommodation blocks which were four-stories high and could house 200 prisoners.

A site on the north-eastern outskirts of the city in Riddrie was purchased in 1879 and construction started in 1880. The building of the new Barlinnie prison took six years to complete.

This map of the east of Glasgow city, 1902, depicts a rural landscape, which is now an urban area. Barlinnie Prison can be found located east of Riddrie near the Monkland Canal which is now the route of the M8 motorway. 
National Records of Scotland (NRS), RHP5641/1/4

The outline of HM Prison Barlinnie can be found in this Inland Revenue Field Map from the early 20th century. 
Crown copyright, NRS, IRS118/81

Barlinnie was created by an order by the Secretary of State, 27 June 1882, under the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1877, as a place of legal detention for criminals of all descriptions. An Order in Council, 26 July 1882, declared the prison to be a General Prison for Scotland.

The construction of Barlinnie eased overcrowding at Glasgow (Duke Street) Prison and allowed the Prison Commissioners to close the inadequate prisons at Campbeltown, Rothesay, Airdrie, Hamilton and Lanark.

Each block of the prison was brought into use upon completion, and the first prisoners arrived at A Hall on 15 August 1882. B, C and D Halls were completed between 1883 and 1892, and a further block ‘E Hall’ was added in 1896 to ease overcrowding. This increased capacity to approximately one thousand prisoners.

To keep costs down, prisoners from A Hall were used as labourers to construct further accommodation blocks and structures within the boundary walls. The prisoners involved in this work were serving short sentences of three to fourteen days and received a different diet from longer serving prisoners. They were given a supplement to their morning meal; ‘a six-ounce roll and half-a-pint of buttermilk before going to their work in the morning’ (Crown copyright, NRS, Prison Commissioners for Scotland, Minute Book, HH35/2, page 360).

Barlinnie alias “BarHell”

Life as an early inmate at HMP Barlinnie was extremely hard. It soon developed a reputation as a tough prison, and across the years prisoners have nicknamed it ‘BarHell’ and the ‘Big hoose’. Initially, prisoners were occupied breaking rocks from the local quarry. A common punishment for unruly behaviour appears to have been ‘handcuffs behind [their back] & canvas jacket at night’ or a number of nights. The prisoner would be assessed as fit for this punishment by the Prison Surgeon, and the warden would administer the cuffs and or jacket (NRS, Barlinnie Governor’s Journals, 1880-1891, HH12/25).

Religious services in the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian faiths were provided from when the prison first opened in August 1882, but a chapel in the prison grounds was not completed until 1894. The prison chaplain notes that access to library books were appreciated by prisoners but they ‘prefer books that treat on secular subjects, rather than those whose works which discuss religious topics’ (Report of Medical Advisors to the Prison Commissioners, 1882-83, App., XXXI, p. 103).

In the 1930s structural additions were made, including staff offices (1933), a gymnasium, and a new library (1939). From 1946 onwards, Barlinnie General Prison served as a place of execution and the prison’s purpose-built hanging shed was used on 10 occasions between 1946 and 1960. Those who went to the gallows included the serial murderer Peter Manuel (1958) and nineteen year old Anthony Miller (1960). The bodies of the executed men were buried in unmarked graves in the prison grounds.

New thinking around punishment and rehabilitation in the 1970s saw the introduction of an experimental therapeutic facility designed to reform the most violent and disruptive inmates. The Barlinnie Special Unit (BSU), was in operation between 1973 to 1994 and sparked worldwide interest. Those committed to the BSU did not wear prison uniforms and had some input on how the unit should be managed. Despite some high-profile success stories, such as the sculptor and writer Jimmy Boyle, the unit was closed due to the loss of confidence from government ministers and prison officials. The prison was progressively modernised between 1997-2004, with flush toilets being added to cells, and finally ending the practice of ‘slopping out’.

The end of an era

After 142 years as Glasgow’s main prison, the story of HMP Barlinnie is close to ending. The prison now holds 500 more prisoners than it was designed for, and is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to maintain. In 2020, HMP Barlinnie was deemed unfit for purpose and a new purpose-built prison - HMP Glasgow – is scheduled to open in 2027.

The release on Scotland’s People of the admission registers of HMP Barlinnie, and its associated photograph album of prisoners, will give researchers a fascinating insight into the people behind the prison’s imposing walls. In some instances, we can put a face to the names listed, and explore how and why these men ended up in prison, and what happened to them after their release.

Death over breakfast

Prisoner profile: Thomas Johnston

The Aberdeen Journal dated 26 January 1891 states that two men quarrelled ‘over the quality of the meal provided for his breakfast, and both proceeded to the backyard “to fight it out”’. The men involved were John Wood, aged 46, and his stepson Thomas Johnston, aged only 17. Wood was killed.

Johnston and his three brothers lived with their mother and Wood in a cramped two roomed apartment at 138 Drygate, Glasgow. The bedroom accommodated the adults while the children, including Wood’s own son from a previous marriage, Alexander, slept in the kitchen. Wood “was addicted to liquor” and had previous altercations with his eldest stepson, Thomas. Wood had repeatedly taunted his stepsons about their Chinese heritage and their original last name of Jan Sing. Wood and Johnston had previously fought one another, causing Johnston’s mouth to bleed.  

Birth certificate of Thomas Johnston or Jan Sing. His father has signed the register using his ‘mark.’
Crown copyright, Statutory Register of Births, 1873, 644 / 5 / 117

Johnston also felt that that his stepfather belittled his youngest brother, James. By looking at witness statements taken before the trial, the boys’ mother stated that the deceased “had always an ill feeling towards my youngest boy James aged 4 and a half years from my first marriage”. 

On the morning Wood was killed, Thomas’s brother Samuel, aged 15, gave evidence that a quarrel had occurred over a breakfast Wood had cooked. He heard Wood “calling my mother’s family pigs and he said he was not going to feed them” (Precognition papers, NRS, AD14/91/20). Wood entered the kitchen where the boys were trying to sleep. Samuel’s witness statement describes how Wood entered the kitchen and said he would “fight the whole Mongolian race of them and he challenged Thomas to fight.”

The fight took place outside and witnesses say that Thomas received a heavy beating. The two men were dragged apart by neighbours on the tenement stair. Thomas took out his knife used for cutting tobacco and stabbed his stepfather in the heart. Wood was taken back to their flat and it was not until later that his family realised he had been seriously wounded. Thomas dressed and reported himself to the nearest Police Station to give himself up.

The post-mortem of Wood took place two days after the incident on 27 January 1891. The cause of death is listed as “penetrating wound to the heart, inflicted by a sharp instrument.” (NRS, Court Trial papers, JC26/1891/52)

Initially charged with murder, Thomas Johnston plead guilty to the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

Thomas Johnston was sent to Barlinnie Prison on 4 March 1891. This was his first criminal conviction. Johnston was released exactly a year later. His age on admission is given as 17 and his height 5 foot 3 and a half inches. He was listed as working as a brush maker. 
NRS, Barlinnie Prison register, HH21/70/9 p.101

Three years after his release from HMP Barlinnie, Thomas Johnston married Elizabeth Scott and their union is recorded in the 1895 Statutory Registers of Marriage.

A Barlinnie native

Prisoner profile: Peter Davidson alias John Porter

The recent Barlinnie Prison records release includes a rare example of a photograph volume of prisoners for the period 1882-1891. Although images do not exist for all prisoners, this unusual record allows us to follow one individual, through multiple stays, in Barlinnie Prison.

The first time John Porter appears in the photograph album is on his liberation from HMP Barlinnie in March 1883. He had just served 60 days for ‘Being a rogue & vagabond’, under an act designed to criminalise begging and rough sleeping.

Peter Davidson alias John Porter. The photograph was on his liberation from Barlinnie Prison on 23 March 1883.
Crown copyright, NRS, HH21/70/97 p. 10

John Porter from Glasgow looks much younger than his 17 years. The prison admission book notes that he has a tattoo on his left arm of ‘AD JH’ and details his small stature of five foot, 2 inches, and his weight of 118 pounds.

He appears again in December of the same year. Despite the short time between stays, he seems to have matured considerably:

John Porter on the day of his liberation from Barlinnie Prison on 30 December 1883.
Crown copyright, HH21/70/97 p. 40

Porter’s third and final appearance in the Barlinnie Prison photograph volume is in July 1885. Porter is aged 18 and according to the admission register, has grown to the height of five foot 4 inches. His mature appearance is a contrast to the portrait taken a little over a year earlier.

John Porter appearing for the third time in the photograph volume.
Crown copyright, NRS, HH21/70/97 p. 55

On this occasion he was imprisoned on a charge of Contravention of the Police Scotland Act 1871, Section 15. This relates to evidence of vagrancy and the intent to commit felony. The longest prison term for this crime was three months, which Porter received with hard labour. He arrived at the prison on 21 April 1885 and was released on 21 July 1885, as stated on his photograph.

Although he was only photographed three times by the Prison authorities, Porter had become a regular inmate of Barlinnie Prison during his teenage years, primarily for offences of vagrancy. Porter served a total of five short sentences between 1883-1885. The detail below from Barlinnie Prison admission register informs us that he has been in the said prison four previous times, and gives his last prisoner number as ‘7/1890’.

‘Four’ times previously in Barlinnie Prison for John Porter. His age, 18, and height, 5 foot 4 inches, are also recorded. Detail from Barlinnie Prison admission register, 1885.
Crown copyright, NRS, HH21/70/1 p. 162

This would not be his last committed crime. While being tried at Glasgow High Court on 11 September 1888 for multiple charges of theft, he claimed he could not have committed the offence as he was in Barlinnie Prison at the time. His statement recorded in the court minute books, is given below: 

The High Court minute book records the details of Porter’s trial and his own statement to the court on 11 September 1888.
Crown copyright, NRS, JC13/116 p. 40

Despite the alibi provided by Porter, stating that he was released on 'the evening of the 3rd of August' this does not account for the spate of thefts he was charged with. They were believed to have taken place after he was liberated from prison between 1 and 9 August. Porter was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. By searching the admission registers, it appears that Porter was not sent to Barlinnie to serve this sentence. As he was a repeat offender, he may have been sent to, the-then newly opened, HMP Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. 

A dangerous affair

Prisoner profile: Hugh Abernethy

Hugh Abernethy, aged 26, was admitted into Barlinnie Prison on 28 June 1887, having plead guilty on a charge of assault. Unfortunately, Abernethy’s likeness was not captured by the prison’s photographer, but his case was an infamous one and it was followed closely by the press.

The case files present a timeline of events:
•    On 28 February 1887, Abernethy visited the Kelvinside area of Glasgow to see his sweetheart, Euphemia Hamilton. Abernethy fired a revolver at Hamilton before fleeing the scene. Hamilton was not injured. 
•    On 12 May 1887 Abernethy appeared at Hamilton’s place of work, Findlay & Reid bootmakers on Charlotte Lane. Upon seeing Hamilton standing behind the shop counter, he took aim and fired, but missed her a second time. At this point, Abernethy turned the gun on himself, injuring his neck and head in the process.

When the case came to trial, Abernethy’s counsel, Mr McClure, asked for as ‘lenient a sentence as possible, because no bodily harm was done to the person attacked’ (Glasgow Weekly Herald, 2 July 1887). McClure went on to state that Abernethy did not ‘belong to the criminal class’ and had been courting Hamilton but discovered that she had been ‘going with other men.’ His ‘state of desperation’ was protracted when he found out that Hamilton was married and had an illegitimate child. Abernethy went to her house to seek an explanation, but when Hamilton refused to see him, he committed the above offences.

Hearing that the accused had tried to kill himself after the second attempt, the court decided Abernethy was ‘not in his right mind’. However the judge declared that he should not have sought revenge on a woman who had wronged him. Given that he attempted to shoot Hamilton on two separate occasions, Abernethy was sentenced to spend only 12 months in Barlinnie.

Hugh Abernethy’s family enumerated in the 1911 census at 37 Stanhope Street, Glasgow. The marriage of 16 years has created 5 children, but only 4 are alive.
Crown copyright, NRS, 1911 census, 644/8 18/13

After serving his sentence in Barlinnie Prison, Abernethy appears to have reset his life. He can be found in the 1911 census aged 50, married to Jessie Taylor (married 1894), with four children.

In this article we have explored the diverse history of HMP Barlinnie, reflecting on its inmates over the centuries. The admission registers of Barlinnie (Glasgow) and Perth General Prisons, Largs Jail and Edinburgh's Bridewell and Calton Prisons are accessible on Scotland's People. The Prison registers record guide will give you tips on searching the records and what type of information these register contain. 

Further reading

For more information on searching the Prison Registers on Scotland's People, and what they contain, see our Prison register record guide.

You may find the handwriting in the prison records difficult to read. Look at the guides on reading older handwriting, unfamiliar words and phrases, and search the glossary for assistance with abbreviations, legal terminology, occupations and other unfamiliar words.

Announcing the Focus on the Society of Genealogists' Genealogical Treasures and Collections with Else Churchill (a 30 minute talk)

Tuesday, 5 November 2024 14:00 

Delve into the treasure chest of SoG’s collections. In each session you’ll learn more about one of our collections or record sets. You’ll discover how you can access and use these sources to further your research or historical knowledge. 

This month we will be focusing on SoG Sources for the armed services.

Book here: https://members.sog.org.uk/events/653fd4ab33d2260008c5ce6b

From Bloomberg News:

Ancestry.com Inc. said a hypothetical takeover of its flailing rival in the consumer genetic testing industry, 23andMe Holding Co., likely wouldn’t be possible for antitrust reasons. 

“Although we are always interested in looking at possibilities that are out there, 23andMe specifically would be challenging because they’re the No. 2 in the category and we’re the No. 1 in the category and those combinations can be challenging from an FTC standpoint,” Chief Legal Officer Greg Packer said at an internal meeting last week when asked about the possibility of buying 23andMe’s database.

An Ancestry spokesperson declined to comment beyond what was said during the meeting.

23andMe went public in 2021 via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company founded by billionaire Richard Branson and was valued at $3.5 billion at the time. Since then, its shares have fallen 98% as sales of DNA testing kits have slowed. Chief Executive Officer Anne Wojcicki said last month she is no longer open to third party takeover proposals and instead will take the company private. All independent board members resigned last month.

Even if Ancestry were allowed to buy 23andMe, Chief Operating Officer Howard Hochhauser isn’t sure they would want to, he said during the meeting last week. Ancestry has the best product and network of data, Hochhauser said, pointing to a recent spike in sales of DNA testing kits.

Led by former Meta Platforms Inc. executive Deborah Liu, Ancestry is the world’s largest consumer genealogy company. It has more than $1 billion in revenue and over 25 million people in its DNA database, according to the company’s website. In 2020, private equity giant Blackstone Group Inc. acquired a majority-stake in the company.

What families don’t have skeletons in their closets? To delve into family secrets and learn about unspoken family members and ancestors, the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, 400 Eau Claire St., Eau Claire, is presenting a three-part series in November called Dirty Laundry: The Dark Side of Genealogy, which will focus on prisons, mental institutions, and the Ku Klux Klan in Wisconsin.    

Kicking off the series on Saturday, Nov. 9, 11am-noon, is “Our Black Sheep Ancestors and Their Prison Records.” Presenter Eleanor Brinsko, MLIS, owner of Carlon Genealogical Services in Oshkosh, will show how to learn about ancestors our families won’t talk about by using prison and legal records, archives, online databases, and newspapers. Brinsko specializes in Scandinavian-American and Midwestern genealogy. She has presented lectures at the Wisconsin Historical Society, public libraries, and genealogical societies around the United States. Brinsko also has contributed to the PBS show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.   

The second presentation, “The Blue Trunk, Genealogy Research & Historical Fiction: A Path to Healing” on Thursday, Nov. 14, 6-7pm, will feature Ann Lowry, an Eau Claire native from Fort Collins, Colorado. Lowry will share her debut novel The Blue Trunk, and how failing to uncover the secrets of her long-lost, great-great aunt Marit led to healing through historical fiction. Though fictional, the book was inspired in part by Lowry’s real-life search for an ancestor whose life story was taboo in family conversations. Marit may have lived at the Eau Claire County Asylum and Poor Farm, and Lowry’s search was hampered by lack of official records and family stories.

Concluding the series on Thursday, Nov. 21, 6-7pm, “Chippewa County, WI Klanswomen in the 1920s,” is the library’s very own Alyson Jones, MLS, MSc. Jones will present her research into membership of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in Chippewa County. Who were the local women who joined the second wave resurgence of the KKK in the 1920s? What do we know about their lives and their motivations? Jones will discuss how to supplement sparse membership records with primary sources, such as censuses, newspapers, and vital records, and use record linkage and family reconstruction to create profiles of these women in their communities.

Registration is required. To access the series and each program, please visit www.ecpubliclibrary.info/dirtylaundry     

Here is an article that is not about any of the "normal" topics of this newsletter: genealogy, history, current affairs, DNA, and related topics. However, it is a topic that I suggest that all computer users should be familiar with this new technology:

Without a question, the Internet has completely changed the way we live. It has altered the way we communicate, travel, work, get information, and engage with one another. We benefit from an increased degree of freedom as a result of the democratization and decentralization of information. As a result, the public's access to information about issues affecting both the globe and themselves has increased significantly thanks to the Internet. The mainstream media and centralized authorities are losing influence as a result of the Internet.

But not everything is perfect. We have overlooked—or have been forced to overlook—something as significant in our haste to seize the liberties provided by the Internet: our privacy. People often forget that they are the real product of these new free services, as billions of people rush to sign up for the newest social media networks.

Parts of the Internet became factories for data collecting, with important user information and data being handed on to the platforms' real customers — the highest bidder — thanks to incentives from "free" platforms and peer pressure. Large swaths of the Internet were taken over by a few dominant firms, which harvested data property that did not belong to them, weakened privacy rights, and made censorship easier. (Can you say "Google" or "FaceBook" boys and girls?)

Privacy awareness has increased as a result of this centralizing influence as well as other worries about accessibility, surveillance, and net neutrality. In order to provide a more democratic, private, secure, censorship-resistant, and decentralized Internet of the future, there is an increase in the use of VPN and DPN services.

Virtual private networks (VPNs)

I rather like the Wikipedia definition of VPNs:

"A virtual private network (VPN) is a mechanism for creating a secure connection between a computing device and a computer network, or between two networks, using an insecure communication medium such as the public Internet.

A VPN can extend access to a private network (one that disallows or restricts public access) to users who do not have direct access to it, such as an office network allowing secure access from off-site over the Internet.

The benefits of a VPN include security, reduced costs for dedicated communication lines, and greater flexibility for remote workers.

A VPN is created by establishing a virtual point-to-point connection through the use of tunneling protocols over existing networks. A VPN available from the public Internet can provide some of the benefits of a private wide area network (WAN)."

You can read more about VPNs on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network as well as on dozens of other web sites.

Private Networks That Are Decentralized

Decentralized Private Networks, sometimes known as decentralized VPNs (often abbreviated to DPN or DVPN), function similarly to virtual private networks (VPNs) in that they transit web traffic via encrypted tunnels over decentralized networks as opposed to centralized ones. Higher security levels are ensured by serverless and distributed architecture, which prevents user data from being tracked, compromised, or subpoenaed.

VPNs are growing in popularity as people become more conscious of privacy concerns and challenges related to data and information centralization. Blockchain and cryptocurrency innovators are already taking advantage of this need to provide decentralized enhanced security for online users.

User devices function as the client (typically individual Internet users) and a server or multiple servers (such as Amazon Web Services or Google or even individual desktop or laptop computers in use in private homes) in a decentralized private network such as Deeper Network or Mysterium Network. Additionally, the IP addresses automatically shift in accordance with their routing rules, creating global tunnels to connect to other nodes.

Similar to virtual private networks (VPNs), decentralized private networks have the advantage of not requiring a central point of control. This indicates that the network cannot be taken down and that there are no central locations to attack. Because no centralized supplier has access to the data that users were attempting to secure, the individual users (clients) also retain control over their data.

For instance, Deeper Network and other DPNs integrate blockchain technology, network security, and the sharing economy to build a worldwide peer-to-peer network that provides the same level of resistance against censorship and data theft as conventional VPNs, but without the requirement for a central server. The same is true with other services that enable total privacy for information sharing between apps, users, and organizations, such as Mysterium Network and HOPR.

Deeper Network and Mysterium and others insure privacy and increase security simply because there is no central organization that can retain records that can be subpoenaed by central governments. Rather than use high-tech language to explain how DPNs work, I will revert to a non-technical explanation:

DPNs work by creating an environment whereby interested users can "meet" and negotiate connection services. It is as if a client in Singapore says "I am available" and a client in the United States says "I am looking for an available client in Singapore." The two clients remain anonymous to each other, then connect and data is exchanged directly between the client in the United States and the client in Singapore" with no other "middleman" involved. The client in Singapore typically provides data from local online connections in Singapore, encrypts it, and then provides that data to the client in the United States. Unlike traditional VPNs, the central DPN organization does not know which clients are communicating with each other and never sees the data being exchanged. Therefore, a central government or any other organization or an individual hacker cannot monitor the connection and cannot later obtain any records of what transpired, even with a subpoena.

In addition to software, there are hardware solutions that, such as Deeper Connect, also establish a private network that allows users to browse the Internet normally through a DPN. These hardware-based decentralized DPNs provide a one-time purchase option without a subscription. Additionally, DPN users have the option to profit from sharing their unused bandwidth with other users.

All of this combines to produce a more pleasurable, safe, and genuinely private network for Internet browsing. In addition, most DPNs are available either free of charge to the end user or else may be available at greatly reduced charges when compared to traditional VPNs. 

DPNs have a strong chance of guiding the Internet from its current state to a safe communication area where ethics and technology converge to protect individual liberty, freedom, and dignity.