This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: EdenJoachim Surnames: BARON Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.baron/16.86.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: "tribe of Benjamin" indicates Judaism. Benjamin was one of the original 12 tribes of the Jewish people. "aristocrat in Russian Georgia but wasn't Russian" The belief that your grandfather (and or his ancestors) were aristocrats requires additional research to either prove or disprove. The vast majority of Jews who were forced out of their homelands and chose to go east from what's today Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Poland, Ukraine etc (former Russian Empire)did so to escape pogroms, persecution and almost certain death. www.jewishgen.org is a good place to start your search to learn more about your possible Jewish roots. The surname BARON and variant spellings occurs throughout the former Russian Empire so more work is necessary to try to determine where exactly they may have lived before "Russian Georgia". Good luck, Eden Joachim esjoachim@optonline.net New York Descendant of BARONs from Lithuania and Belarus who were also musically gifted (ggf was a Cantor, gf and his siblings were piano players, violin players and opera singers) Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.