Edited by author 04-08-2003 08:56 PM
This bulletin board is designed primarily to allow the 2004 Reunion planning committee to freely exchange information, but other interested family members are welcome to join in. Perhaps we will want to split this into two discussions, one on planning the event, the other on sharing the latest genealogy content, like the next message.

The committee members are Loretta Hoerman, Ray Zeisset, Lee Swart, John Morris, and Paul Zeisset.

If you want to receive each new message as an e-mail, click on "Subscribe" above.

Here is some interesting content from Loretta's latest message:

There is a letter written in an unknown year (I think the 1940s) that Raphael had partly copied and given to me. The most interesting extract is as follows:

“The Zeisset family originated in Switzerland and went first from there to the Rauhof (circa 1660/70). The original name was Zysset, from which Zersert, Zeissert and at last Zeisset were derived. The first Zeisset living on the Rauhof, that I know of, was Jakob Zersert, who should have been there around 1680. In the year 1731, there was an Abraham Zersert, a Pastor of the Mennonite community of Hasselbach, living on the Rauhof. In the second half of the 18th century the Zeissets disappeared from the Rauhof (successor = Hörr) and appeared in Willenbach and Lautenbach. The Rauhof belonged to the community of Adersbach, Sinsheim region, but it’s pointless for you to write to them as I have looked through these books myself and must give the disappointing message that there were no Mennonites recorded there before 1800.”

This, of course, is my translation, but I think it is accurate. Rauhof is a farm just outside of Hasselbach. I went part of the way down the road there on my trip last month, but I was walking as there was snow and ice and my little car didn’t go very well in it. There was a really long lane (about ½ - ¾ mile) and I was worried that I would encounter mad dogs. I did take a picture of the lane and the farmstead in the distance….and the forests in which our ancestors apparently held their secret worship services.

I have found the Mennonites to be a slippery bunch in the 1700s….with good reason, as they didn’t belong to the state church and were prohibited from holding their own religious services. They probably tried not to be found?

LMH

Thanks for setting up the bulletin board, Paul. I went to Newton yesterday to the Mennonite Library at Bethel College. I had not been there before and can see that there may be more information to retrieve through them. I was most interested in the "28 page" book regarding Samuel Zeisset, pastor in Willenbach. In this (very small) 28 page book are the funeral sermons of Samuel Zeisset and Christina Fellmann Hunsinger. These were written by Cornelius Zeisset and found in his personal papers and assembled and printed for "the relatives" in 1830! While much of the information is a truly wonderful funeral message with many scriptural references (and comparison to the biblical Samuel's calling by God), I was interested in the genealogical information. That information, though sparse, is very helpful to our mission. Samuel is the 3rd oldest of Abraham Zeisset's 6 sons. While I assumed there were more children, based on dates of birth, I didn't have that documentation. I had information on Samuel Zeisset from the Oedheim church records, but didn't know where to place it.

Yesterday, I arrived at the library at 10 am, took a mandatory 1 hour break at noon and left at 4:45 and was writing the entire time. There is a book called regarding the Schmutz Family Tree that was written by Friedrich Schmutz and published in 1936 in Germany. I was directed to it when I was in Germany. As our Barbara Zeisset married Christian Schmutz, and Christian is in the 3rd generation detailed there, I have LOTS more information. I'm still entering it in my data base and then will forward it as well as the information regarding Raphael's line that I received in Germany.

Is anyone interested in a translation/transcription of Samuel Zeisset's funeral sermon? I didn't copy it, just wrote down key points. I'll need to go back to Newton one of these days.

It is time to get this bulletin board buzzing. We are now less than 10 months from the reunion and have lots of things to plan. My Dad will be sending out his Christmas letters before the end of November, and those go to many of our likely attendees, so we can be thinking of what we need to announce there.

Loretta is checking out a church camp south of Junction City as a possible gathering place. Any idea how many people might want a place to stay?

Edited by author 10-25-2003 08:19 PM
Here is a quote from a recent e-mail from Loretta.

"You just would not believe the connections I've made. I have a man from Berlin, Kurt Jaeger, who is an avid and meticulous researcher. He is a descendant from one of the Funk lines and we don't actually have common blood, but he sent me lots of stuff on the Zeissets (because our line parallels his, and sometimes you can find people you're looking for by looking at the neighbors). He is constantly traveling though, so may email from anywhere in the world! I think he does the genealogy to have something to do in foreign towns.

"Another researcher who is just beginning actually found me. His name is Robert Baehr and he is a descendant of the Abraham Baehr/Baer, Magdalena Zeisset line. So we're helping each other out. Currently, he emails copies of records that I translate."

Friday afternoon I checked out a Lutheran church camp, Camp Tomah Shinga, south of Junction City. Not only is it farther out of the way than I think we want, it doesn't have attractive facilities or entrances to any lodging without lots of steps.

We can go back to thinking about motels in Manhattan.

For the record, we are aiming for a 2-day program August 14 and 15, 2004 (Sat/Sun).

Keep the information coming, we are planning on coming this year. Also include info on camping facilities--we have a 5th wheel.
czeisset@aol.com

I will be helping Merton put out his Christmas letter in the next month. Since his mailing list includes fully half of the reunion mailing list, it makes sense to publicize the 2004 reunion in his Christmas letter. We can send out a separate mailing to those not on his list.

I have the Pennsylvania Zeisets on the "tree", though I had to go through the Baers to get them there. Recently, the LDS has filmed records in Germany that I believe will document the actual Zeisset connection. I won't be able to see any of the films until January or February.

I also have the Connecticut Zeissetts on the tree and need to give them a call some evening. I've been getting home too late in the evening to call the east coast.

I have not made any progress with the Kansas/Oklahoma Zeisets, but I feel a connection is right around the corner.

Lodging options for the reunion

1. I found three types of lodging in Manhattan
       a) Full service hotels, with restaurant on site, with hospitality suite or meeting room available. Price for room with king bed or two queens about $75 plus tax. Any catering would be through their staff.
       b) Limited service hotels, just as new and nice, with continental breakfast, but with no hospitality suites or meeting rooms. Price $70-85 plus tax. Catering could come from outside (and potentially cheaper than catering from a full-service hotel).
       c) Less expensive hotels/motels, no breakfast, no meeting rooms. Price $50-65.

2. What is it that we want?
       a) Mostly we want out-of-towners to stay in one place so that we can get to know one another better, and possibly enjoy carpooling to events elsewhere. If we had people opting out of the group hotel to chooses less expensive accommodations, that would defeat the point of getting the group hotel in the first place. (Not everyone will want to do the same thing, though, and we have already heard from one family planning to camp.)
       b) A gathering room, either a living room associated with a suite or a separate meeting room, would be helpful as a place to hang out. Nonetheless, if we have lots of activities planned, this may not have a major role.
       c) A place for catered meals. This may or may not make sense. If we can get someone to cater at the Senior Center in Leonardville we would be more likely to get local participation. We might still have pot luck at the church on Sunday as usual, but we couldn't depend on locals bringing in food more than once. Another option is to go as a group to a restaurant, but I haven't checked which ones have banquet rooms.

3. What are the primary options?
       a) Full-service hotels
          1) Holiday Inn on Rt __ toward the airport. Certainly the most inviting for families, with a pool and miniature golf right in the center of an indoor courtyard. A hospitality suite (regular room attached to a living room with a couch ($125) fronts onto the pool area. Nice airy feel. A couple of miles farther from Leonardville.
          2) Ramada Inn, across from K-State. This place also had suites ($169), but on the 3rd floor, a little out of the way. Most attractive was their meeting room with easy chairs and a fireplace ($50). Harder to find than the hotels on major highways.
       b) Limited-service hotels--all near the intersection of US 24 and Ks 177
          1) Fairfield Inn ($74). No meeting room per se, but their large breakfast room could be used any time except in the morning for free. Continental breakfast is included.
          2) Comfort Inn ($70). No meeting rooms, but some rooms have a king bed with a couch and a refrigerator.
          3) Hampton Inn ($85). Meeting room ("cold") ($100). Continental breakfast.
       c) Less expensive hotels - I didn't check these out.
          1) Motel 6
          2) Super 8

4. Where do we go from here? First, we need to figure out what kind of amenities we need--do we want to have a hospitality suite or meeting room, and would we want to cater meals there?
       Comments?

Incidentally, I did check out a church camp near Junction City. I was not impressed.

I would like to make a decision and make a reservation in January or February after we hear back from people on the questionnaire we have in the works.

I confirmed yesterday with Cheryl Collins of the Riley County Historical Society that they would probably be willing to develop an exhibit for our group to visit Saturday morning, August 14. She will get back to me in January, but we mentioned a variety of elements that could be included, including early development of Leonardville and nearby areas (including influence of the railroad), German immigrants to Riley County, family history projects, etc. Can you think of any other ideas we want to suggest to her?

I'd like to see them include some of the Winkler/Winkler Mill history as I think at that's where Bertha lived for a time. I also think the history of the mill is quite interesting. Clothing of the late 1800s would be interesting. They'll surely include information about the churches, particularly the Leonardville EUB church. If there is anything about the photographers of the area, I'd like to see that...That's all I can think of right now.

I decided to respond to the questionairre data on the message board.

I really like the idea of a family information table, or whatever it was called. I especially liked the part about the "how to" suggestion. I can bring lots of copies of forms and family tree things and so forth. Whereas we've done most of the work within our family and the information is there, people may want to start working on a spouse's family or something like that. I also thought I'd make some copies of the census reports and can include census extraction forms and so forth. I can make a list of resources for the new researcher and that sort of thing. It wouldn't require that much time on my part.

The Oneida cemetery is quite a trip, but it may be particularly worthwhile for the Swart line to go over there, especially if they are coming from a distance. Maybe they want to spend Saturday doing that, while others could stay in Leonardville. Another option is to go up there with a camera and put together at least a little slide show. Or I can try to twist Ruth and Carl's arm into putting something together.

I emailed Paul that Betty and Harold Weller are volunteering to help and Betty specifically would help with little "party favors" or door prizes. She's very talented in that department. I've seen her work!

I don't know how many total questionairres went out, but it looks like there was a good response. It looks like it may be unrealistic to try to get a block of rooms at one lodging facility.

Hi! We just stumbled across this page through links on a google search. We are part of the Kansas clan of Zeisset decendants. We would be interested in info about the 2004 reunion....Our grandmother is Lila (Zeisset) Dickson, has 10 grown kids of her own, and a slew of grandkids. I'm sure we could provide more updated info for your ancestry page. Contact info is e-mail erikahead@cox.net.

Edited by author 06-02-2004 10:39 PM
Ray tallied the results of our survey earlier this year. It appears that the activities are generating a lot of interest. Since the questionnaire allowed responses including "yes, definitely", "yes, maybe", "probably not" and "definitely not", we added the first two categories together in the righthand column to give us something of an upper limit on attendance. A few others who did not complete questionnaires have said they are planning to come.

..................Definitely . Definitely
Saturday, Aug 14................+ Maybe
Historical Society....... 25 ....... 53
Lunch.................... 29 ....... 46
Bus tour................. 35 ....... 57
Supper................... 27 ....... 48
Evening program.......... 29 ....... 56

Sunday, Aug 15
Coffee................... 28 ....... 43
Church................... 32 ....... 51
Dinner................... 44 ....... 66
Afternoon program........ 37 ....... 62

I've been thinking about the programs for the reunion. Lee Swart has a beautiful autograph book of Louise Zeisset Swart. Lee, I was wondering if you could take some photographs of selected pages so that we could project those during our program portion. Digital photos are probably easiest, or you can scan regular photos, or whatever you think would be best. I have the copy of the black and whites, but you indicated that the colors are so beautiful that I thought we could project those. It would be costly to make lots of copies, so this way, we could share the pages with everyone (who attends). I was thinking that we would certainly want to include the pages of Margaretha and Jakob, and maybe some others. Paul, I assume you can put these together with a powerpoint. I thought I'd work that into Sunday's program.

There are two changes to the hotel announcement in the letter that went out last week. Most important, the reservation deadline is July 16, not one week later, as shown in the letter. The good news, though, is that Super 8 will honor the price quote I got in March--$57+tax--and not charge us the higher figure quoted in the letter. I will try to e-mail the people who indicated they planned to use the hotel in our winter questionnaire to make sure they know the correct due date.

Hi Paul and Loretta - We have made our reservations for August 13 - 15 in Manhattan at Super 8 - the price for August 13th (F) and 14th (S) is only $57.57, the night of August 15th (S) is the regular rate of $64.00 for 3 adults (Jeff and I are bringing my mom, Gladys Rowley). We're staying the extra night so we aren't traveling late - and can stay and help with the final clean up! We appreciate all of the planning that has gone into this get-together and we look forward to finally getting to meet you. We always enjoyed our visits with Merton and Ina - and look forward to visiting with your dad in August. ~ Debbie

Edited by author 02-05-2005 11:45 AM
As originally announced at the 2004 reunion last August, we have placed the descendant lists behind a password. These lists, originally from Merton Zeisset's book, have been updated sporadically by many of you. The original file names are still on the site, for anyone who has them bookmarked, but those files now go to the 2nd generation, not beyond. Only by entering the username and password do you now get to the original detail.

Adding password protection is perhaps inconvenient to all of us, but also potentially important now that identity theft is becoming more common. The fact that nearly all listings show date of birth and mother's maiden name suggests that anyone with Google can find out that information about each of us. Of course, there are lots of other sites out there that have been collecting similar information from voter registration and drivers license files, so there is still danger of identity theft. It just won't be caused by this site.

So give it a try: back at the main page, click on the link for your ancestor in the "Children" column. That takes you to a page that starts out like the old pages did, but instead of listing descendants of the 2nd generation it lists the number of children, which is linked to the password entry page. I will shortly be e-mailing usernames and passwords to the people on our e-mail list, along with a questionnaire on planning for the 2006 reunion.

If you see something that doesn't appear to work right or isn't easy to understand, let us know right away.

Edited by author 02-22-2005 07:57 AM
We regret to announce the passing of Merton Zeisset, February 18, 2005, at the Leonardville Nursing Home. His work helped keep interest in our family history alive for future generations.

For more on his life, or to sign a book of remembrances, see
http://home.earthlink.net/~zeisset/merton/.

Plans are now set for our 2006 Zeisset reunion to be held in Germany, August 1-10, 2006. We will have a chance to see firsthand the sites in Germany that Loretta Hoerman has been telling us about during the last several reunions--places our ancestors lived, worked, and worshiped. You can get complete details on the planned itinerary, as well as maps to show you all of the places, at our website zeissetgenealogy.n3.net.

The pricing came in better than we were expecting for an August date: $3135 per person (double occupancy) from Kansas City.

Incidentally, we selected the August date because there were several people able to attend that date who could not attend the alternative May date we proposed.

Within the next few weeks, everyone on our conventional mailing list will receive a brochure in the mail from TourMagination, a Canadian company specializing in Mennonite heritage tours. So watch the mail. Not everything coming will be junk or bills.

The Germany tour will include a chance to meet with some of our German relatives. Raphael Zeisset, a fellow descendant of our immigrants' great-grandparents, has volunteered to organize a gathering with some of his relatives on the Monday of our tour. For more information, see the itinerary at zeissetgenealogy.n3.net.

Greetings Zeisset relatives! I have been in touch with Wilmer Martin of Tourmagination for our Zeisset Family Tour. At this time, there are 21 of us who have committed financially to going on the trip. I know that there are more who are planning to go. I think that the brochure and information wasn't clear about a registration deadline, but I know that my payment schedule has the second installment due on the 15th of December. So I'm sending a prompt through the discussion board for those who haven't done so yet to sign up. I know it's early. As a procrastinator, all this advance planning is very diffucult for me!

I continue to passionately research our family. Paul will soon be posting the agricultural census data to the webpage now that I finally sent it to him. I have made a connection in Germany with a closer relative. Our great grandfather, Jakob, had three brothers: Isaak, Johannes and Daniel. Isaak was the godfather for Bettie and Henry and perhaps others of our immigrant siblings. I have contacted a greatgreatgreat-granddaughter of his and their family is very excited to hear from us. They have paintings by the same Zeisset artist that some of us have! We will likely be seeing them on our trip as well. I have new information about Jakob and Elizabeth Zeisset (that's Jake Zeisset who came to Kansas and Lizzie Zeisset Weller).

As you look over the itinerary, please let us know your thoughts, if there are other things you would like to include. Assuming that we'll have some Wellers on the trip, we are planning to go to Onolzheim, where George Weller was born. Time will not allow us to travel together to the Swart/Nanninga homes in northern Germany. The Dammhof, where the Baers lived for generations, is now a riding school and I'm hoping that we can arrange a visit there to see what a typical Hof (farm, courtyard) looked like...and maybe some will want to ride their beautiful horses? Another interesting stop, if we get it arranged, will be the Freilandsmuseum at Schwäbisch Hall. This is an open air museum where the buildings are set up as they were in the 1800s, with artisans exhibiting the skills used by our ancestors.

Enough from me...Let us hear from you!

Since I get your emails occasionally, I wonder why I don't get more info on other things like this tour.
I'm one of the Illinois Zeissets and haven't had the opportunity to get to any family reunions do to late notices, no notices, and having other pressing business.
I do hope get to one of the reunion gatherings if I get the notices early enough to plan it in to our schedules.
Its good hearing from you.
 
Cheers,
Charles H. Zeisset, Sr.
Trenton, Illinois

We have a Chuck Zeisset in East Alton, Ill, on our mailing list. If that is not you, or your address has changed, please e-mail your address information to me at pzeisset@earthlink.net.
We would be happy to have Illinois Zeissets join us on the reunion tour to Germany. Many of the ancestral sites we will be visiting are yours too, and we will be meeting German Zeissets as well.

My name is Charles H. Zeisset of Trenton, Illinois, and have a son Charles, Jr. who goes by Chuck, he lives in Highland, Illinois.
It would be too late to make plans for a tour as we winter in at McAllen, TX all winter.
I would like any info on the German Zeissets and any plans for a summer reunion.
Thanks,
CZ

To Charles H. Zeisset,
 
As the keeper of the mailing list, I'd appreciate having both your email address and your street address so you can be informed of future reunions. This bulletin board doesn't reveal your address. The Germany trip in August 2006 will be the 2006 Reunion, so presumably 2008 will be the next one.
If there are other relatives who ought to be on our list, please let me know.
Ray Zeisset
_rzeisset@aol.com_ (mailto:rzeisset@aol.com)

Will do.....................CZ

In answer to one of your questions, yes, each of our hotel rooms in Germany will have a private bath.

Loretta and I learned details such as this in our visit with the tour leader, John Ruth, and the head of Tourmagination, Wilmer Martin, May 16.

Any other questions?

We have a question. Should one use a credit card while on the Germany Tour? Is there any credit card company who doesn't charge a fee for international transactions? Any suggestions concerning currency or forms of payment while on the tour would be helpful to us. We haven't traveled internationally for several years. Thank you.

Hello, Gary and Alta and all the rest going on the Zeisset Reunion Trip,
Having traveled to England just last fall and to France only a couple years ago I found that the VISA and MasterCard are readily accepted. Sometimes the people would not take American Express. I think all of the credit cards charge a transaction fee - one percent or so. It would be good to call your credit card companies and determine which charges the lowest fee. Also, the transaction is usually converted from local currency to US Dollars at the exchange rate when the charge hits the company computers here in the states. Do not take US Dollars thinking you can exchange there. The rate will be terrible and in some cases, they may not want to take US Dollars - we aren't loved all over the world as we would like to think! Also, it is best not to make exchanges of currency in hotels. The rates are better at the banks, or just use your ATM card and don't worry about converting.

By the way, the Euro is quite expensive now compared to a few years ago. Yesterday, the rate was something like 1.28 US Dollars for one Euro.
A recommendation would be to use your ATM card. I have found it
convenient to load my bank account with a sufficient amount and then use my ATM card for my daily cash needs. The Europeans have adapted to this machine much quicker than Americans. It seems that about every major street corner and every bank, etc. will have an ATM machine - some in England call it "the hole in the wall" and generally it is referred to as a "cash point". To use the ATM card in Germany you will insert your card as you would here in the States, the screen will then come up with a question as to which language you care to use - English is usually indicated with the British flag, but it may also show the American Flag. After pressing the language selection, all messages on the screen will be in English. You will be asked to key in your PIN - use the same one as you use at home - and the a new screen will ask for the amount of Euros you wish. Really, this is the same technique as we have in the States.
I do not purchase travelers' checks at all. I have found it convenient to have a few Euros in my pocket when I arrive. For this trip I had a friend who was visiting in France and Germany to bring me back a couple hundred Euros to get me started. I think most banks either have Euros on hand or can order it in within a week or so. If you use the ATM card, you may be charged a transaction fee (my bank here in Alabama - Compass Bank - refunds any transaction fees charged by other banks to me. The advantage of the ATM card is that you don't have to carry so much cash on you as you travel - just be sure you don't lose the card!

I will be traveling, along with my friend, Rod Hildreth, a few days ahead of the reunion group. We are flying into Amsterdam on the 25th of July and will join the family group in Frankfurt on the 2nd when you arrive in country. After the reunion trip, Rod and I are staying another eight days to visit more of Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
Liechtenstein, and maybe a little of the Czech Republic. Lots of miles in so few days!

Hope all of tis helps.

Looking forward to joining all in Germany.

Lee Swart in Alabama



QT - Gary & Alta Morris wrote:

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< replied-to message removed by QT >

I agree with Lee's advice regarding money. We always use our ATM card..JUST BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A 4 DIGIT PASSWORD! I learned that the hard way one year. And know what it is by number (not letter).

I've had several questions about what clothes to take. I always recommend traveling light. Take clothes that can be "mixed and matched" and layered. And most of all, bring comfortable shoes! I pack one pair and wear one pair. It's good to alternate, as that seems to help with aching feet from all the walking. Since you have to take your shoes off going through security at the airports now, it's good to have something that's easy to get on and off.

For a 15-day forecast for Schwabisch Hall, see http://wwwa.accuweather.com/world-forecast...LL|&fday=1&metric=0

It has been hot in Europe, but it appears that the heat wave may break in time for our trip.

We are home safe after a wonderful trip. We were spared any special difficulties with air travel Frankfurt to Washington, even though air travel elsewhere was on high alert.

How did the rest of you fare on your connections through Kansas City and elsewhere?

Getting through Dulles was interesting to say the least! The lines where long and after claiming our checked bags we starting hearing that no liquids or gels could be taken on the plane, so we were repacking our bags in the middle of the baggage claim area to try to avoid having to throw things away and in order to avoid slowing down the lines any more. To make a long story short IT WAS A ZOO, but we made it through with 20 minutes to spare. We were sweating it there for a while. Hope everyone else made it home safely as well.

My experience at Dulles was similar to Gay's (and, I suspect, others), repacking on the floor of the baggage claim area - in my case a couple of bottles of wine! They made it home in good shape. My flight to Chicago left from the same gate area as our original flight to Frankfurt, so I didn't get to see much more of Dulles (not that that was a great disappointment). I'm still on German time, however!

I just tonight found time to get on the website and take a look at our diary of days in Germany. WOWOWOW! Wonderful memories flooded my mind as I read the words we had written. I just want to thank all of you for such a fun trip and I hope we do it again sometime---when I can take the rest of my family! :)

Lee, Rod, Betty and Allan,

How was the rest of your trip? :)

Enjoy Labor Day weekend, the last weekend of summer,
Nadine

Edited by author 08-30-2006 11:31 PM
Sounds like the Germany trip was a success. I got to see some of Lee's pictures when we gathered in Denver. What is the website that the pictures are on? I have missed that somewhere I guess.

At our home page (zeissetgenealogy.n3.net) click on "Germany tour site", then click on "Trip diary" to see more than 80 pictures interspersed with the text. If you are looking for something in particular, scan the itinerary on the "Zeisset History Tour" page and click on the date to jump to that part of the diary.

For those of you who are interested in the "snowballs" or Schneeballen we were served at Kreuzfeld I found this recipe on the Internet:
1 cup of all purpose flour, minus 1 TBSP.
2 TBSP sugar
2-3 TBSP butter
2 egg yolks
dash of rum
Sauterne or white wine
Combine all ingredients, mix with hands. Add rum and wine to make dough. Knead about 10 - 15 minutes, adding flour from board as necessary, until dough feels like velvet. Cover and let rise in refrigerator at least 1 hour. Roll out thin on floured board and cut into squares. String on the handle end of a wooden spoon, and carefully place in pre-heated deep fryer. Fry until golden. Drain on brown paper bag. Roll in cinammon sugar mixture or confectioners sugar.

That's the way the recipe is written. I'm certain that you cooks can make it turn into something good. The Schneeballen I've seen are long strips wound into a ball (not squares). Good luck! I read that the recipe was invented in the 1880s and is traditionally made for weddings or other festivities.

Thanks Paul, What an interesting record of your trip. I can almost visualize being there. Sharon < replied-to message removed by QT >

Thanks so much for sharing your fabulous trip in writing and in photos! We enjoyed seeing Uncle Lee's photos and related stories in August - we look forward to the next Zeisset Reunion.

Thanks, Paul, for sending all the information and photos of your reunion trip. It sounds and looks like we all missed out on quite a trip. We had seen some of the photos when in Colorado for Debbie's daughters wedding that Lee had taken.

We had a mini reunion with our immediate family while out there. Bettie, Ethel, Lloyd, Lee and myself (which is all that is left) were there and hadn't been together for five years.

Gladys

We have an interesting new feature in our diary: sound clips taken from recordings of interesting people talking to us, and other special sounds, like church bells and organs. If your computer has a sound card, click on the links marked with speaker symbols.

The official newspaper of Leonardville/Riley, "The Riley Countian" published an article about our trip to Germany this week. They did a great job with it (in my opinion). Who wants an actual copy of the newspaper? I'm going to L-ville tomorrow and can buy up the ones I can find. We can also make a copy of the front page article. You may not know that there were also 2 large articles about our reunion in the Weisweil area. I have copies of those (they're in German) and there was a little blurb in the Schrozberg newspaper also!

Greetings to all the Zeissets and spouses, friends etc..... What a grand trip!!!! Memories to last "Forever"! Many thanks to Loreta and Paul, and everyone else!! We took the news article from the Riley paper and put it in The Courier-Tribune, Seneca, Kansas. All of our pictures are in place in an album, the daily report made it so much easier to get the pictures in order---Thanks!!!

The inviation is still open-stop by anytime, would love to have you!! Carl and Ruth

Paul encouraged me to post some information about my upcoming trip in February. I'm going to Germany again. I'll be traveling in a car instead of a bus this time! I'll be visiting Sindolsheim, where the Zeisset family lived from 1851-1864. This was a stop on the August tour that we had to cut because we ran out of time. I'll visit Darstadt and the church at Winterhausen where the Isaak Zeisset family lived from 1888 to around 1900. Lizzie Zeisset Weller, George Weller and Jake Zeisset also lived there with Isaak Zeisset and his family. I'll also go to Waldenburg. Johanna Epp Zeisset (grandmother of our 6 immigrant Zeissets) died at Fasanenmühle which is at the base of the hill atop which the town of Waldenburg sits. This is just a little north of Schwäbisch Hall. While the church records there were destroyed in the last days of WWII in 1945, I may be able to find some information at the City hall.
Believe it or not, I'm not tired of researching yet! I've discovered lots of things since our trip. One of the most interesting things I've learned concerns Lydia Zeisset. She was the granddaughter of Johannes Zeisset (married to Elisabetha Baer of Niedersteinach where the whole town came out to meet us...). Lydia was in some way handicapped, perhaps mentally ill, and was among the first of the "behinderte" (handicapped) people killed by the Nazis. I'll be visiting Grafeneck where Lydia died. Lydia was a cousin of our 6 immigrant Zeissets.
Naturally I'll have photos and hopefully more stories to tell...

I was unable to meet you and join the tour last summer, but I did want to express my thanks to those who have shared their pictures and research and tour information. I am a granddaughter of Albert Nanninga (son of Bertha Zeisset), and am glad to have connection with the Zeissets. Hope you plan another tour soon! --SW

It was a bit of a challenge getting to Germany this time. First the domestic flights were all delayed, but the international flights were not, so we missed the plane to Germany. We got on the last plane out of Chicago to London, but someone left the waterhose in the plane and it took 1.5 hours to thaw it loose so we could leave. Once we arrived in Frankfurt, 7 hours after the scheduled time, we were in a traffic jam for 2 hours. Naturally I didn't see my suitcase for a couple of days. After that we had a great trip and I significantly increased my knowledge about Kreuzfeld. Once again (due to the delayed arrival) I was not able to visit Sindolsheim.
I have information to share that will be posted to the Webpage eventually. I'm waiting for some copies to arrive from an archive I visited (the copier was kaputt that day and I found out too late that my camera makes great copies). I photographed a letter from Jakob Friedrich Zeisset written in 1878.

I was just reading the Zeisset Message Board and noticed a question by Nadine asking about the "rest of the trip" taken by Bettie and Allan Burns, Lee Swart and Rod Hildreth. Our trip to Prague by snell (fast)train was good, changing in Dresden, and with the assistance of the conductor in Frankfurt and Dresden we made all the connections. Others on the train assisted us with the transfer of our baggage - no small task as we were lugging several bags, including maybe the kitchen sink. Prague was a wonderful surprise for all of us. Bettie was continuing to have difficulty with her hearing aids and spent time fussing with them. Rod and I made sure we were with her at all times to keep her from falling while walking on the cobblestone streets. I would definitely recommend anyone traveling to Europe to add Prague to their itinerary.

After Bettie and Allan flew home to Dallas from Prague, Rod and I took the train to Munich where we picked up a rental car and then continued on visiting the Bavarian area of Germany. After leaving the Garmish area we drove down thru Austria to Italy for lunch (fifty miles)and then continued on driving on to Liechtenstein, Switzerland and back into Germany before heading northeast to the Weimar area of old "East Germany" where we visited the town of Lauscha. Lauscha is world famous for it's hand blown Christmas ornament industry. Much of the work is done in small home based shops with the products being sold in village stores (and through the wholesale markets around the world). I did come away with some very nice ornaments to add to my Christmas tree - actually, after buying the ornaments we asked the merchants to mail them to me at home so no problem with having to carry them onto the plane. Only two small ornaments were broken, so it was a success.

That is sort of it in a nutshell. We did have a great two weeks roaming Germany and several other countries after the Zeisset Reunion Journey. Rod and I managed to visit ten countries on this trip including a visit, before the Zeisset part of the trip, to the village of Mitling-Mark in the northwest of Germany were my grandfather, John Swart (married Louisa Zeisset), was born in 1860. Rod and I will be returning to Mitling-Mark this fall to do more family research for my family and then fly over to Cornwall, England to do research on his family.

I look forward to our next gathering at Leonardville or back in Germany!

I wanted to let you all know of Gladys Hoerman Llewelyn's death today shortly after noon in Clay Center, Kansas. Her health had been declining more rapidly for the past several months. I will post a link to her obituary in the next couple of days.

Thanks for the notice. It is sad to mark the passing of the last of the children of the immigrant 6, the end of a generation. Loretta, we know you were a big help to Gladys.

Thanks to everyone who attended Gladys' visitation or funeral. She would have been pleased. Actually, Gladys was not the last of the children of the immigrant 6. Elizabeth Nanninga Morlong is still living at the Leonardville Nursing Home. You can go to http://www.legacy.com and put in Gladys Llewelyn to get the obituary. I thought I could put a link to the obituary itself here, but haven't figured out how to do that.

Oups...