Benson is eight miles northwest of Logan. In l870 the Charles Reese and Israel J. Clark families settled there from Logan. On May 3, 1871, the settlement was organized by Moses Thatcher, an apostle of the Mormon Church and Bishop William B. Preston of Logan, a Mormon elder. Bishop Preston suggested a name honoring Ezra T. Benson, a presiding elder of the Mormon Church in that area.(*)

Before Benson was settled, this part of the county was used as a herd ground; in fact, the land west to Newton and as far north as Weston, was used for grazing of livestock, mostly cattle. A number of the cattle herds from Logan were grazed here.(*)