Ferdinand Joachim, Son of Peter and Regina (Somnitz) Zessin.
Brother of Maria Friederika, Karl Friedrich, Ernst Gotthiff, Anna Caroline and Jacob Heinrich Zessin.
From the Booklet:
The Zessin Nine
and
From the Book:
Images of Yesterday...Visions of Tomorrow
125 Years
Madison, Nebraska
1867-1992
FERDINAND ZESSIN FAMILY
Ferdinand Zessin (pronounced Zeess-seen) was born May 12, 1824, in the Province of Pommern, Jutland, near the North Sea, in an
area somewhere between Stettin and Stolp, Germany, once behind the Iron Curtain.
Ferdinand, married Henrietta Mame Heinrich. It is believed, she was born North of Berlin and as a young girl became interested in medicine, either as a helper to a nurse or to a doctor. To this marriage nine children were born, seven were born near Lupow, Germany and tow in the United States. When the two older boys were near military age, the parents did not want their sons to do the goose step for the Kaiser, the Prussian Monarch William I, in the war with France. Prussia stood above the other German States in political and economic power. Germany was having tremendous military success which generated profound nationalism among the German people, giving impetus to an official movement for the unification of the North German Confederation and the Southern German States. However, Ferdinand and Henrietta did not want their sons to be a part of this movement.
It was decided they should join a group that was migrating to Kankakee, Illinois, U. S. A. With only the belongings they could carry, they boarded a freighter (John Bertram) in Hamburg, Germany, smuggling the two older boys aboard; one dressed as a young boy with a limp, the other in a laundry bag that Ferdinand carried over his back.
It took three weeks to reach New York City, as the Atlantic crossing was very rough and stormy. Mother Henrietta tied the two girls, Ida and Lena, to her body with a big shawl during part of the voyage, when the storm was so severe. They landed in New York in 1870. Due to the fact that they made arrangements late, there was no one to vouch for them. They were required to remain at Castle Garden, Lower Manhattan Island now known as the Battery, until someone came from Kankakee, Illinois, with the correct papers. This period was very difficult. With little money, they ate little, slept on benches and became very discouraged.
When they arrived in Kankakee, the group that preceeded them had homesteaded the more favorable land. Sometime later, believed to be in September of 1870, the Zessins migrated to a good homestead area, thirty miles north of Columbus, Nebraska, now known as Green Garden Precinct, Madison County, Nebraska. They built a "soddy" a long narrow excavated room with an earthen bench along one side. At ground level, the room became wider forming a wide shelf on each side where they placed their straw ticks for sleeping. They had a large fireplace at one end that served for cooking as well as heating. The soddy was warm in winter and cool in summer.
Ferdinand Zessin was a good farmer so they soon became acclimated. He would walk Thirty-five miles to Columbus, at that time the nearest town, for their supplies and carry them home on his back. Mother Zessin was the aggressive, domineering member of the family, a most ambitious lady. Having some medical knowledge she walked many miles carrying her home remedies to help the sick. It was told that when she was attending a local festival, she danced with General Custer.
The family progressed and became an influential part of not only the Madison Community, but also many other communities in their new found land.
Ferdinand died on the home place, November 17, 1903.
After breaking her hip, Henrietta died in Norfolk, Nebraska, May 15, 1916. Both are buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery, Madison, Nebraska.
Henrietta Mame Heinrich (on tombstone Hennetta Heinrich).
Note: It is believed that there were two infants died at birth and were buried in Germany. This cannot be confirmed.
Brother of Maria Friederika, Karl Friedrich, Ernst Gotthiff, Anna Caroline and Jacob Heinrich Zessin.
From the Booklet:
The Zessin Nine
and
From the Book:
Images of Yesterday...Visions of Tomorrow
125 Years
Madison, Nebraska
1867-1992
FERDINAND ZESSIN FAMILY
Ferdinand Zessin (pronounced Zeess-seen) was born May 12, 1824, in the Province of Pommern, Jutland, near the North Sea, in an
area somewhere between Stettin and Stolp, Germany, once behind the Iron Curtain.
Ferdinand, married Henrietta Mame Heinrich. It is believed, she was born North of Berlin and as a young girl became interested in medicine, either as a helper to a nurse or to a doctor. To this marriage nine children were born, seven were born near Lupow, Germany and tow in the United States. When the two older boys were near military age, the parents did not want their sons to do the goose step for the Kaiser, the Prussian Monarch William I, in the war with France. Prussia stood above the other German States in political and economic power. Germany was having tremendous military success which generated profound nationalism among the German people, giving impetus to an official movement for the unification of the North German Confederation and the Southern German States. However, Ferdinand and Henrietta did not want their sons to be a part of this movement.
It was decided they should join a group that was migrating to Kankakee, Illinois, U. S. A. With only the belongings they could carry, they boarded a freighter (John Bertram) in Hamburg, Germany, smuggling the two older boys aboard; one dressed as a young boy with a limp, the other in a laundry bag that Ferdinand carried over his back.
It took three weeks to reach New York City, as the Atlantic crossing was very rough and stormy. Mother Henrietta tied the two girls, Ida and Lena, to her body with a big shawl during part of the voyage, when the storm was so severe. They landed in New York in 1870. Due to the fact that they made arrangements late, there was no one to vouch for them. They were required to remain at Castle Garden, Lower Manhattan Island now known as the Battery, until someone came from Kankakee, Illinois, with the correct papers. This period was very difficult. With little money, they ate little, slept on benches and became very discouraged.
When they arrived in Kankakee, the group that preceeded them had homesteaded the more favorable land. Sometime later, believed to be in September of 1870, the Zessins migrated to a good homestead area, thirty miles north of Columbus, Nebraska, now known as Green Garden Precinct, Madison County, Nebraska. They built a "soddy" a long narrow excavated room with an earthen bench along one side. At ground level, the room became wider forming a wide shelf on each side where they placed their straw ticks for sleeping. They had a large fireplace at one end that served for cooking as well as heating. The soddy was warm in winter and cool in summer.
Ferdinand Zessin was a good farmer so they soon became acclimated. He would walk Thirty-five miles to Columbus, at that time the nearest town, for their supplies and carry them home on his back. Mother Zessin was the aggressive, domineering member of the family, a most ambitious lady. Having some medical knowledge she walked many miles carrying her home remedies to help the sick. It was told that when she was attending a local festival, she danced with General Custer.
The family progressed and became an influential part of not only the Madison Community, but also many other communities in their new found land.
Ferdinand died on the home place, November 17, 1903.
After breaking her hip, Henrietta died in Norfolk, Nebraska, May 15, 1916. Both are buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery, Madison, Nebraska.
Henrietta Mame Heinrich (on tombstone Hennetta Heinrich).
Note: It is believed that there were two infants died at birth and were buried in Germany. This cannot be confirmed.
Ferdinand Joachim, Son of Peter and Regina (Somnitz) Zessin.
Brother of Maria Friederika, Karl Friedrich, Ernst Gotthiff, Anna Caroline and Jacob Heinrich Zessin.
From the Booklet:
The Zessin Nine
and
From the Book:
Images of Yesterday...Visions of Tomorrow
125 Years
Madison, Nebraska
1867-1992
FERDINAND ZESSIN FAMILY
Ferdinand Zessin (pronounced Zeess-seen) was born May 12, 1824, in the Province of Pommern, Jutland, near the North Sea, in an
area somewhere between Stettin and Stolp, Germany, once behind the Iron Curtain.
Ferdinand, married Henrietta Mame Heinrich. It is believed, she was born North of Berlin and as a young girl became interested in medicine, either as a helper to a nurse or to a doctor. To this marriage nine children were born, seven were born near Lupow, Germany and tow in the United States. When the two older boys were near military age, the parents did not want their sons to do the goose step for the Kaiser, the Prussian Monarch William I, in the war with France. Prussia stood above the other German States in political and economic power. Germany was having tremendous military success which generated profound nationalism among the German people, giving impetus to an official movement for the unification of the North German Confederation and the Southern German States. However, Ferdinand and Henrietta did not want their sons to be a part of this movement.
It was decided they should join a group that was migrating to Kankakee, Illinois, U. S. A. With only the belongings they could carry, they boarded a freighter (John Bertram) in Hamburg, Germany, smuggling the two older boys aboard; one dressed as a young boy with a limp, the other in a laundry bag that Ferdinand carried over his back.
It took three weeks to reach New York City, as the Atlantic crossing was very rough and stormy. Mother Henrietta tied the two girls, Ida and Lena, to her body with a big shawl during part of the voyage, when the storm was so severe. They landed in New York in 1870. Due to the fact that they made arrangements late, there was no one to vouch for them. They were required to remain at Castle Garden, Lower Manhattan Island now known as the Battery, until someone came from Kankakee, Illinois, with the correct papers. This period was very difficult. With little money, they ate little, slept on benches and became very discouraged.
When they arrived in Kankakee, the group that preceeded them had homesteaded the more favorable land. Sometime later, believed to be in September of 1870, the Zessins migrated to a good homestead area, thirty miles north of Columbus, Nebraska, now known as Green Garden Precinct, Madison County, Nebraska. They built a "soddy" a long narrow excavated room with an earthen bench along one side. At ground level, the room became wider forming a wide shelf on each side where they placed their straw ticks for sleeping. They had a large fireplace at one end that served for cooking as well as heating. The soddy was warm in winter and cool in summer.
Ferdinand Zessin was a good farmer so they soon became acclimated. He would walk Thirty-five miles to Columbus, at that time the nearest town, for their supplies and carry them home on his back. Mother Zessin was the aggressive, domineering member of the family, a most ambitious lady. Having some medical knowledge she walked many miles carrying her home remedies to help the sick. It was told that when she was attending a local festival, she danced with General Custer.
The family progressed and became an influential part of not only the Madison Community, but also many other communities in their new found land.
Ferdinand died on the home place, November 17, 1903.
After breaking her hip, Henrietta died in Norfolk, Nebraska, May 15, 1916. Both are buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery, Madison, Nebraska.
Henrietta Mame Heinrich (on tombstone Hennetta Heinrich).
Note: It is believed that there were two infants died at birth and were buried in Germany. This cannot be confirmed.
Brother of Maria Friederika, Karl Friedrich, Ernst Gotthiff, Anna Caroline and Jacob Heinrich Zessin.
From the Booklet:
The Zessin Nine
and
From the Book:
Images of Yesterday...Visions of Tomorrow
125 Years
Madison, Nebraska
1867-1992
FERDINAND ZESSIN FAMILY
Ferdinand Zessin (pronounced Zeess-seen) was born May 12, 1824, in the Province of Pommern, Jutland, near the North Sea, in an
area somewhere between Stettin and Stolp, Germany, once behind the Iron Curtain.
Ferdinand, married Henrietta Mame Heinrich. It is believed, she was born North of Berlin and as a young girl became interested in medicine, either as a helper to a nurse or to a doctor. To this marriage nine children were born, seven were born near Lupow, Germany and tow in the United States. When the two older boys were near military age, the parents did not want their sons to do the goose step for the Kaiser, the Prussian Monarch William I, in the war with France. Prussia stood above the other German States in political and economic power. Germany was having tremendous military success which generated profound nationalism among the German people, giving impetus to an official movement for the unification of the North German Confederation and the Southern German States. However, Ferdinand and Henrietta did not want their sons to be a part of this movement.
It was decided they should join a group that was migrating to Kankakee, Illinois, U. S. A. With only the belongings they could carry, they boarded a freighter (John Bertram) in Hamburg, Germany, smuggling the two older boys aboard; one dressed as a young boy with a limp, the other in a laundry bag that Ferdinand carried over his back.
It took three weeks to reach New York City, as the Atlantic crossing was very rough and stormy. Mother Henrietta tied the two girls, Ida and Lena, to her body with a big shawl during part of the voyage, when the storm was so severe. They landed in New York in 1870. Due to the fact that they made arrangements late, there was no one to vouch for them. They were required to remain at Castle Garden, Lower Manhattan Island now known as the Battery, until someone came from Kankakee, Illinois, with the correct papers. This period was very difficult. With little money, they ate little, slept on benches and became very discouraged.
When they arrived in Kankakee, the group that preceeded them had homesteaded the more favorable land. Sometime later, believed to be in September of 1870, the Zessins migrated to a good homestead area, thirty miles north of Columbus, Nebraska, now known as Green Garden Precinct, Madison County, Nebraska. They built a "soddy" a long narrow excavated room with an earthen bench along one side. At ground level, the room became wider forming a wide shelf on each side where they placed their straw ticks for sleeping. They had a large fireplace at one end that served for cooking as well as heating. The soddy was warm in winter and cool in summer.
Ferdinand Zessin was a good farmer so they soon became acclimated. He would walk Thirty-five miles to Columbus, at that time the nearest town, for their supplies and carry them home on his back. Mother Zessin was the aggressive, domineering member of the family, a most ambitious lady. Having some medical knowledge she walked many miles carrying her home remedies to help the sick. It was told that when she was attending a local festival, she danced with General Custer.
The family progressed and became an influential part of not only the Madison Community, but also many other communities in their new found land.
Ferdinand died on the home place, November 17, 1903.
After breaking her hip, Henrietta died in Norfolk, Nebraska, May 15, 1916. Both are buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery, Madison, Nebraska.
Henrietta Mame Heinrich (on tombstone Hennetta Heinrich).
Note: It is believed that there were two infants died at birth and were buried in Germany. This cannot be confirmed.
Gravesite Details
The Tombstone Marker is in the German Language.
Family Members
Children
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