I have written frequently about VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) and the reasons why everyone should be using one. (I am a believer in what I preach. I am using a VPN to post this article online. When I turn my computer on in the morning, it immediately connects to the Internet via a VPN and remains connected all day long. The same is true for my laptop computer when traveling and for my cell phone wherever I am.)

Now one of the bigger VPN providers has announced the addition of unlimited simultaneous connections. Private Internet Access is one of the most popular VPNs. Many VPN providers place a limit on how many devices you can have connected at once, partially to manage network capacity, and also to prevent someone from sharing their account with many other people. 

Starting today, PIA is dropping its device limit entirely, allowing people to have as many devices connected through the same subscription as desired. The company said in its announcement, “PIA’s new offer of unlimited device connections per subscription applies to both new and existing customers, and is a significant upgrade from the 10 device connections previously offered.”

Private Internet Access already has most of the features you would expect from a VPN provider, including apps on every major platform, browser extensions, WireGuard support, servers across the world, and limited support for streaming services. Most people probably weren’t maxing out that 10-device connection limit, but dropping it certainly makes PIA a better overall value.

You can learn more about the service from PIA’s official site: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/ (scroll down to the section entitled Want To Know More? for more information about VPNs).

The following announcement was issued by Heritage Canada:

The Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez announced the reappointment of Leslie Weir as Librarian and Archivist of Canada for a four-year term, effective August 30, 2023.

Since her first appointment in August 2019, Leslie Weir has led Library and Archives Canada through a series of exceptional challenges and major initiatives. In addition to guiding the institution through the COVID-19 pandemic, she oversaw the development of the library’s Vision 2030 strategic plan and the launch of digital and service transformations to better serve Canadians. Weir has also helped guide major building projects, such as the Gatineau 2 Preservation Storage Facility and Ādisōke, the joint facility with the Ottawa Public Library.

Before joining the library, Ms. Weir was university librarian at the University of Ottawa, where she founded the bilingual School of Information Studies in the Faculty of Arts. She previously worked at the National Library of Canada, Statistics Canada Library and Côte St. Luc Public Library in Montréal.

In her career, Weir has played a key role in launching many significant library and archives research projects. She was a founding architect of the Scholars Portal, a research infrastructure initiative for Ontario universities, hosted at the University of Toronto. As President of Canadiana.org, she oversaw the launch of the Heritage Project, which digitized 60 million heritage archival images in partnership with LAC, which are publicly accessible. She also played a leading role in the development of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network and the Canadian Digital Content for the Social and Human Sciences Project.

Weir has served as President of both the Canadian Association of Research Libraries and the Ontario Library Association, as well as Chair of the Ontario Council of University Libraries. She is a Professional Division Chair and member of the Professional Council at the International Federation of Library Associations. She has received numerous awards, including the CLA/Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship (2015), the Ron MacDonald Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (2016), the Ontario Council of University Libraries Lifetime Achievement Award (2018) and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries Award for Distinguished Service to Research Librarianship (2018).

Weir holds a Master’s degree in Library Science from McGill University and a Bachelor of Arts from Concordia University.

The following is a press release issued by Library and Archives Canada:

After the legislated 92 years in the vault, the highly anticipated 1931 Census of Canada will be made available to the public. Collected during the Great Depression and at a time of significant immigration, the census provides a snapshot of the more than 10 million people living in Canada in 1931. On June 1, 2023, Canadians can expect to browse the digitized census images by geographic district and sub-district on the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) website. Following the initial release, LAC will work collaboratively with Ancestry® and FamilySearch International to create an advanced searchable database for Canadians and those with Canadian heritage who wish to look for their ancestors.

In this collaborative effort to increase access to the 1931 Census of Canada, LAC has digitized all 234,687 pages of the census, and Ancestry will apply its state-of-the-art handwriting recognition technology to the digital images to create a full index of the entire census. FamilySearch will then review the computer-generated index to ensure a complete and accurate index of all fields at a level never achieved before. The images and indexes will be available and searchable online for free through Census Search, Library and Archives Canada’s new one-stop shop for national census records. The images and indexes will also be available on Ancestry.ca and FamilySearch.org

LAC has been working in collaboration with external organizations including Ancestry and FamilySearch for over 20 years to help preserve, and provide access to, its genealogically significant historical records. Today, collaborations between private organizations and public institutions are the meeting ground of cutting-edge technology and subject-matter expertise. This collaborative partnership is key to meeting public demand and ensuring that the 1931 Census of Canada can be viewed and searched online more quickly than previous censuses.

Users can bookmark LAC’s Preparing the 1931 Census web page to stay up to date on the project’s status.

About Library and Archives Canada

The mandate of Library and Archives Canada is to acquire and preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of present and future generations, and to be a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada. Library and Archives Canada also facilitates cooperation among communities involved in the acquisition, preservation and diffusion of knowledge, and serves as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions.

About Ancestry®

Ancestry®, the global leader in family history, empowers journeys of personal discovery to enrich lives. With our unparalleled collection of more than 40 billion records, over 3 million subscribers and over 23 million people in our growing DNA network, customers can discover their family story and gain a new level of understanding about their lives. For over 40 years, we’ve built trusted relationships with millions of people who have chosen us as the platform for discovering, preserving and sharing the most important information about themselves and their families. 

About FamilySearch

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. It is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to make joyful, personal, and family discoveries. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 5,000 FamilySearch centres in 129 countries, including the main FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

One of the many presentations at RootsTech 2023 that was videotaped is now available online. I was in the audience during this presentation and enjoyed it. I hope you will also. MyHeritage CEO Gilad Japhet discussed several recent additions to the service. Gilad gave a sneak peek of one exclusive new photo feature that will be released very soon. 

You can watch the video in the in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2023/03/whats-new-at-myheritage-our-founder-and-ceo-gilad-japhet-addresses-rootstech-2023/.

TouringCars.Net is today (14 March) announcing the launch of the Touring Car Database, featuring one of the internet’s most comprehensive sources of tin-top history and information.

Data spanning more than four decades, 263 seasons, 4,066 races, 3,477https://www.touringcars.net/2023/03/touringcars-net-launches-comprehensive-touring-car-database drivers, 2,438 qualifying sessions and over 30,000 photographs (and counting) is included in the comprehensive dataset.

As well as this, contextual information on 216 individual circuits and venues is presented, along with graphical representations and historical configurations of each track.

Utilising this data, detailed statistical lists and comparisons are able to be presented. Whilst for some series (such as the British Touring Car Championship), a currently incomplete list of race winners is presented, for others, detailed comprehensive lists can be assessed.

The announcement follows many years of research from TouringCars.Net into the history of the sport at a national and international level. This research remains an ongoing project, with the intention of pulling together as much of a complete dataset as possible.

You can learn more in an article by Andrew Abbott published in the TouringCars.net web site at:  https://www.touringcars.net/2023/03/touringcars-net-launches-comprehensive-touring-car-database. 

A new federal archivist is one step closer to Senate confirmation after a committee voted to approve her, despite controversy over the National Archives’ handling of presidential records and Equal Rights Amendment ratification.

The full Senate is finally going to get to vote on President Biden’s nominee to be archivist. 

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-4 (among those present) on Wednesday to advance Colleen Shogan’s nomination to be archivist of the United States. She was most recently a senior vice president and director at the White House Historical Association and previously worked at the Library of Congress and Congressional Research Service. She was also a professor at George Mason University, and wrote a series of mystery novels. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., called for the vote to be postponed following allegations from a whistleblower, who is a former employee of Shogan. The whistleblower claimed that when Shogan was at the Congressional Research Service “she engaged in partisan conduct and abusive behavior allegedly, that she allegedly made unsolicited statements of support for political candidates in the workplace, [and] that she also attempted to organize signing events for her book on federal property during work hours for commercial gain,” the senator said. Also, the whistleblower alleged Shogan engaged in “abuse, retaliation, and persecution,” said Hawley, who sent a letter to the Congressional Research Service about the situation on Tuesday.  

“Shogan categorically denied the accusations described by Hawley in a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee dated March 10,” The Hill reported on Wednesday. “The nominee noted she received multiple promotions during her 12-year career at the Library of Congress, earned ‘outstanding performance ratings and awards’ and didn’t face a single reprimand, sanction or warning.” This came after Hawley and other Republicans criticized and scrutinized Shogan for her tweets, leading to her failure to advance out of committee the first time. 

Government Executive asked Shogan via LinkedIn message for additional comment on the situation, but she did not immediately respond. The Library of Congress, which houses the Congressional Research Service, said it doesn’t comment on personnel matters, when asked about the letter and allegations. 

During her confirmation hearing last month, Shogun testified that her priorities would include reducing the backlog of over 300,000 veterans’ records requests and looking for opportunities to declassify older records. In the fall, the Society of American Archivists, Council of State Archivists, American Historical Associationand EveryLibrary (a political action committee for libraries) all urged her confirmation. 

You can read more in an article by Courtney Bublé published in the Government Executive web site at: https://tinyurl.com/bdenuubh.

The MyHeritage Irish collections include Irish birth, marriage, death, census, wills, atlases, directories, calendars, historical books, registers, passenger lists, prisoner, and registration records. Many of the collections also include images.

The following announcement was written by MyHeritage:

We are pleased to announce that in honor of St. Patrick’s Day this year, we are making all 106 of our Irish record collections available to search for free for a limited time, March 14–19, 2023! If you have Irish heritage, you may get lucky and discover a family treasure!

Search Irish collections on MyHeritage for free!

The MyHeritage Irish collections include Irish birth, marriage, death, census, wills, atlases, directories, calendars, historical books, registers, passenger lists, prisoner, and registration records. Many of the collections also include images. 

Here is an example from the Irish collections.

The 1901 Irish census collection contains a record of renowned Irish writer, James Joyce. The record contains his birth year, circa 1882; place, County Dublin, Ireland; and religion, Roman Catholic. His occupation is listed as “student” and his age as 19. The record includes his father’s name, John Stanislaus Joyce, and mother’s name, Mary Joyce. It also lists all of his nine siblings: Eileen, Mabel, Florence, Margaret Alice, Eva May, May Kathleen, Charles Patrick, John Stanislaus, and George Alfred. In the Household section in the record, you can flip between different members to view their entire records. You can also click the icon at the top right corner to see the image of the record as it appears on the Irish National Archives site.

You can read more in the MyHeritage Blog at:  https://blog.myheritage.com/2023/03/free-irish-records-for-st-patricks-day/.

When Civil War soldiers were stationed in Northern Virginia, they left behind drawings, written passages, and other graffiti that serve as a historical record.

Now those markings at two historic Virginia sites are being preserved thanks to a partnership between George Mason University’s award-winning Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM), the Fairfax City’s Office of Historic Resources, and the Brandy Station Foundation. The partnership recently received a $60,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation and Access, to support the project.

The grant “Off the Wall: Digital Preservation of Civil War Graffiti Houses” will develop a proposal for an eventual implementation grant aimed at digitizing and contextualizing the graffiti and associated ancillary materials held by Historic Blenheim in Fairfax and the Brandy Station Foundation in Culpeper related to the graffiti in their two historic house museums.

Working with R.B. Toth Associates LLC of Oakton, this grant will use a range of digital imaging technology and work processes to capture the graffiti on the walls of Historic Blenheim and the Graffiti House at Brandy Station, and develop a metadata schema that will allow for the digitization and contextualization of the graffiti. This schema will serve as a model for future digitization projects of images on vertical surfaces.

“The graffiti gives you an insight into the lived experience of an individual soldier who was struggling to deal with an incredibly brutal war,” said Mills Kelly, director of RRCHNM and project manager.

You can read more in an article by Shayla Brown published in George Mason University’s web site at:  https://www.gmu.edu/news/2023-03/neh-grant-helps-mason-partners-create-digital-archive-civil-war-graffiti.

Every March 17, millions of people pause to reflect on their Irish heritage. Conceived as a Saint's Day in the Catholic Church, Saint Patrick's Day is now a time of celebration for millions. However, many of us have little knowledge of the man whose name we celebrate.

First of all, Saint Patrick wasn't even Irish. He was a Roman citizen. The place of his birth is disputed. Many biographies claim that he was born in Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton in Scotland, in the year 387. Others claim he was born in the village of Bannavem of Taburnia (vico banavem taburniae in his Confession), which has never been securely identified. Still others claim that Saint Patrick was born somewhere along the coastline of Wales or in northern France or in the settlement of Bannaventa in Northamptonshire.

His original name is recorded as Maewyn Succat. In his Confessio, Patrick names his father as Calpornius, a deacon, son of Potitus, who was Romano-British. A questionable old tradition makes his mother from the upper-class Gaulish family of Martin of Tours, though Patrick makes no such prideful claim.

At the age of sixteen, Patrick was carried off into captivity by Irish marauders and was sold as a slave to a chieftain named Milchu in Dalriada, a territory of the present county of Antrim in Ireland. He was soon sold to another chieftain in the area. The future saint spent six years tending his master's flocks near the modern town of Ballymena. During this time he learned to speak fluent Celtic. 

After six years of bondage, Patrick escaped, apparently by simply walking away at a convenient opportunity. He wandered for some time, eventually finding his way to Westport. There he found a ship ready to set sail and was allowed on board. In a few days he was in Britain, safe under Roman rule. He then traveled extensively to other lands and studied religion. Patrick spent time in St. Martin's monastery at Tours and at the island sanctuary of Lérins. He met Saint Germain and became a student of the great bishop. When Germain was commissioned by the Holy See to proceed to Britain to combat the erroneous teachings of Pelagius, he chose Patrick to be one of his missionary companions.

Pope St. Celestine the First had taken note of the young man's abilities and commissioned Patrick with the mission of gathering the Irish race into the Catholic Church; he also gave him the name "Patercius" or "Patritius." It was probably in the summer months of the year 433 that Patrick and his companions landed at the mouth of the Vantry River in Ireland, close by Wicklow Head. The Druids were against his missionary work and wanted to kill him, so Patrick searched for friendly territory in which to enter on his mission. Near Slemish, the missionary was horrified to see in the distance the fort of his old master, Milchu, enveloped in flames. It seems the fame of Patrick's marvelous power of miracles had preceded him. In anticipation of Patrick’s arrival, Milchu had gathered his treasures into his mansion and set it on fire, casting himself into the flames in a fit of frenzy. An ancient record adds, "His pride could not endure the thought of being vanquished by his former slave." 

Saint Patrick traveled all over Ireland, preaching wherever people gathered. His sermons were not always well received, and many attempted to murder him. Saint Patrick wrote in his "Confessio" that twelve times he and his companions were seized and carried off as captives. On one occasion in particular, he was loaded with chains, and his death was decreed. However, Saint Patrick always managed to escape death. He converted thousands to Christianity and built many churches. It is recorded that he consecrated no fewer than 350 bishops. Legends attribute many miracles to Saint Patrick. 

Saint Patrick died on 17 March, and that date is now dedicated to his memory. While the day and month is known, the year is not so certain. Various histories and biographies claim that he died in A.D. 462, 492, or 493. It is not known for sure where his remains were laid, either, although Downpatrick in County Down in the North of Ireland is thought to be his final resting place, as its name seems to proclaim. 

There are many Web sites devoted to Saint Patrick, providing a wealth of material. You can read more at http://www.ireland-information.com/saintpatricksday.htm, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm, and many others. 

Over the 27 years I have been writing this newsletter, I have published thousands of articles. Looking back, I now realize that many of them have been about advanced topics that should appeal to genealogists who are already proficient at finding old records and are interested in advancing their already-advanced knowledge of the common methods of finding their ancestors. Today, I decided to write about a topic that I have generally ignored: how the newcomer can get started in finding his or her family tree.

I suspect that most people reading this newsletter already know the information presented in this article. However, I will invite you to print this article or send it via e-mail to anyone who expresses an interest in genealogy or asks why you have such an interest. Also please feel free to reprint this article in newsletters, newspaper articles, or anyplace else that you feel might be appropriate. (I would appreciate your giving credit to the author, however. Thanks.)

Do you have a curiosity about your family tree? Many people do. Some may have their interest piqued because of an heirloom, an old picture, or perhaps an unresolved family mystery. The reasons people get hooked on genealogy are many and varied, but each person's search is unique. After all, the search for your ancestors really is a search for yourself.

If you think that family history research requires hours of rummaging through libraries, trekking through cemeteries, and writing letters to government bureaus, you're in for a pleasant surprise. Finding your family tree is simpler than what many people imagine. To be sure, you may encounter some intriguing obstacles. However, most of them can be overcome.

As with so many hobbies today, using a computer can simplify some of the tasks of searching and recording the information. However, a computer is not necessary. Americans have been recording their ancestry for two centuries or more without digital tools, and you can do the same. All you need is a starting point and a direction, and maybe a few tips.

In the beginning... there's you!

Starting a family tree search is very simple: begin with what you know about yourself, and then work backwards, one generation at a time. Linking back from yourself through the generations helps to ensure that the people you research actually belong in your family tree and don't simply have the same name as one of your ancestors. The unfortunate souls who try to skip a generation may well find themselves perched in the wrong family tree.

Write down the information that you already know. By “writing it down,” you can use pen and paper, perhaps a genealogy program installed in your own computer, or on a web site, or even as personal notes in the cloud. How you record the information is not important. What is really important is that you can find the information again quickly and easily at any time you want to refer to your previous findings.

A basic pedigree chart will help. You can find these at genealogy societies and at most libraries, as well as on a number of Web sites. You can find such charts at https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Genealogy_Research_Forms and at https://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/charts-forms/.

Place yourself in the first position on the chart, and fill in the vital information: your name, the date and place of your birth, as well as the date and place of any marriages you have had. Next, move back one generation, and fill in the same information for both of your parents: name, date and place of birth, date and place of marriage, and date and place of death, if deceased. 

Continue working back even further, to grandparents and great-grandparents, if possible. Very few beginning genealogists can fill in the basic facts on even three generations, let alone four. Simply fill in what you already know, and leave the remaining facts as blank spaces. You can fill them in later as you uncover clues.

Once you exhaust your own memory, a family fact-finding expedition is a great way to gather more information. Pick the brains of your family members, especially older family members. Take along a notebook, and write down the events they remember. (I take a tape recorder whenever I visit older family relatives.) Ask around for photos, letters, newspaper clippings, and so on. The memorabilia you find will surprise and delight you.

So far, you've relied on people's recollections to add to your history. We all know, however, that memories are not always exact. Next, you will need to confirm the date and place of birth, date and place of marriage, name of spouse, date and place of death, names of parents and children, for as many individuals as possible. You will be surprised how easy it is to find birth certificates and marriage records, especially in the United States. Our country has a long tradition of recording and preserving these vital records.

Now you are ready to set an achievable target from the myriad facts you have accumulated. Pick an ancestor, perhaps one with a few blanks on the chart. Next, choose a question you would like to answer, such as the town where he or she was born. Then decide where you will start hunting.

A birth certificate is an obvious objective. However, you may also need to look in a wide range of places to find out more about that person's life. When the location of birth is not easily found, you can look for other records that will help identify the person's origins. Some of the places you can look are census records, military records and pensions, land records, schooling, occupation, electoral rolls, sporting clubs, newspaper reports - in fact, the list of places where you may find clues is almost endless.

Keep in mind that not all genealogy information is available online. In fact, my guess is that less than 50% of my family tree is available online. Why should your family tree be any different?

Generally speaking, it's easier to search through indexes and compiled records that are available on the internet at the beginning of your family tree discovery tour. Even if you don't own a computer, many libraries today provide computers with internet access for just such purposes. One of the greatest resources available is that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, usually referred to as the Mormons. This church has microfilmed millions of records from all over the world, and indexes to these microfilms are available on their Web site, www.familysearch.org. The Mormons gather records from all faiths and all ethnic groups and make these records available to everyone, regardless of religious orientation. These records were originally all captured on microfilms and the church is now in the multi-year process of converting those microfilms to online digital images. However, that project will not be completed for many more years.

Best of all, you can reserve and view the original microfilms at a local Mormon Family History Center near where you live. The films ship straight from Salt Lake City to your local Center, where volunteers can help you with the microfilm readers. While there, you will not be given any religious materials or lectures (unless you ask). You can find the Family History Center closest to your location if you start at https://familysearch.org/locations/. 

Wherever you turn up information about your ancestors, always check the "facts" that you find. Many times you will obtain a piece of information that later turns out to be inaccurate. Never believe anything until you can verify it! You need to treat all verbal information -- as well as most of the genealogy information on the internet -- as "clues to what might be true." Then, armed with this newly-found information, seek out an original record of the event that corroborates what you found earlier.

Once your tree starts bearing fruit, you will probably find that a computer can be a tremendous help in keeping track of all your people, events, and dates. Today's computers and software are priced to fit most any budget, and they can save weeks and even months of work. If you decide to use a computer, it's a good idea to choose a genealogy program sooner rather than later -- even if you have collected only a few family details. 

NOTE: The genealogy program might be installed in your computer or else online on the Web (or in “the cloud”).

These programs help to organize information about individual ancestors, as well as their relationships to others in the family tree. These programs will make it much easier for you to visualize the connections between people through their capability to automatically generate charts and even point out potential discrepancies.

There are many good articles about “How to get started” available online. One of the best can be found at: https://www.familysearch.org/gettingstarted/.

A search for your family tree can be one of the most fascinating and rewarding pursuits of your life. Who knows what you will find? Nobility? Heroes? Or horse thieves? Most of us can find all three in our ancestry. Who is lurking in your family tree?