Schedule of events [pdf]
Participants
Map
Family History Slide Shows
- Lee Swart: Swart-Zeisset Family
- Loretta Hoerman: Our Zeisset Heritage
Oneida Cemetery
- Memorial litany [pdf]
Leonardville UMC Cemetery [pdf]
- Map of Leonardville cemetery plot owners
- Family members buried at Leonardville
- Family members buried at nearby cemeteries
- Memorial meditation
Family timelines [pdf]
 2010 Zeisset Reunion attendees came from across the U.S. |
One hundred six people participated in all or part of the 19th biennial Zeisset Family Reunion August 6, 7 and 8, 2010, in and around Leonardville and Seneca, Kansas. Most attendees were descendants of Jakob Friedrich Zeisset and Margarethe Mueller Zeisset. Their six children immigrated to Riley County, Kansas from Germany between 1885 and 1893.
The event started Friday evening as 32 early-birds, both locals and long-distance travelers, gathered for dinner at the Windmill Inn in Seneca.
Saturday’s focus was on Louise Zeisset Swart, the eldest of the six siblings and the first to emigrate to Kansas. Louise came to America in 1883 and to Kansas in 1885. She married John Swart in Leonardville in 1886. After farming near Leonardville, they moved to Nemaha County southeast of Seneca in 1896.
After gathering at the home of Carl and Ruth Swart of rural Seneca, the 2010 reunion group caravanned to two farm homes where Louise and John Swart had lived and to the Oneida cemetery where they and some of their children are buried. Lee Swart of Fort Payne, AL and Karen Gilpin of Iola, KS, led a short memorial meditation, closing with a bagpipe tribute by Stephen Gilpin of Hiawatha, KS. Following lunch in Seneca, the group gathered in Goff for a presentation on Swart family history by Lee Swart. Groups also visited the Skeezix Toy Museum, created by the late Melvin Swart and maintained by his brother Gerald Swart, and family graves in Fairview and Corning cemeteries. The evening wine-tasting, meal, and program of musical numbers were at the home of Carl and Ruth Swart. The evening ended with the lowering of the American flag by veterans Carl Swart and Allan Burns as Jill Swart, Carl’s granddaughter, played Taps.
Sunday’s events began at Leonardville United Methodist cemetery, where five of the six immigrants and some of their descendants are buried. A brief memorial service was led by Ray and Carolyn Zeisset of Lincoln, NE and Loretta Hoerman of Topeka, KS. The group then gathered at the Leonardville United Methodist Church for visiting, attending the morning service, and sharing a catered and potluck dinner.
The Sunday afternoon program was introduced by reunion organizer Paul Zeisset of Alexandria, VA. The program featured Loretta Hoerman, who reviewed known history of the Zeisset family since 1837, with particular focus on Jacob Friedrich Zeisset’s siblings, including the two uncles who took in four of the six eventual immigrants after they were orphaned in 1884.
The oldest family member at the Sunday program was Una Weller of Leonardville, who celebrated her 98th birthday at the reunion, and the youngest was Hannah Louise Gray of Ann Arbor, MI. Family members came from eight states and from as far away as Alabama, Virginia, and Michigan. Ethel and Sam Smoots of Gig Harbor, WA, came the farthest distance.
Fifty-four descendants of Louise Zeisset Swart and their families attended all or part of the reunion. Also attending were 19 from the Elizabeth Zeisset Weller family, 12 from the Henry Zeisset family, 10 from the Jacob Zeisset family, 4 from the Bertha Zeisset Nanninga family, and 3 from the Bettie Zeisset Hoerman family. Two descendants of Johann Zeisset (born in 1833) attended the reunion from Illinois. Like the Riley County immigrants, they are descended from Johannes Zeisset (born in 1794). Two descendants of Samuel Zeiset (born in 1829) also attended from Oklahoma.
The event marked the unveiling of the new 170-page Zeisset Family Cookbook, a collection of 394 recipes submitted by family members. Betty Weller and Alta Morris of Topeka and Ruth Swart of Seneca spearheaded the project, and nearly 200 copies were sold. Attendees also appreciated a commemorative fan, not just for the pictures of ancestors printed on both sides, but also because it was highly practical in the near 100-degree heat.
Ray Zeisset, Secretary