Participants
Route of bus tour including farm locations
Family timelines [pdf]
Cemetery handouts [pdf]
- Map of Leonardville cemetery plot owners
- Family members buried at Leonardville
- Family members buried at nearby cemeteries
- Memorial meditation
- Germany travelog, pt 1, Early Zeisset Sites
- International reunion at Weisweil and sightseeing
- Life and Times of Jakob Friedrich Zeisset
 2008 Zeisset Reunion came from across the U.S. See the link in the left column for a map you can zoom in on |
Eighty-four people met for the 18th biennial Zeisset Family Reunion July 26 and 27, 2008 in Leonardville, Kansas. Those in attendance were descendants of Jakob Friedrich Zeisset and Margarethe Muehler Zeisset and the six Zeisset brothers and sisters who immigrated to Riley County, Kansas from Germany between 1885 and 1893. People at the reunion came from nine states and from as far away as Alabama, Virginia, and the state of Washington.
The reunion began at the Leonardville Community Center with a Saturday morning presentation by Loretta Hoerman of Topeka on Leonardville history and the coming of the six Zeissets to the Leonardville area. Following a lunch catered by the Walsburg Lutheran Church women, family members enjoyed a nearly three hour bus tour of farms on which the immigrants lived, cemeteries where family members are buried, and other sites of interest. (A map of the tour is attached)
Following a catered dinner, attendees at the evening program were treated to two travelogues with pictures and commentary about the 2006 trip taken by 32 family members to visit ancestral sites in Germany. Paul Zeisset of Alexandria, VA focused on the earliest-known ancestry, and showed pictures of the farm where Abraham Zeisset was born in 1718 in Germany. Paul also showed pictures of farms on which each succeeding generation had lived until the immigrants came to Kansas. Ray Zeisset of Lincoln, NE covered the first international Zeisset reunion, where the 32 Americans were joined by 20 European Zeisset descendants, and the non-genealogical sightseeing done by the 2006 group.
Sunday’s events began at Leonardville United Methodist cemetery, where five of the six immigrants and many of their descendants are buried. A brief memorial service was lead by Ray and Carolyn Zeisset of Lincoln, NE. The group then gathered at the Leonardville United Methodist Church for visiting, attending the morning service, and sharing a dinner, part catered and part potluck.
The Sunday afternoon program featured Loretta Hoerman, who combined pictures and stories from the 2006 trip regarding the lives of the parents of the six Riley County immigrants, as well as substantial new research revealing details about the home and family circumstances prior to immigration.
The oldest family member in attendance at the reunion was Una Weller of Leonardville, and the youngest was infant Lawson Stryker of Waterville. The 18 descendants of Jacob Zeisset were the largest group in attendance. Also present were 16 members of the Louise Zeisset Swart family, 13 members of the Henry Zeisset family, 12 members of the Elizabeth Zeisset Weller family, 9 members of the Bertha Zeisset Nanninga family, and 8 members of the Bettie Zeisset Hoerman family. Four descendants of Johann Zeisset (born in 1833), who like the Riley County immigrants are descended from Johannes Zeisset (born in 1794) also attended the reunion, as well as four descendants of Samuel Zeiset (born in 1829), who came to America from the same area of Germany but whose direct connection remains to be established.
Ray Zeisset, Secretary