Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Jonas Aaron


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   redirect to History of the Jews in Philadelphia. Spartaz Humbug! 19:09, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

Jonas Aaron

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An article on the first Jewish resident of Philadelphia. No other point of notability. I'd like to get some opinions on this: Do we really need an article on each "frist ABC resident" of "XYZ town"? Seb az86556 (talk) 16:35, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Mmm, this was started as a request from the Missing Encyclopedia article project which are "supposed" to be a list of missing notable articles as missing articles froma notable publication, the Jewish Encyclopedia. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?q=Jonas+Aaron&btnG=Search+Books If he wasn't notable why would he be mentioned in 2000 books? ]. Looks as if somebody would have to use a book to expand it..., he is mentioned in the "Jews that made America" book, American Jewish heroes and many other notable publications... I don't mind what you all think... Maybe he had an influence on settlement patterns in the city too, and led to the growth of Jewish inhabitants in the city, don't know, I haven't time to contest... Dr. Blofeld       White cat 16:31, 16 August 2009 (UTC)


 * That's fine. I see this in the broader light of wikipedia, that's why I posted it here. If most people say keep for good reaons, then alright. Seb az86556 (talk) 16:41, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

I assumed if it was included in the Jewish Encyclopedia and on a hotlist of missing wikipedia articles somebody must have thought it was suitable... Maybe I picked a bad egg... See missing articles, most of them seme notable, not sure here.. Dr. Blofeld       White cat 16:43, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

I'm leaning towards delete as it seems he was mentioned in a directory. Wikipedia isn't a directory... Dr. Blofeld       White cat 17:01, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Keep or possibly redirect. Blofeld’s Google books search throws up an awful lot of spurious hits, but ‘the echt Jonas Aaron’ is mentioned frequently in accounts of early Jewish settlement in the region, and I believe he becomes notable through that. So an alternative would be a redirect to such an article here, if there is one, now or in the future.

There are two or three things which might be addable to the article fairly quickly by somebody interested:
 * One of the hits identifes him specifically as a German Jew. If that’s correct then somebody coming across the name elsewhere and checking him out in Wikipedia could learn something which might be of interest to them.
 * The second thing is that the narrator of one of the (rather tedious) stories in Benjamin W. Blandford, Off the Capes of Delaware - Stories of American Jewish Heroes (1940) has the same name and seems likely to be a fictionalised version of the historical figure.
 * Then this suggests that he was not among the first Jews in Pennsylvania. (Paradoxically, perhaps, I think that with that addition which seems to make him less notable, the article would become more useful, and therefore to still more be kept.)

I agree, by the way, that we are certainly unlikely to need articles on the first Mormon in Milton Keynes or the first Buddhist in Bethesda! Ian Spackman (talk) 19:35, 16 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Keep Being mentioned in that many books, makes you notable.  D r e a m Focus  20:54, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

I've mentioned him in the History of Philadelphia article. Maybe a redirect? Dr. Blofeld       White cat 21:38, 16 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Even better would be History of the Jews in Philadelphia. He's mentioned there. Seb az86556 (talk) 21:45, 16 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Redirect to History of the Jews in Philadelphia. I think Seb az86556 has it right immediately above; someone about whom there is this little to say should be treated in the context of a larger article. Deor (talk) 00:24, 17 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Keep We include as articles those subjects that are in other selective encyclopedias. There is always more to find, if one does a little research ion the full range of secondary sources. I don't see from the references that anything else has yet been done--the various directories just repeat each other. But I'm sure every resident of Phila in 1703 can be traced further.  DGG ( talk ) 01:51, 17 August 2009 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.