Yeaney
Main Street in Westfield, New York, at dusk
The Yeaney arms New York · Texas · Tennessee · California · and beyond

Yeaney

Scattered across the country, rooted all the way back. No, there’s no R in it.

Westfield · New York Photo: A. Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0
Our story

Start with who you know. Dig back from there.

Today we’re spread across New York, Texas, Tennessee, California and beyond. Lester Allen Yeaney Sr. held down West Main Street in Westfield, New York, for years. Before him the family worked the hills of Clarion County, Pennsylvania, and before that it crossed an ocean from a village in Switzerland in 1805.

The name took a beating along the way: Jenny and Jaeny in the old records, Yeany and then Yeaney in Pennsylvania. People still can’t leave it alone (Yearney, Weaney, Yaney). This is where we keep it straight: the people we know, the records we can prove, and the stories that get better every Thanksgiving.

How we got here

Get the whole saga →
Old farmhouses and a barn in Diegten, Switzerland
1777Diegten, SwitzerlandWhere the paper trail starts, for now. Johannes Jaeny is born.
The Clarion River below wooded hills
1813Redbank Township, PAAfter crossing an ocean in 1805, the family walks into the woods and decides this will do.
Grape vineyards outside Westfield, New York
1900sWestfield, NYGrape country by Lake Erie, and Lester Sr.’s house on West Main.
The line

From Diegten. Down to us.

Five generations, oldest first, each checked one record at a time. The further back, the more “citation needed.” Everyone after Samuel is family-only, behind the sign-in.

Open the family tree →
  1. IHans Jacob JennyDiegten, Switzerland · being checkedc. 1738
  2. IIJohannes JaenyDiegten to Pennsylvania, 1805 · on record1777–1869
  3. IIIChristian YeanyBorn in Lancaster County · on record1812–1896
  4. IVJeremiah F. YeaneyClarion County, Pennsylvania · on record1858–1903
  5. VSamuel Lester Yeaneym. Mildred Hilty · on record1902–1977
  6. VI–The rest of usLiving family · sign in to see who’s hereFamily only

Every step back gets checked against census and church records before we call it fact. Know something? Say something.

The proposed Yeaney arms: a black lion on gold beside a silver fir with its roots on black, three gold stars above
The Yeaney arms · proposed

A shield of our own.

Drawn for the family in 2026. Not inherited, not borrowed, and definitely not from one of those surname-crest kiosks at the mall. Just a mark for the generations after us.

The lionBlack on gold, for Diegten and the old country.
The firSilver, roots showing, for the timber work of our first American generation.
The starsThree in gold, for what’s still ahead.
Photo: Nyttend, public domain Next gathering · date to come

The Yeaney Reunion

Dates, place and RSVPs for family. Bring the old photos. Leave the old arguments.

Coming soon → Photo: R. Zumbuehl, CC BY-SA 4.0 Family ventures

Work with a Yeaney.

Businesses, trades and talents across the family, from a Westfield flower shop to whatever we’re building now.

Coming soon →

Is your name in the line?

Yeaney, Yeany, Jenny, or married to one (our condolences). Request access, claim your profile, and add your branch before someone else gets your birthday wrong.

Request family access →