The Dukes of Modena, Este and Habsburg-Este

[Arco]

This is Count Arco-Stepperg's son: our G Grandfather and his son, Tolstoy.  This was taken about 1900 in Oklahoma.    

[Arco]

[Arco]

Again, Count Arco-Stepperg's son, our G Grandfather, in Mexico with a Grandchild, probably Tolstoy's.  This was near the end of his life.  Uncle Tolstoy was in Mexico with him.

We have better photos of Papa but they need to be restored before we can post them.

We enjoy the fact that, even with the different nationalities mixed in, there are similarities with us all.  I am very blonde and fair with green eyes, Arco2 has the Italian skin and eyes, Papa was fair with dark eyes, while some of his children were a combination of both.

[Arco]

Hello britt.25,

Nice to see you.  We love these photos because Papa came from the lush green vistas of Europe to live in what was then nothing but dirt and wilderness.  He could have stayed in the Eastern U.S. where he could have been more comfortable but headed to unsettled territory and made a life in the wild west.

He did quite well, becoming an important member of a small but growing town.  If fact, he brought one of the first pianos to the area, which was written about in the local paper.  My Grandmother learned to play very well, which pleased Papa more than he could say.

He built a lovely home and the family grew.  We believe he enjoyed the newness of this growing country.  Why he went to Mexico is a mystery to us.  We only have his letters from there, to his children but no answers as to why he left.

[Arco]

[Arco]

Another of Count Aloys Arco-Stepperg, taken at the same time as the others we posted.  The similarities are evident, especially in the eyes and nose.

Both father and son look terribly bored with photo taking.

[britt.25]

Hello, I have so little time at the moment, but your postings are very interesting! I always enjoy them so much! If you have more pictures on Aloys and the son , please post them.
Do you have the Aloys pictures from some kind of your family album or only the one of your GGrandfather??
Did he carry or have pictures of his father Aloys or do you only have the letters as documents?

[Arco]

britt,

Yes, we have more and we set them aside because they need to be restored as they have faded.  We hope to have them redone soon.  Another cousin has one or two.  We will post when we can.

The Aloys photos are from family and were given to us when we requested them.  The photos of Aloys were freely given.  We were entitled to them, after all.

Our G Grandfather gave the documents to Arco2's Grandfather and to my Grandmother.  There were letters, telling his and his Father's story.  Separate documents were given to us and provided us with the bloodline.  We have family albums, letters and documents which match and confirm what was  given.

As we mentioned before, there is nothing we wanted from Europe but photos we did not have and copies of any documents we may find necessary to our history.  We want nothing else and are happy with the results.  In Europe we have our roots.  Those who know us, know it to be for our history alone.  There is no other motive.

We may be gone for a short while.  But we will try and stop in over the next few days.  Have a lovely day.

[Arco]

Thomas,

Thank you for your comment.  As I said, we have more, it's just a matter of restoring them and then we will post.

Have a lovely rest of the week.

[britt.25]

Hello...if you have any more picture they are always welcome. If you have anyone on the son of Aloys also in bigger, please send them!

[Arco]

I see that the photos I posted have been removed.  It never occured to me that posting them would be a problem as the link was on the internet.  I do understand now and was not thinking about copywrites.  I apoligize but the thought of having photos of my GGG Grandparents under a copywrite was not in my thoughts.  My first reaction was to remove all our family photos but they are a part of history, in my opinion.

I will continue to enjoy your lively conversations and the photos and portraits you all post.

Thank you. 

[thomaspolk]

I have only two pictures to compare but woman in the first portrait does strongly resemble Adelgonda.

Thomas

[synnadene]

My source was an italian website about the duchesses of Modena:
Le duchesse di Modena Capitale
http://digilander.libero.it/battaglioneestense/duchesse/duchesse.htm

The last one is Adelgonda Augusta di Baviera
Very nice portraits!

[Marc]

[Marc]

Portrait of Maria Theresia Cybo,later Este!