At 31, lifetime Yellow Springs resident Ann Miles never knew Wheeling Gaunt or his legacy. But when she suddenly became a widow, the man who died more than 100 years ago became a comfort in her life.

“You can’t plan a tragedy. It was really rough. I was a housewife (with two kids) when my husband passed,” Miles said.

When she got a call that the village’s utility department would deliver flour and sugar to her door, she didn’t know what to think. But she understood what it meant to receive kindness from a stranger — one who’s been offering it for the past 118 years.

The tradition dates back to a deal struck between Gaunt, a former slave, and the village in 1894. He donated 10 acres of farmland to the village on the condition that it deliver flour to all the local widows at Christmastime with rent money collected off the parcel. The land is now Gaunt Park, and while there’s no longer any rent collected, the village still keeps its promise.

“Honestly, it’s not about the flour and sugar at all. It’s the gesture,” Miles said. “I think it’s really interesting how this whole thing was set up so long ago and now I am receiving these gifts from a man who didn’t know I would be the recipient one day.”

Miles is one of 104 widows and 14 widowers who received the paper-wrapped cooking staples this year, according to the village.

“It’s a long tradition and I don’t foresee it ever going away,” said Kelley Fox, superintendent of water and electric distribution for Yellow Springs. “The widows seem to be forgotten at times. I think (Gaunt) wanted to make sure that the widows were taken care of and looked after.”

For six years, village employee Jane Hamilton has been picking up the massive order of flour and sugar from Tom’s Market and making the deliveries around town.

“You tend to remember the first-timers,” she said. “They are the ones without their loved ones now, and it still hurts and it’s still fresh, and you have to comfort them. Those stick with you and you can’t help but feel that.”

The delivery also offers another gift.

“My daughters will come home and hopefully we’ll make some cookies. Bring the family back together,” Miles said.