Bernard Aronson

My name is Bernard Aronson and I started this site.This site was created using MyHeritage Family Tree Builder software This is a great system that allows anyone like you and me to create a private site for their family, build their family tree and share family photos. I should note that the initial collection of the Sandler/Antonos and Aronson/Janes family was initiated when Davey Sandler, Solly Kupperman, and Nate Kupperman formed the Cousins Club.   As a young man between the world wars, Davey Sandler started to ask questions of the then older members of the family.  Without that early intervention, information on the family might have been lost.  This current listing of family members had the benefit of this initial collection of the family history.  I should note that very few errors have been found since I have continued and added to the initial genealogy on this website.NOTE: Nate died on 13 Feb 2014 at 95 years; hopefully he has joined Solly and Davey in the celestial cousin's club. Another major contributor to the Antonos/Antonis family history was Donny Loon (1924-2011) who left us richer in the knowledge that he passed on to me as well as his artistic abilities. My brother, Murray Aronson, was instrumental in providing guidance and information on the Aronson/Janes families.  Recently, information was found on Nadean Summers' ancestry.  From her mother's Kaul side via the Warner family, her 25th great grandfather, Piers (Peter) FitzHerbert, Lord of Brelenock (1164-1235) was a signatory of the Magna Carta in 1215; In addition, this same line results in direct lineage to Charlemagne ((2 April 742 – 28 January 814) and his second wife, Hildegard of the Vinzgau (754-30 April 783).Nadean's 5th great grandmother, Sarah Province Yard (1724-1796) was the owner and landlady of a Philadelphia boarding house where John Adams resided, met with various delegates and ate during the creation of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The Yard (Yarde) family were originally derived from of a Germanic family named Lucas (Lukas, Lucass) that were followers of Hengist and Horsa, that appeared first in Kent ca 400 ACE. A John Lucas was a courtier in the Court of Baldwin V, in Flanders (Baldwin V  was the father Matilda, wife of William of Normandy); John accompanied William in his visit to England in the early 1050s and then returned to the court in Flanders before 1066.  He had acquired lands in Devon (including the pictured Yard property, Bradley Manor, Newton Abbott, Devon, England) and other parts of England in 1046 and after the invasion 1066, Matilda laid claim to his holdings.  Following her death, the holding was returned to John Lucas and his family. John Lucas was succeeded by Lucas Fitz John in 1166 and he was followed by John Fitz Lucas in 1166; his son, Lucas Fitz John succeeded him before 1197 in service to King Henry II. The latter also served as the Royal Butler of Wines and Spirits; he married Eustacia de Courtney; she was exiled in 1204 and died in 1215. Eventually, a later heir, Willam (living in Yard Manor) assumed the surname, Attyard (or de la Yard), which morphed into Yarde and finally into Yard. The Yardes were masons and proceeded to build many churches in England and the American colonies. My paternal granduncle, Hyman Yarnis (originally Jannis), who enlisted at the age of 18, participated in the Army incursion in Mexico to capture Pancho Villa, was promoted to Corporal, and participated in every engagement of Company C, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, A.E.F. under General Pershing in WWI including in the battles of St. Mihiel, Meuse, Argonne, and Verdun and on 9 Oct 1918, he was serving near Fleville, France on Hill 272, when he volunteered to attack and capture a machine-gun position which was enfilading the lines by its fire from the left flank. He killed the enemy crew, in which encounter he was wounded by a grenade. Notwithstanding his wound, he advanced against a second machine-gun position, during which he was wounded a second time. However, he continued on and attacked and captured the 2nd enemy crew. Because of his heroism, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Croix de Guerre, and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster.Recently, I obtained some new information from Simon Janis on Hyman's grandparents and parents. The former were Joseph Jonas and his wife (name unknown) who were born ca 1798 in, or around, Riga, Russian Latvia. Joseph was a feldscher (paramedic).  During the outbreak of cholera in the Moscow area, Joseph and his wife treated the victims only to be felled by that disease (Joseph was 37 y at that time), leaving a 12 y son, Samuel and a younger daughter (name unknown), orphaned.  They were sent to a brother of Joseph's to live.  At that time, the brother's son was called up for the draft into the Russian army.  The brother, substituted Samuel for his son; Samuel was drafted into the Russian Army at the age of 12, served in an artillery regiment and fought in three major wars and several Tartar invasions, including the Crimean War, where he was stabbed by a Turk; because of Samuel's meritorious service, he was honorably discharged after serving 33 years.  Upon discharge, despite all the attempts to convert him to the Russian Orthodox Church, Samuel went and married a Jewish girl, 20 years his junior (Jespe "Jane" Yaroslvsky) and they settled in the interior of Russia where Samuel was appointed a village constable. One should note that Samuel was a sturdy 5'3" tall man who also was a proficient wrestler. Early in his stint as village constable, Yospe was attacked by a drunken village peasant and Samuel responded by beating the living daylights out of that low-life. Because of his action, Samuel and his wife, Yospe, were exiled to Bialystok, in the Russian Pale.  They settled in and grew a large family who eventually emigrated to the USA.From the Antonos side of the family, we have two distant relatives, Dr. Miron Vovsi (who was indicted in the infamous Doctor's Plot by Stalin): thank goodness, Stalin died and Dr. Vovsi survived to old age and Solomon Vovsi (aka, Solomon (Shloyme) Mikhoels) who was the head of the Moscow Yiddish Theater and was executed by the orders of Stalin. I should note that a very good source for Latvian Jewish relatives can be found on the website of, the recently departed Christine Undine, for the rabbinical records of births of Rabbis Ratner and Rabinowitz: http://usdine.free.fr/thexrigaxvitalxrecords.html. Another excellent source is https://www.jewishgen.org, which covers most of world Jewry.