In June of 1902, work began to incorporate the community into a village. A disastrous fire struck the town on July 11, 1902, in which most of its business district was destroyed, owing in part to the fact that the community did not have a fire service of any kind The day after this fire, an election was held on the question of incorporation, which passed, 65–15, and thus the town became te Village of Welcome In the meantime, the cause of the fire was investigated and believed to be arson. In early 1903, Lucille Colbert was charged with setting fire to her own millinery and causing $80,000 in damage to the village. An unsigned letter, believed to be written in Colbert's handwriting, was mailed to the village's Catholic church, in which a man on his deathbed claimed responsibility for the fire, as retribution for a dispute with Colbert. A publicly followed multi-year trial and appeal process was set in motion. Colbert was convicted in on December 5, 1903, the day after "the largest crowd ever gathered in the Appleton courtroom" (300) heard closing arguments. Her conviction was appealed as she first remained under guard in a hotel. It was ultimately overturned in 1905 by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, headed by John B. Winslow, and a new trial was ordered. In 1907, a new trial having been on the court's calendar for each year thereafter, the case was officially dropped, with Colbert never having served a day behind bars. The name of the village of Welcome was changed back to Bear Creek by consent of the Wisconsin Legislature on July 2, 1915, because of the confusion resulting from the village and the railroad station having different names