We’re an evolving project of discovery.

Our ideas, our music, our web pages, all in motion.

We’re history lovers, mostly storytellers.


Our thoughts and ideas are the bones we leave behind. 

an american story
part 1 and part 2

Dedicated to mothers and fathers everywhere, loving and longing for their children.
And to our brave sons and daughters, who should not have to suffer this way.
“I was thinking of many things while writing this song. All the stories of mothers fighting to keep their children alive.
My wishes for my son. To keep him safe. To keep him close.
A profound sense of the precariousness of it all. How close we dance to the edge every day. And it’s not always a dance. 
More like hand to hand combat. With no armor and no back up.”

Though my team and I are not journalists or historians, we have tried our best to remain true and accurate throughout this post.”- Ellen Kaye

immigration
part i
maikelis antonellea, yorely bernal, and maiker espinoza

“As Trump rushes to deport migrants, many worry children’s rights are being violated
A growing number of cases – including a 2-year-old kept in U.S. custody after her mother was deported to Venezuela
reignites fears of child separation policies.”
Read the full article here
Read more of this story here: The Associated Press – By Valerie Gonzalez

immigration
part ii
Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez and sebastiana perez

Immigration
“Here are the U.S. citizens caught in Trump’s immigration crackdown” By María Luisa Paúl
Over a dozen U.S. citizens have been swept up in the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, according to interviews, court records and news reports.
Updated May 3, 2025

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez — Florida
Photo Credit: Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez is reunited with his mother after he was released from Leon County Jail in Florida. (Thomas Kennedy/AP)

On April 16, Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old citizen, was detained by Florida Highway Patrol during a traffic stop near the Georgia-Florida line, The Post reported. Despite presenting his birth certificate and Social Security card, he was arrested under Florida Senate Bill 4-C — a law targeting unauthorized immigrants in the state, which had been temporarily blocked by a federal court.

Lopez-Gomez, who primarily speaks Tzotzil — a Mayan dialect — was held in Leon County Jail for over 24 hours due to an ICE detainer, even after a judge verified his citizenship and dismissed the charges against him.
McLaughlin said Lopez-Gomez told officers he was in the country illegally: “Immediately after learning the individual was a United States citizen, he was released.”

Read the full article here: 
Here are the U.S. citizens caught in Trump’s immigration crackdown by Maria Luisa Paul

and read more about this story here:
Man detained in Florida on immigration hold despite being citizen by Vivian Ho

and here:
U.S. citizen arrested in Florida under blocked immigration law by C.A, Bridges

 

AJC NEWS
He was held by police for over 30 hours despite being a U.S. citizen

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen born in Georgia, was arrested by Florida police in mid-April after being labeled an “unauthorized alien” while traveling to Florida for a construction job. He was held in jail for more than 30 hours because of an ICE detainer, even after his mom proved his citizenship in court. AJC’s Lautaro Grinspan spoke with Juan Carlos and his mother about the trauma of the arrest, the racial profiling they believe played a role, and the impact it’s had on their family and community. As they are still processing the arrest, mother and son have yet to cross the state line and return to Florida for work. Lopez-Gomez’s attorney, Mutaqee Akbar, said his client’s attempt to declare citizenship and provide documentation to the officer is exactly what he should have done during the encounter. Akbar also said he is discussing a possible wrongful arrest lawsuit. Credits: AJC | @LlanosJackie / X | @tomaskenn / X | Silvia Alba / WTXL

sleeping shadows lullaby

our song that draws inspiration from stories like these

SLEEPING SHADOWS LULLABY

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Sleeping Shadows Lullaby

live performances & inteviews sleeping shadows

Sleeping Shadows Lullaby Playlist

3 Videos

An Interview with Ellen

Sleeping Shadows Lullaby Playlist

4 Videos

Full transcript of interview with Ellen below

“Lulling your baby to sleep with your sing song words and melody.
But your deepest wishes and fears break through.”-Ellen Kaye

I wrote Sleeping Shadows Lullaby to tell the story of what it feels to be a young mother in a dangerous, chaotic world with your baby strapped to your chest or on your back with lips on your neck. 
And you’re doing everything you can to protect it and to tell that the world isn’t as bad as it seems and to be reassuring and to sing and to whisper and to lull the child to sleep and also to look out into the world and say, you know, here are the beautiful stars. Here’s this beautiful planet that we’re living on and your whole life is in front of you. But in the song, the young mother is also on the run. So it’s that struggle of trying to keep the baby quiet so that, you know, the enemy, the predator, the hunter can’t hear you and yet to remain strong and fierce and optimistic that you’re going to get the heck out of this really bad situation, whether it’s a forest, a jungle, a city street. 
So to a better and safer world, that’s what I’m trying to write about.

2nd Answer:
Sleeping Shadows Lullaby is the last song in chapter three and it’s part of the Seeker Song Trilogy. It’s from the point of view of a mother from any time, from any time since the beginning of time. 
From the neanderthals to humans and it’s about being on the run, whether it’s in a forest or a jungle or in a city with your baby in your arms. Being chased and trying to lull the baby to sleep and hoping that you can make the child feel safe in an unsafe world.

I want listeners to love the young mother and her child and to think that if they were there they would do everything they could to protect them. And if they are a young mother and feel that the world is an impossible place, that this song gives them hope, you know, that there are ways out of terrible situations and there are people who will help you get out of them. 
And mostly to kind of foster a feeling of love and sympathy for people that are in trouble and need us.

“I dreamed that we were far away and gone
on wings of birds, we flew at dawn 
I dreamed I kept you safe and sound from harm
We left this earth and we were gone.”

I think that’s kind of the heart of the tune.  And it’s the dream, the dream that every parent has. And I think more than parents, I think it’s the dream that everybody has for the people they love. That they can protect them, they can set them free and they can take such good care of them that they will never ever be in want for anything.

Definitely my own experience as a mother is central to the tune. And I had my son Ian in a difficult time in my life and he was the most amazing gift to me. But there were circumstances that definitely were challenging. 
So, I’m thinking of that when I was writing the song and I’ve always remained very aware of how hard it is to be a mother. In the beginning, in the middle, in the end. It’s just a difficult path. It’s one I highly recommend, but what it takes to do it and you just never ever know if you’ve ever felt that you’ve mastered it. And you always wish that you could have done some things differently. But mostly I think the longing to protect your child is elusive and somewhat delusional. So you’re kind of fighting that idea in yourself. And because you want to remain optimistic and you want to be strong for your children. 
So I think all of that weaves in and out of “Sleeping Shadows Lullaby.”

2nd Answer:
I think the precariousness of existence and in particular the most vulnerable. But also I do believe that most people on this planet will be extremely vulnerable at some point. 
Whether they see it coming or not and I’m looking to kind of dive into that about how on the edge everything really is and how fraught and what a daily fight it is just to put one foot in front of the other. So that’s I’d say that that was one of the deeper things that’s roiling underneath what I was writing about. 

the story

Sleeping Shadows Lullaby

” How it feels to have your heart filled to the brim with love and dread for your child.“-Ellen Kaye

With “The Unknown” and “Sleeping Shadows Lullaby” I’m trying to convey what it feels like to be the other, to be on the run, to be out in the cold, far away from friends, from those who love you. To be unprotected. Alone. And in this case, with a small child on your back fighting off your natural and unnatural predators.
Lulling your baby to sleep with your sing song words and melody. But your deepest wishes and fears break through. The lullaby is what is on your lips to keep your child quiet in dangerous places. But your thoughts and longings break through, soaring above the hushed whisperings, asking the universe to give you a goddamn break.
To be lost in another time, in another person’s story. To remember what it feels like to have everything on the line. How it feels to have your heart filled to the brim with love and dread for your child. To refuse to accept your destiny.
I was thinking of many things while writing this song. All the stories of mothers fighting to keep their children alive. My wishes for my son. To keep him safe. To keep him close. 
A profound sense of the precariousness of it all. How close we dance to the edge every day. And it’s not always a dance. More like hand to hand combat. With no armor and no back up

listen to the old bones odyssey original songs below

The songs Old Bones Odyssey and These Walls Are Alive are the main themes of our entire project. They are inspired by the people that fill our stories. 

"old bones odyssey" - the album.
please click here for our linktree

#1 old bones slideshow below

The RTR
The Russian Tea Room. Sidney Kaye, Faith Stewart-Gordon, Sidney Poitier, Faith with the RTR team, Ellen Kaye, Dudley Moore, Armand Assante, Natasha Kinski.
Kaye, Peerce, Williams, Oldin, Halpern, Goldberg
Family gathering 1970s.
Hart Island Map
A map detail off the Bronx coast.
Sidney Kaye at The RTR
My father having a photo taken for a Russian Tea Room ad campaign.
George Frederick Tuttle
Author of The Descendants Of William And Elizabeth Tuttle, published 1883. Family genealogist on the Courtney line.
Faith Stewart-Gordon In Front Of The RTR
My mother outside the Russan Tea Room.
Phoenix House
Phoenix House buildings on in decay on Hart Island.
The Descendants Of William And Elizabeth Tuttle
Title page. The Descendants Of William And Elizabeth Tuttle by George Frederick Tuttle. Published 1883. A History of Ellen’s maternal ancestors who emigrated from England to America in 1635 on a ship called the Planter.
Sidney Kaye with Sidney Poitier
My Dad with his good friend, talking, relaxing for a moment in the RTR dining room. Circa 1960s.
The Thermopylae
By Montague Dawson - 1868.
Kim Tsang with John Tsang
Kim being held by his father John. Long Island, NY. Circa 1960.
Potters Field Headstone
Hart Island, New York
Lloyd Williams
b. 1932. d. 2020. Fashion designer.
Sidney Kalmanowitz Kaye
WWII
Ellen Kaye - Missing Persons Poster
1974
The RTR
I always loved the way it looked like it's own odd little foreign embassy. The Russian Tea Room.
Faith Burwell Kaye Stewart-Gordon
The 1950s.
Jan Peerce
Signed photo by Jan Peerce- 1958. b. Jacob Pincus Perelmuth in 1904 in the Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York. d.1984, New Rochelle, New York. Jan was a famous cantor and opera singer, known as Toscanini’s favorite tenor. He starred in “Fiddler on the Roof” on Broadway as Tevye. His recording of “The Bluebird of Happiness”, which was written for him, became his signature tune and became a worldwide hit. He was the first American Jew to sing behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union. He is credited with inspiring the launching of the Soviet Jewry Movement. Ellen's paternal uncle, married to her aunt Alice Kalmanowitz, her father Sidney's sister.
Record Of The Burwell Family
Title page. Published 1908.
Andrew Willet
b.1562 d.1621. He was an English clergyman and controversialist. A prolific writer, he is known for his anti-papal works. His views were Calvinist, conforming and non-separatist, and he appeared as a witness against Edward Dering before the Star-chamber. Ellen’s maternal ancestor.
Sidney Kaye
1950s.
Phoenix House Building.
Decaying Phoenix House buildong. Hart Island, New York.
A Ruble
1898 Czarist currency from the Russian empire. Passed down on the Kalmanovitch-Kalmanowitz-Kaye line.
Thomas Willett
b. 1604 d. 1674 First and third Mayor of New York City. Ellen’s maternal ancestor.
Kim Tsang
Wedding day -1992. Bell Cafe, Spring Street, NYC.
Hart Island
Civil War. 1865.
Cruz Alejandrina Defanti
Cruz Defanti emigrated from Chile to New York City. She raised Ellen till she was seven.
Hart Island
Prisoners burying the dead. Hart Island, New York.
Lloyd Williams Fashion Sketch
Greenwich Village fashion sketches by Lloyd Williams.
Marinus Willett
b. 1740 Jamaica, Queens. d. 1830 Buried in Trinity Church, New York City. Revolutionary Soldier. British America. New York Militia. Continental Army. 1st, 3rd and 5th New York Regiment. 48th Mayor of New York City. Ellen’s maternal ancestor.
One Potato, Two Potato
"One Potato, Two Potato" was a ground breaking film directed by my cousin Larry Peerce. Barbara Barrie and Bernie Hamilton starred in it. My mother had a part in it. She was a talented actor who had been discovered a few years before in "New Faces Of 1952".
Isaak Chertok-Chertoff
A Russian who emigrated via Tokyo to Istanbul to Israel until the beginning of WWII and finally to New York City. He was a Russian intellectual, Japanese scholar, an engineer who helped design the Trans-Siberian Railway, diplomat, artist, taught Russian at the US Naval College during WWII and a translator of Chekhov stories. After designing the Soviet Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, he fled Stalin’s purge, having been warned secretly by a visiting Soviet official not to leave the ship he had just boarded, thus leaving his young Japanese love, and his life in Japan, forever and beginning his circuitous emigration to America. Ellen’s cousin on the paternal line.
Andrew Hull Courtney & Mary "Polly" Bowman Courtney
Andrew: b.1837 and d.1909. Mary: b.1836. d.1926. North Carolina. They married in 1860. Andrew fought for the Confederacy and was wounded at Gettysburg. Before his capture by Union soldiers his leg was amputated. Ellen’s maternal ancestors.
"Tuttle Gathering" By Joseph F. Tuttle
1635 William Tuttle Of New Haven, An Address Delivered At The Tuttle Gathering, New Haven, Conn, Sept. 3rd, 1873, By Joseph Tuttle, President of Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind. Title page.
Annie Horowitz Kalmanowitz & Jake Kalmanowitz
Believed to be their wedding photo taken on the Lower East Side, New York City. Married 1906. Ellen’s paternal grandparents.
Map Of Hart Island
City Island Harbor, Long Island Sound, New York. 1884. Hart Island nautical map.
Chertok-Chertoff Family
A mystery photograph. Russia. Ellen's paternal cousins.
Sketch By Lloyd Williams
Male attire by Lloyd Williams. Fashion designer. b.1932 d.2020.
Marinus Willet
b. 1740 Jamaica, Queens. d. 1830 Buried in Trinity Church, New York City. Revolutionary Soldier. British America. New York Militia. Continental Army. 1st, 3rd and 5th New York Regiment. 48th Mayor of New York City. Ellen’s maternal ancestor.
Isaak Chertok-Chertoff
Isaak Chertok-Chertoff building the Soviet Embassy in Tokyo in the 1930's under Stalin's rule. Isaak was the architect. Soon he would be purged and have to flee, starting on a long exodus that eventually brought him to New York City.
Jan Peerce
Jan Peerce photographed by Sidney or Faith Kaye on the terrace of their apartment on top of the Osborne, 57th Street, circa 1960. Ellen's paternal uncle, married to her aunt Alice Kalmanowitz, her father Sidney's sister.
George "Buster" Ernest Burwell III
b.1925, South Carolina, d. 1996. Ellen’s naternal uncle.
Maye Kalmanowitz Oldin
Circa 1960s. Ellen's paternal aunt.
View Of Central Park West
View from the Osborne rooftop. Circa 1950s.
Faith & Sidney Kaye
Circa 1950s. Osborne rooftop.
Marshall Marcus Courtney
b.1852 d.1921. Ellen’s great grandfather.
Susan Peerce
Circa 1961.
First Saturday
July 1st, 1899. Burwell family photograph, North Carolina.
Alice Earnhardt Courtney
b.2 April 1859. d.15 Sep 1930. North Carolina.
Burwell Family - WWII
George Ernest Burwell Jr., Faith Burwell Jr., Faith Burwell Sr., George "Buster" Ernest Burwell III.
Lloyd Williams Coming To New York Sketch
Mystery Woman
Photograph from the Burwell family line.
Sketch By Lloyd Williams
Central Park South Construction
Circa 1950s. View from the Osborne rooftop.

#2 old bones slideshow below

Annie Kalmanowitz
b. 1884 in Minsk, Russia d. 1970 buried in Queens, NY, America. Family lore says she was a teenage Bolshevik who escaped the Cossacks by fleeing to America in 1901 with a hidden bag of gold. Ellen's paternal grandmother.
George Ernest Burwell II
b.1897 Tarboro, North Carolina, USA. d. 1980 Columbus, North Carolina, America. Ellen’s maternal grandfather, served in WWI and WWII.
Alice Kalmanowitz Peerce
b. 1907 New York City. d. 1994 America. Managed her husband Jan Peerce’s career brilliantly. Ellen’s paternal aunt.
Sidney Kalmanowitz
b.1914.d.1967. Ellen's father.
Faith Burwell Kaye
b.1932. d. 2020. Ellen's mother.
Kimson J. Tsang
b.1958 Long Isand, New York. New Port Ritchie, Florida d.2004.
Faith Courtney Burwell Sr.
b. 1902, Lenoir, North Carolina. d.1985 Spartanburg, South Carolina. Ellen’s maternal grandmother.
Cruz Alejandrina Defanti
Cruz Defanti emigrated from Chile to New York City. She raised Ellen from six months to seven years old.
Lloyd Williams
d.1932 New Orleans, Louisiana. d. 2020 New York City. Fashion designer whose clothes were featured in Lord & Taylor, Macy’s and the major department stores of the day. Ellen’s brother-in-law.
Jacob Kalmanowitz
b. 1884 Russia. Emigrated to America 1899. d.1949 NYC. He was a partner in two restaurants in Manhattan (Gottlieb’s) before the crash of 1929. Ellen’s paternal grandfather.
Thomas Willett
b. 1604 d. 1674 First and third Mayor of New York City. Ellen’s maternal ancestor.
Lilla Pugh Bell Burwell
b.1869 Williamston, North Carolina. d.1940 Charlotte, North Carolina. She was an artist and played the piano. Ellen’s great grandmother. on the Bell-Burwell line.
John Tsang
b.(possibly)Canton, China. d.Long Island, New York. Toiled in the restaurant industry to support his family. Married Iris Seay, making an interethnic marriage in the 1940's-1960s. Father of Ellen’s husband, Kim Tsang.
Jan & Alice Peerce
Jan & Alice Peerce Married 1930. Ellen’s paternal aunt and uncle.
Isaak Chertok-Chertoff
Isaak was born in Russia, emigrated via Tokyo to Istanbul then to Israel until the beginning of WWII and finally to New York City. Ellen’s paternal cousin.
John A. Tuttle
Sgt, Co. F, 26 NCT (The Hibriten Guards). b. 1844 Caldwell County, North Carolina d. 1863 at Bristoe Station, Virginia, America.
Iris Seay Tsang
Mystery - America, Mother of Ellen’s husband, Kim Tsang.
Isaac Chertok
He was a Russian intellectual, Japanese scholar, an engineer who helped design the Trans-Siberian Railway, diplomat, artist, taught Russian at the US Naval College during WWII and was a translator of Chekhov stories. After designing the Soviet Embassy in Tokyo he fled a Stalin purge, having been warned secretly by a visiting Soviet official not to leave the ship he had just boarded, thus leaving his young Japanese love and life in Japan forever and beginning his circuitous emigration to America. Ellen’s paternal cousin.
Alice Emily Courtney
b. in 1899 in Lenoir, North Carolina. d. 1967 She was a well respected music teacher in Lenoir, North Carolina, America. Ellen’s maternal aunt.
Susan Peerce
!961. Osborne, 57th Street, New York City.
Buster - George Ernest Burwell III
b.1925, Spartanburg, South Carolina, d. 1996. Served in US Navy during WWII. Ellen’s uncle on the Burwell line.
Jan Peerce Family - The Perlmuths
Circa 1905. Jan Peerce with his father Levi, mother Henya and brother Mot’l, shortly after his parents and brother emigrated to the United States from Horodetz, Poland (now Belarus). Jan was Ellen’s paternal uncle. Photo taken Lower East Side, New York City.
Mystery Young Woman
Isaac Chertok painted this portrait of a young woman in Tokyo in the 1930's, we believe, a portrait of the young love he was forced to leave behind when he fled Tokyo to escape from a Stalin purge.
Marinus Willett
b. 1740 Jamaica, Queens, New York, d. 1830 New York City. Buried in Trinity Church, New York City. Revolutionary Soldier - British America. New York Militia. Continental Army. 1st, 3rd and 5th New York Regiment. 48th Mayor of New York City, America. Ellen’s maternal ancestor.
Maye Kalmanowitz Oldin
Circa 1960. Ellen's paternal aunt.
Alice Earnhardt Courtney
b.1859 Davidson, North Carolina. d. 1930 Lenoir, North Carolina. Ellen’s maternal great grandmother.
Mystery Couple
Burwell line. Late 1800’s. North Carolina.
Gertrude Blanche Courtney Blackwell
b.1842 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. d.1914 Tarboro, North Carolina. He was a silversmith, engraver and jeweler. Ellen’s second great-grandfather on the Bell-Burwell line.
James Henry Bell
b.1842 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, America d.1914 Tarboro, North Carolina, America. He was a silversmith, engraver and jeweler. Ellen’s second great-grandfather on the Bell-Burwell line.
Andrew Willet
b.1562 d. December 4th, 1621. He was an English clergyman and controversialist. A prolific writer, he is known for his anti-papal works. His views were Calvinist, conforming and non-separatist, and he appeared as a witness against Edward Dering before the Star-chamber.-Wiki Ellen’s maternal ancestor.
Alice Kalmanowitz Peerce
b.1908.d. 1994. Ellen's aunt.
Andrew Hull Courtney & Mary Elizabeth Courtney
Andrew: b.1837 and d.1909 Caldwell County, North Carolina. Married in 1860. Andrew fought for the Confederacy and was wounded at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Before his capture by Union soldiers his leg was amputated. Andrew was known to the family as “Uncle Dan”. Ellen’s maternal ancestors.
Annie Kalmanowitz, Alice K. Peerce, Maye K. Oldin
Circa 1930’s. Possibly Florida. Ellen’s paternal grandmother and aunts.
The Courtney Girls
Circa early 1900’s. Faith Courtney, Courtney Jones, Alice Courtney in Lenoir, North Carolina. Ellen’s maternal grandmother, great aunt and cousin.
Annie & Jake Kalmanowitz
Believed to be their wedding photo taken on the Lower East Side, New York City. Married 1906. Ellen’s paternal grandparents.
Josephine Walsh Bell & Clinton Ewell
Josephine b.1844 d.1925 Tarboro, North Carolina. Clinton b.1878 d.1900 Tarboro, North Carolina. He died from a disease contracted during the Spanish American War. Ellen’s maternal second great-grandmother and her son.
Lyro Defanti
Lyro was married to Cruz Alejandrina Defanti.

#3 old bones slideshow below

The Past
Sidney Kaye. b.1914 d.1967.
George Ernest Burwell II
b.1897 Tarboro, North Carolina. d.1980 Columbus, North Carolina. WWI - Navy Pilot Ellen’s maternal grandfather.
Annie Horowitz Kalmanowitz
b.1884 in Minsk,Russia. d.in 1970 in NYC. Family lore says that she was a teenage Bolshevik who escaped the Cossacks by fleeing to America in 1901 with a hidden bag of gold. Ellen’s paternal grandmother.
Marshall & Alice (Earnhardt) Courtney Family
Circa 1904. Lenoir, North Carolina. Ellen’s maternal ancestors.
John Tsang
b.(possibly)Canton, China. d.Long Island, New York. Toiled in the restaurant industry to support his family and married Iris Seay, an interethnic marriage. Father of Ellen’s husband, Kim Tsang.
Susan Peerce
1961. Osborne, 57th Street, New York City.
Courtney Family
Circa 1907. Andrew Hull Courtney home, Caldwell County, North Carolina. On the front porch, left to right: John A. Courtney, Laura M. Courtney Webb, Robert M. Courtney, Marcus L. Courtney, Andrew Hull “Dan” Courtney , Fannie L. Courtney Teague, Mary E. “Polly” Courtney, Henry M. Courtney, and William G. Courtney. Ellen’s maternal ancestors.
Isaac Chertok
A Russian who emigrated via Tokyo to Istanbul to Israel until the beginning of WWII and finally to New York City. Here he is wearing the uniform of the Russian Army. Possibly WWI. Ellen’s cousin on the paternal line.
Ellen Kaye & Lloyd Williams
New York City - 1970's
Tuttle Family Tree
The Descendants Of William And Elizabeth Tuttle by George Frederick Tuttle - published 1883. A History of Ellen’s maternal ancestors who emigrated from England to America in 1635 on a ship called the Planter.
Cruz Alejandrina Defanti
Cruz emigrated from Chile and became an American citizen. She raised me from six months till I was seven. Whatever is good in me is from her love and care. City Island, New York City.
Burwell Family
Circa 1903. Ernest, Mary, Francis & Henry Burwell. Tarboro, North Carolina. Ellen’s maternal ancestors.
Sidney Kaye
Sidney Kalmanowitz, far right front row. Serving in WWII.
Andrew Hull Courtney Family
Circa 1907. Andrew Hull Courtney Home. On the front porch, Caldwell County, North Carolina. Left to right.John A. Courtney, Laura M. Courtney Webb, Robert M. Courtney, Marcus L. Courtney, Andrew Hull “Dan” Courtney , Fannie L. Courtney Teague, Mary E. “Polly” Courtney, Henry M. Courtney, and Wil- liam G. Courtney. Ellen’s maternal ancestors.
Czarist Ruble
1898. One ruble note from the Russian Empire, passed down to Ellen.
George Frederick Tuttle
b.1823 in Cheshire, Connecticut. d.1904 in Brooklyn, New York. Author of a Tuttle Family Genealogy, “The Descendants of William and Elizabeth Tuttle, Who Came From Old to New England in 1635, And Settled in New Haven in 1639, With Numerous Biographical Notes And Sketches”.
Jan Peerce Family - The Perelmuth’s
Circa 1905. Jan Peerce with his father Levi, mother Henya and brother Mottel shortly after his parents and brother emigrated to the United States from Horodetz, Poland (now Belarus). Photo taken on the Lower East Side, New York City.
James Henry Bell At Work
b.1842 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. d.1914 Tarboro, North Carolina. He was a silversmith, watchmaker, engraver and jeweler. Ellen’s second great-grandfather on the Bell-Burwell line.
Sidney J. Kalmanowitz
Sidney Kalmanowitz serving in WWII.
Faith Courtney Burwell Jr with George Ernest Burwell II
WWII. North Carolina. Ellen’s mother and maternal grandfather.
Jan Peerce - 1958
"Burwell's Boys" Fight Axis
Major Clyde M. Burwell and Colonel James B. Burwell. American war heroes. Ellen’s maternal ancestors.
Jake & Annie Kalmanowitz
Circa 1940's.
Mystery Child
Courtney line early 1900’s, North Carolina. Ellen’s maternal ancestor
Kaye-Peerce-Oldin-Goldberg-Williams-Halpern
Family gathering.
Cruz Alexjandrina Defanti
New York City - 1960's.
Chertok-Chertoff Family
Mystery photograph. Circa early 1900's possibly. Russia possibly.
George Ernest Burwell II & Buster George Ernest Burwell III
WWII. North Carolina. Ellen’s maternal grandfather and uncle.
Sidney J. Kalmanowitz
Circa 1917. New York City.
Abraham Lincoln
“If A. can prove, however conclusively, that he may, of right, enslave B.—why may not B. snatch the same argument, and prove equally, that he may enslave A?” Lincoln wrote. “You say A. is white, and B. is black. It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your own. You do not mean color exactly?—You mean the whites are intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and, therefore have the right to enslave them? Take care again. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with an intellect superior to your own. But, say you, it is a question of interest; and, if you can make it your interest, you have the right to enslave another. Very well. And if he can make it his interest, he has the right to enslave you.”-Lincoln Illustration from an old magazine beonging to my family.
Confederate Twenty Dollar Bill
On the bill is the Tennessee State Capitol and Alexander Hamilton Stephens (b.1812 d.1883) who served as the first and sole vice president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, and later as the 50th governor of Georgia from 1882 until his death. Engraved by Keatinge & Ball, Richmond, February,1864. 776,800 issued. Found in family belongings on Ellen’s maternal line.
Mystery Boy
Kalmanowitz/Kalmanowitz/Kaye Family History
Old Family Photo Album
Andrew “Dan” Hull Courtney’s Peg Leg
Andrew: b.1837 and d.1909 Caldwell County, North Carolina. Andrew fought for the Confederacy and was wounded at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Before his capture by Union soldiers his leg was amputated. He was known to the family as “Uncle Dan”. Ellen’s maternal ancestors.
WWII Gasoline Ration Card
Belonging to Ernest Burwell II. Ellen’s maternal grandfather. Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Gertrude Courtney Blackwell
b.1895 d.1986 Lenoir, North Carolina. Gertrude playing Marguerite in Faust. She was a singer, voice teacher and choir director in Lenoir. Ellen’s maternal great aunt.
Maye Kalmanowitz Oldin
Circa 1960s, New York City.
Family History
Burwell Family Record, Burwell Family History, Andrew Hull Tuttle History, The Descendants Of William And Elizabeth Tuttle.
George Ernest Burwell II
B.1897, Tarboro. d.1980, Columbus, North Carolina. Ellen’s maternal grandfather.
Tuttle Coat Of Arms (possibly)
The Tuttle line may possibly be traced back through William Tuttle to Thomas Totehyll of Woodford, born 1506, county of Northhampton, England. They seem like pretty regular people so we’re not sure how the coat of arms fits in. More to explore. Ellen’s maternal ancestors.
Earnhardt-Courtney Letter - 1880
From Marshall Marcus Courtney to Alice Gertrude Earnhardt. June 1880, six months before their marriage. Ellen’s maternal great grandfather and great grandmother.
Courtney Family Record
Faith Courtney Burwell Sr. family record book.
Burwell Family History
Genealogy research compiled for George Ernest Burwell Sr and Ernest Burwell Jr.
Cruz Defanti & Ellen Kaye
Fire Island - 1960's.
Faith Courtney Burwell Sr.
Graduate of Converse College, Spartanburg, South Carolina b.1902, Lenoir, North Carolina. d.1985, Spartanburg, South Carolina. Ellen’s maternal grandmother.
Burwell Coat Of Arms
Ellen’s maternal ancestors.
Mystery Family Photo
Mystery photograph on the Burwell family line.
Old Family Albums
Uncle Boodle & Nanny?
Circa 1903, North Carolina.
Iris Seay
Kim Tsang's mother. Possibly Long Island, New York.
Letter To Alice Earnhardt
June 1880. Letter from Marshall Marcus Courtney to Alice Gertrude Earnhardt, six months before their marriage. Ellen’s maternal great grandfather and great grandmother.
Mary Ivey Courtney & Marcus Vincent Courtney
WWII> Mary Ivey Courtney was a Lieutenant of the WAVES, having received her commission in 1942. Marcus Vincent completed 20 missions before he was killed in action on June 6, 1944. Ellen’s maternal ancestors.
A View Of Central Park
A View Of Central Park Circa 1960's. Taken from the Osborne roof on 57th street. Photo taken by Sidney Kaye or Faith Kaye.
The Past
Faith Courtney Burwell Kaye Stewart-Gordon. b.1932 d.2020.