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History Mystery: Gilead was original name of present-day Wilmot

BY DIANE GILES

dgiles@kenoshanews.com

The last History Mystery question:

What was the original name of Wilmot in western Kenosha County?

The answer:

Wilmot’s first name was Gilead. Just doesn’t roll off the tongue the way Wilmot does, eh?

Wilmot is one of those places on the map with a bit of an identity crisis.

It began as a settlement in western Kenosha County, which grew into a “village,” but never really acquired the governmental identity that the villages of Twin Lakes, Silver Lake and Paddock Lake did.

According to “Bridging the Years — 1837-1987,” a history written for Wilmot’s sesquicentennial, the first white man to settle there was Lewis Hatch, a New Yorker who came by way of railroad, steam and his own two feet in 1837. He sold his land and log house to Asabel W. Benham two years later.

Benham brought his family and at first settled in Salem at the intersection of today’s Highway 83 and Highway C, which came to be known as Benham’s Corners.

In 1844, the family built a frame house on the Hatch property that would be the center of Wilmot and moved in.

Benham named the place Gilead after his hometown of Gilead, Conn.

The same year, he erected a flour and feed mill. He dug ditches westward through the marshes to the hills known as the Knobs. The water supplied by the ditches was enough to operate his small mill.

In 1846, Benham constructed a dam on the Fox River and enlarged the feed mill.

The mill drew in farmers from near and far. For some it was a two-day drive by horse and wagon, so the Wilcox Hotel was erected by Ephraim Wilcox in 1848.

Other early settlers were the Hugh McIntyre family and Wilton Benham, a relative of Asabel.

Wilton built two brick houses, while Asabel and absentee partner John Marsh built the first store in 1847.

Asabel sold his interest in the store to John Bullen Jr. from Southport, but the store burned down in 1852.

Fire was the culprit in another two disasters at Wilmot’s flour and feed mill.

In 1879, the mill, which had been sold to John Carey, who in turn sold it to John Voak, burned to the ground. Voak immediately rebuilt it three stories high with five (count ’em — FIVE) waterwheels. The new mill had a capacity of 100 barrels a day.

Voak sold his prosperous mill to his sons Charles and Edward in 1893. Seven years later it once again burned down, this time taking a nearby blacksmith shop and the Episcopal church.

How Gilead came to be Wilmot is an interesting bit of trivia.

A meeting of the residents was held in 1848 to select a name for the town. After much discussion, a Mr. Wilbur jokingly said, “Well, since we are hearing so much about the Wilmot Proviso these days, why not call the town Wilmot?”

Two years earlier, President James K. Polk asked Congress for troops to fight Mexico.

The Wilmot Proviso was an amendment to that appropriations bill brought forth by Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot. The amendment stipulated that slavery and involuntary servitude would be barred from all lands acquired from Mexico as a result of such a war.

It was the beginning of the great polarization of northern and southern states, which led to the Civil War.

Mr. Wilbur’s suggestion struck a nerve, and the name Wilmot, Wis., stuck.

This week’s mystery:

Who was the Kenosha born auto racer who finished fourth in the Indy 500 in 1957?

History Mystery

appears weekly in the Kenosha News. The answer to today’s question will run next Tuesday.