Old section by the old office
Columbus, Ohio
It was claimed by Hess' descendents that during the war he distingushed himself serving General Washington. He supposedly crossed the Delaware with him to attack the Hessians and was involved in several other escapades,in one of which he was captured and imprisoned in an infamous British POW camp on Long Island. Hess was said to have been one of a handful of men who survived interment there.
After the war, Hess returned to Pennsylvania where he married young Mary Eve Hansel with whom he had several children.
In settling into life as a citizen of a new country Hess became embroiled in the growing pains of his community as it reacted to the establishment of the new nation. Finding himself not as comfortable in Pennsylvania as he had once been, Hess decided to join his friend Michael Krieder in making a new life for his family in Ohio. Hess came to Ohio in the late 1790s and eventually settled in the what is now Union township in Columbus. Ohio. He and his sons were credited with the first county improvements in Franklin County when they built a road out his farm. The farm was across the Olentangy River from the present day site of The Ohio State University.
When Hess passed away, he was the first adult to be buried in what is now the Union Cemetary. The burying ground was bought from the Hess family in 1847. His stone calls him "Bolser". He is variously listed in old records as "Balser", "George Balser", and "Baltzer". The stone monument was erected by his grandson Daniel in memory of a man who was said to be among the founding fathers of Columbus and a true pioneer.
