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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. 

tsang family archive

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Ellen please write in here

A Brief Essay On Chinese American History – by Alan Joseph 

Chinese sailors are known to have visited the United States on trading ships since the 1700’s. In 1834, the first documented Chinese immigrant, Afong Moy, was brought from China by two traders and “displayed” in New York City and around the country as “The Chinese Lady.” However, the first of three waves of immigration from China to the United States did not start in earnest until the 1840’s, at the beginning of the gold rush. Men came from China to make their fortune and send money back to their families in China. Unfortunately, because of racism and discriminatory laws, any mining claims of worth were disallowed, or egregiously taxed, preventing those immigrants from profiting from their own labor. 

In many ways, Chinese immigrants were major contributors in the development of western America. Chinese laborers worked in the mines during the gold rush, were the major workforce responsible for the manual labor used to build the western railroads, were workers in the development of the agricultural landscape of California, including the vineyards, and worked in the Hawaiian plantations. Many early immigrants also worked in many of early America’s factories, and in the garment industry.

Because of the Foreign Miners’ License Tax of 1852, which required a monthly tax of $20 on all foreign-born miners, most Chinese immigrants were forced to labor for others in the mines for meager wages. In 1854, the California Supreme Court held in People v. Hall, that a law which prohibited non-white individuals from testifying against white people applied to Chinese immigrants, in essence holding that Chinese individuals were not entitled to the same legal rights as white people. The Sidewalk Ordinance of 1870 banned the carrying of vegetables or laundry on poles, a practice common among the newly arrived Chinese workers. The San Francisco Queue Ordinance in 1873 made it illegal for men to have long braids, a long held Chinese custom. The Page Act of 1875 prohibited the entry of Chinese women into the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 became the first restriction on free immigration in our country’s history prohibiting any Chinese people from entering. Chinese immigrants were forbidden from working for the federal, state or local government, or from attending public schools. Anti-miscegenation laws prohibiting Chinese men from marrying white women were prevalent. Article XIX of the 1879 California Constitution (titled “Chinese”),  declared “foreigners unable to become citizens [were] dangerous to the well-being of the State.” That article also prevented Chinese immigrants from being employed, directly or indirectly, by all California state, county, local or municipal governments, or by any corporation.  The practice of Asiatic Coolieism (indentured labor responsible for bringing Chinese immigrants to the US) was deemed a form of “human slavery” and specifically prohibited by Article XIX.

The rampant racism fostered by those laws and court decisions led to mob violence against Chinese immigrants. The Chinese Massacre of 1871 resulted in the mass lynching of 19 Chinese boys and men by a raging mob. The Rock Springs Massacre in 1885 resulted in the mass murder of Chinese miners in Wyoming.

The Chinese Exclusion Act and McCarthyism

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was renewed every ten years until 1904 when it became permanent. It remained the law until it was repealed in 1943. This repeal led to the second wave of Chinese immigration during the WWII period when China was one of our allies. During this second wave, scientists and engineers came to America and assisted with the war effort through the development of weapons used to defeat the Axis powers. This wave continued until the McCarthy era when America’s relations with Communist China became strained. Chinese artists, government employees and scientists were blacklisted during this time. One of the most prominent scientists, Qian Xuesen, an aerospace engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project and helped found the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was charged with being a communist and held under house arrest for five years before being deported to China as part of a prisoner exchange. 

Chinese Resistance to Discrimination

Though continuously facing discriminatory laws and actions in America, Chinese immigrants staged nonviolent strikes while building the railroads during the mid-1800’s, sometimes resulting in better treatment by their employers. During Reconstruction Southern plantation owners sought cheap labor to replace the enslaved workers they had been forced to set free. Chinese immigrants were a more economical source since they could be forced to work for lower wages than the freed slaves.Some Chinese immigrants hired interpreters to negotiate employment contracts with the owners and later rehired the interpreters to assist in legal action when the owners breached the employment agreement that had been negotiated. Also, in the late 1800’s, Chinese immigrants sued schools for the right to attend, and others would boycott establishments that treated the immigrants unfairly.

Birthright Citizenship

In 1886, the US Supreme Court ruled that discriminatory application of a law resulted in a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution in the case of Yik Wo v. Hopkins. In United States v. Wong Kim Ark, decided in 1898, the United Supreme Court affirmed that the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment granted birthright citizenship to anyone born in the United States.

Chinese immigrants have been active participants in the fight for democratic values in the United States since the 1850’s and have made their contributions to the melting pot that is America, as scientists and engineers, mothers and fathers, entrepreneurs and business owners, daughters and sons, educators and musicians, grandparents and grandchildren, politicians and artists. Americans one and all.

listen to ellen's original song about kim below

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Kim Tsang Family Photos

Ellen Kim Getting Married
City Hall, New York City. 1992.
Kim
Kim Tsang. New York City. Circa 1990s.
Kim & His Mom Iris
Kim Tsang with his mother, Iris Seay Tsang. Long Island, NY. Circa 1959.
Kim & His Dad John
Kim Tsang with his father John Tsang. Long Island, NY. Circa 1959.
Iris Seay
Kim's mother Iris Seay Tsang. Circa late 1940s/early 1950s.
John Tsang
Kim's father John Tsang. Possibly his passport photo. Circa late 1940s.
Kim & Steven
Kim Tsang and his brother Steven. Long Island, NY. Circa 1965.
Kim
Kim Tsang. Patchogue, Long Island. Circa 1966.
John Tsang
Kim's father John Tsang. Long Island, NY. Circa 1950s.
Kim
Kim Tsang. Long Island, NY. Circa 1969.
Kim
Kim Tsang. Think he is graduating Junior High School. Patchogue, Long Island. Circa 1970.
Ellen & Kim
At the The Townhouse Restaurant.. New York City. Circa 1991.
Ellen & Kim City Hall
Getting married. City Hall. New York City. Circa 1992.
Kim - Bell Cafe On His Wedding day
Bell Cafe, Spring Street, New York City. 1992.
Kim & Ellen Wedding Celebration
At The Russian Tea Room. New York City. Circa 1992.
Ellen & Kim
Circa early 1990s.
Ellen & Kim
New York City. Circa early 1990s.
Ian & Kim
Newborn Ian with his Dad, Kim. New York City. Circa early 1990s.
Kim & Ian
Kim holding baby Ian. Central Park, New York City. Circa early 1990s.
Ian & Kim
Kim Tsang with his son Ian. New York City. Circa early 1990s.
Ian & Kim Playing Guitar
Ian listening to his Dad, Kim, play the guitar. New York City. Circa early 1990s.
Ian's 1st Birthday
Lloyd Williams, Ellen, Ian and Kim. Ian's first birthday. New York City. Circa early 1990s.
Ian & Kim Rocking Out
Ian with his Dad, Kim getting an early guitar lesson. New York City. Circa early 1990s.
Kim & Ellen at The RTR
At the Russian Tea Room. New York City. Circa early 1990s.

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

old bones slideshows 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.

listen to the old bones odyssey original songs 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.
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.