BENSON — Talk about hospitality!
I rounded the corner and the sign said, "Welcome Benson."
Then I got closer and noticed the "to."
"Welcome to Benson."
Oh.
Still, it was better than someone serving a summons or telling you your newspaper just went out of business.
Benson, it turns out, is a slow-moving, peaceful slice of Cache Valley located eight miles northwest of Logan that was settled a century and a half ago by Mormon farmers who liked the idea of their alfalfa fields adjoining the Bear River. They started a trend that today we call having a home office.
I would have bet any of their farms that Benson wasn't named after my particular line of Bensons because when my grandfather Adolph came to America from Sweden his name wasn't Benson, it was Bengtsson. He shortened it to Benson when one too many Englishmen spelled it wrong.
Besides, Adolph didn't even arrive in this country until long after Benson was named Benson.
A much better bet was that it was named after Ezra T. Benson, one of the original Mormon pioneers who came to Utah in 1847. Ezra T. was an apostle to Brigham Young and soon after arrival built a beautiful home on the corner of Main Street and South Temple in Salt Lake City, where the Zions Bank tower now stands.
But no sooner had he gotten comfortable than Brigham Young ordered him to move and settle what is now known as Cache Valley.
I learned all this when I called Michael Benson, the president at Southern Utah University and a great-great-great-grandson of Ezra T. Benson.
A student of his family lore, Mike confirmed that the Benson I rode through is indeed named after his great-great-great-grandfather.
"The people in Cache Valley thought so much of him they named a town after him," he said.
Ezra T., however, was never aware of the honor. He died in 1869 and although people had been farming in the vicinity since 1862, the area wasn't officially named Benson until 1871.
Ezra T., ironically enough, never lived in Benson, and neither did any of his progeny. (Ezra T. resided in Logan and his namesake and great-grandson, Ezra Taft Benson, who became a Cabinet member in the Eisenhower administration and later the 13th president of the LDS Church, was born in nearby Whitney, Idaho).
It appears, in fact, that no one named Benson has ever actually lived in Benson.
The town's official census records list no Bensons down through the years and current local resident Vickie Ricks looked through a town directory and said there are no Bensons listed there in 2009.
I met Vickie at Darrell's Appliance Service & Sales. Darrell's is located on the eastern entrance to Benson in a building that looks, appropriately enough, like a huge barn. But instead of farm animals inside there are smokin' good country deals on dozens and dozens of washers, dryers, refrigerators and other appliances.
Darrell's is not just the biggest retail business in Benson, it is also the only retail business in Benson. The sign out front says it's located in "beautiful downtown Benson." It's hard to argue with that. Without Darrell's there wouldn't be a beautiful downtown Benson.
The rest of Benson is plenty of barns, coops, sheds, dairies, milking machines, ponds and fields. There is also a Benson Lake and a Benson Marina, both part of the larger Cutler Reservoir waterways system.
Vickie said living in Benson is uncomplicated.
"We're not civilized," she said. Then she rethought that and added, "No, that's not the word, we're not incorporated."
"I like it here just fine. I like the country life," she said. "It's really a pretty, peaceful place."
And very well named.
Lee Benson's column runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews .com