Susan still has a copy of the original warranty deed for the tract that her great-grandfather purchased from Abraham Lincoln Hess, who—along with his brother, Amos—founded Hesston in 1886. She said her great-grandparents came from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Hesston to help develop the Holdeman church in Kansas. Susan said she didn’t think most of Hesston’s current residents knew who her father was or his contributions to the city. “The golden oldies knew who he was,” she said. “New people moving in have no conception. They don’t care, and that’s OK.” Susan said after her father invented the unloading augur, he knew he would be bringing in some important people to work at the factory. He wanted the town to look nice so he could impress future employees. “He insisted every street was curbed and guttered and every street paved,” she said. “He wanted it to look tailored.”
Source: Harvey County Now
