"For a portion of this sketch we are indebted to Osceola Gilbert, of Caton." "On the formation of Steuben county, March 8, 1796, the tract of land now constituting the town of Caton and forming the southwest corner town of the county, was designated as "Township No. 1, in the First Range" of the townships in said county. It remained as such until February 11, 1840, at which time it took the name of "Wormley," agreeable to an act of legislature passed March 28, 1839. All previous histories have given the date of the formation of the town of Wormley as March, 1829. During that year a post-office was established here and called Wormley, and Samuel Wormley was appoined - (sic. - typed as printed in the Gazetteer) postmaster. From this sprang the error which has found its way into all histories of the county which have hitherto been published. In all official records it was invariably spoken of as "that part of the town of Painted Post known as township "No. 1" in the first range of townships." It remained, as stated, a part of Painted Post until February 11, 1840. To settle the dispute as regards the formation of the town, the writer has not only hunted up living witnesses of the fact, but has searched the session laws of the earlier days, and in those of 1839 found the following enactment, which is inserted as proof of the foregoing statements: "An act to erect the town of Wormley in Steuben county, passed March 28, 1839. The people of the state of New York, represented in senate and assembly do enact as follows: From and after the 1st Monday in February, 1840, all that part of the town of Painted Post, in the county of Steuben, being township "No. 1" in the first range of townships in said county, shall constitute a new town of the name of Wormley, and the first town meeting for the election of town officers shall be held on the 2nd Tuesday of February next, at the house where Russell Stanton now resides. " In accordance with the foregoing enactment a meeting was held, and town officers elected on February 11, 1840. The town of Wormley was, however, short lived, as we find by the following: " An act to change the name of the town of Wormley, in the county of Steuben, passed April 3, 1840. The people of the state of New York represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows: The name of the town of Wormley, in the county of Steuben, is hereby changed to the name of "Caton" - (derived from Richard Caton, who, with Edward Carroll of Carrollton, Md., one of the signers of the declaration of independence, was one of the original land owners) by which last name it shall hereafter be known and designated. This act shall take effect immediately. " The foregoing proofs, which are official, show conclusively that the town of Wormley had no existence until February, 1840, and then passed away after a brief period of about sixty days, all histories to the contrary notwithstanding." This is a History of Schuyler County found in an attic. It was from strips cut from the Watkins Democrat newspaper, and the only date I can find is 1877. There is no name of an author and nothing to show the order that it appeared. The Propietor was William H. BALDWIN. I will type it as it is and show where something has been torn away, as I think it should be saved. [typed by Helena Howard]. Although Schuyler, as organized in 1854, was formed from Tompkins, Steuben and Chemung, there was a period not remote in its history when all its territory was embraced in one county. And we know of no authentic evidence that indicates that Montgomery [county] was in any wise discommoded or inconvienced by the possession of so large and extensive a domain as Schuyler's present area. The region now known as Schuyler remained wholly within Montgomery county until 1789, when that portion afterward belonging to Steuben, was set off with Ontario. In 1796, Steuben was organized, and fifty-seven years later, in "fifty-four", helped beget Schuyler. The towns of Hector, Catharine, Dix and Cayuta remained in Montgomery two years after the erection of Ontario. And in 1792, Herkimer and Tioga were also formed: Chemung being taken from Tioga in 1836. The towns of Dix, Montour, Catharine and Cayuta were therefore first in the original county of Albany, then Montgomery, then Tioga, next Chemung and finally in Schuyler. While Hector commencing in Albany successively belonged to Montgomery, Herkimer, Onondaga, Cayuta, Seneca and Tompkins. Although it has been a constituent element of eight different counties, during the past century, Hector has, by no means been used up or exhausted by its frequent mutations and transfers, since it still contains over sixty thousand acres of land, and nearly or quite one-fourth the population of the county There appear to have been few or no really permanent settlements in Schuyler prior to 1790, or thereabouts. After Sullivan's raid, and the exploring parties who followed in its wake but little is known of the region until 1790, when George MILLS, the McCLUREs and two or three other families settled on the flats near the village of Havana. An apparently unsuccessful effort to establish a beginning in the woods was made about the same time, nearer the head of the lake, upon the present site of Watkins. A year or two later, in 1791-2 the WICKHAMs with one or two neighbors also moved into Hector. But immigration was feeble, and the "newcomers" few and far apart, until the years 1797-8, when the advent of pioneers and adventures became more frequent, and the occupation and development of the country was actually commenced. At this time, John DIVEN and Wm. BASKIN with their families, removed from Pennsylvania, and settled upon the county line road, about 1 mile west of the head of the lake. Mr. BASKIN "took up" the premises known as the Alexander ROSS place, and DIVEN the farm still occupied by members of the family, just above the county line burying ground. There were several children born of these families and their names have long been prominent in local and public matters. Clark J. BASKIN, Esq., now residing in the town of Reading and the longest resident practising attorney and counsellor in the county, is a son of Wm. BASKIN, and if we are not in error, was the first native born citizen of the town of Dix who received the advantages of a collegiate course of study. Rebecca BASKIN, a sister of Clark J., married Jarius CHAPMAN, who came with his father from Saratoga Co., NY to this section in 1820, and located near what has long been known as the Partridge tavern stand in Reading. John DIVEN had several sons and daughters of whom the Hon. Wm. DIVEN, late of the town of Reading, and Gen. A. S. DIVEN, of Elmira, have been the most conspicuous before the public. Wm. DIVEN was, for many years, Justice of the Peace in the town of Reading, and in 1847 he represented the county of Steuben in the legislature of this State. He was three times married. His first wife was a CULVER, the second Mrs. Clarissa HEBARD, and the third a daughter of the late Daniel NORRIS, Esq., of Reading. The character and services of Gen. A. S. DIVEN are too well known by our readers to require mention in these notes. When Messrs. DIVEN and BASKIN settled in this county, the surrounding country was of course a wilderness, and for several years after their arrival their neighbors to the south and east were George MILLS at what is now Havana, and Judge CATLIN, who resided near the present village of Odessa. The MILLS and CATLIN families were also large, and for a long time the children of these four families constituted the young society of what would now be considered a pretty widely scattered neighborhood. Dr. Madison MILLS, a son of George MILLS, has long held a distinguished position in the Medical Department of the regular army. Phineas CATLIN, Esq., a highly respected and wealthy citizen of Catharine, is a son of Judge CATLIN, and his sister Mary became the wife of the late Judge John CRAWFORD, of Crawford's settlement. The homes of these early prominent settlers served as stopping and resting places for the tired and exhausted parties who came on later, and were pushing their way farther on, over the hills and into the wilderness toward the western boundaries of the county. There are numerous citizens still living in the towns of Dix, Orange and Tyrone, who can recall with grateful recollection the favors thus afforded them, by those who were already established in the new country, and who were in a situation that enabled them to proffer the hospitality calculated to restore and renew the strength and courage that had been so heavily taxed by a long and wearisome journey through the woods. In the southwestern part of the town of Dix there were no actual residents previous to the year 1818. HACKETT, HASKINS, PALMER, a man by the name of PERRY, and Edward LEE first located in the region at and about Beaver Dams. HASKINS lived on the place now owned by Truman G. BEECHER. HACKET had a shanty near the foot of the hill, on the farm now owned by W. C. SAVORY and Frederick PALMER had built a house on the corner now occupied by Wm. S. BEERS before 1820. Edward LEE, father of David and Emory LEE, had pitched his tent at the foot of the high hill, on the southern portion of what is now SAVORY's place, and Wm. HAINES lived on what has long been called the COLE farm, about half way back from the north and south road, towards the foot of the hill, where Elijah PHELPS located a few years later. In 1824 Underhill FROST, father of Capt. David FROST, and George FROST, Esq., of Watkins, removed from Hector, and bought the premises adjoining and opposite the Beaver Dams cemetery. The first school house erected in the Post Creek valley was built in 1826, by the volunteer labor and contributions of the community, and Miss Amanda HOTCHKISS, sister of the Rev. Edward HOTCHKISS, taught the first school. The first grist mill in the town was located in what is generally known as the VanZANDT's hollow, near its northwest bodudary(sic), by a Mr. HUBBELL. Daniel KENT soon after bought it, and kept in operation for several years. In 1831 or 2, Ira DODGE built the first mill located upon the mill seat now owned and occupied by John RHODES. In the portion of the town known as Crawford's Settlement, or Moreland, John CROUT was the first settler. He had a lot south of Esq. BARTLETT's residence, given to him by the agent of the Harper tract as an inducement to settle there, and for several years was quite alone in the dark and gloomy hemlock forests. Judge Crawford, Col. Green BENNETT, the CLEAVLANDs [CLEVELANDs], Joshua PEARCE, the LOOMIS family and Wilson BAILEY were all in the neighborhood, however, over fifty years ago, and may justly be regarded as its pioneers. Fifty-six years ago Wm. LANE, father of Frederick LANE, of Beaver Dams, located upon the hillside west of the valley, and with his brother-in-law, a Mr. EASLING, was for sometime the only occupants of that vicinity. At the period of which we write, the territory now included in the Town of Dix was, of course, known as the town of Catlin, which extends from the northern boundary of Big Flats to the head of Seneca Lake. Then Post Creek, Martin's Hill, Hubbard's Run and Edminister's settlement were in the same town with the "county line," Watkins and Townsend. John CORNELL, who after the division of the town became a resident of Dix, was for fourteen consecutive years Town Clerk of Catlin and of Dix; and it is no disparagement to his successors in office to remark that a more beautiful and correct record has never been kept by a subsequent clerk in that office. At Townsend, Claudius TOWNSEND, Mr. EVANS, Dods BENSON and Samuel PRICE were among the earliest settlers. Benj. PRIEST, Rockwell and Hon. Simeon L. ROOD and Daniel TRACEY, father of John G., Albert and Ebenezer TRACY came soon after the first\ settlements were made, and their descendents constitute a large portion of the present population. BEAVER DAMS Its location and future prospects ?? Connected with the Syracuse, Geneva & Corning Railway, &c. &c. The village of Beaver Dams, is situated in the southwest section of the town of Dix, Schuyler county, and borders on the two counties of Chemung and Steuben, from which counties over two- thirds of Schuyler was taken. It is located on the new Syracuse, Geneva and Corning Railway, 12 miles north of Corning, 8 south of Watkins Glen Station, and surrounded by a good and productive agricultural region which annually sends a large amount of grain, and other farm products, to market. The locality takes its name from TWO BEAVER DAMS on a small stream, in the vicinity, found, alive with beaver, by the early settlers, and one of them, or rather a portion of it, remains to the present day. The place is by no means a large one, but there is every reason to believe that it will be much benefitted (if a liberal policy prevails among its real estate owners) by the new Railway, and will become an important shipping point, a good business center for quite a section of the adjacent country, and a growing and prosperous village. A coal yard has already been started, a hay press will be sure to find its way there this fall; and a grain warehouse, where "Cash For All Kinds of Grain" attracting the farmers for many miles around, will undoubtedly be erected within a short time after the opening of the new Road. Those influences, with cheap lumber and fuel, cannot fail to lead to more business, building, and a more progressive condition of things, in the near future. THE RECORD OF THE PRESENT Beaver Dams has two churches -- Methodist, Rev. L. R. CRIPPEN, pastor, and Universalist, the latter having no regular pastor. It also has a good and nicely located Union School House, and a good school--the district (No. 11) being made up from a portion of the town of Dix, in Schuyler Co., and a part of Catlin in Chemung Co., and it is a singular fact that the pastor of the M.E. Churches preaches every Sunday in two towns and two counties, and every other Sunday in three. F. W. NORTHRUP -- Dry Goods, Groceries, Provisions, &c. General merchandise. This is the principal store in the place, and conducted by a live business man, who buys everything that the people of the surrounding country offer for sale, and pays cash -- butter being a leading article. The consequence is that he is rapidly increasing his trade, which this year will amount to not less than $10,000, whereas three years ago, when he first took the store, its business amounted to only about $8,000 a year. Mr. NORTHRUP is just such an enterprising, energetic and capable merchant as the place needs at the present time. He has a correct idea of the situation -- is a fair and square dealer, deservedly popular with his large and increasing number of patrons, and is therefore succeeding admirably. Benoni PECK -- Grocery Store. -- (Formerly in the tailoring business, Justice of Peace, &c.) H.D. SEAMON, M.D. [SEAMAN?] -- (Postmaster) Physician and Surgeon. -- The only one at Beaver Dams and has a prosperous and increasing practice in the village and surrounding country. Frank SHEWMAN -- Wagon Shop, large dimensions, and does a good business, Undertaking, &c., &c. A.P. CROUT -- Boot and Shoe shop. E. McCLOSKEY -- Blacksmithing Shop. General jobbing, Carriage ironing, horse shoeing, &c. Miss A. FROST -- (Formerly of Watkins) Millinery. Miss Minnie HOOPER -- Millinery, Present stores old and new will be made during the next few years. A new road interchange will be calculated to greatly benefit the locality, is in contemplation and very certain to be opened, from the Post Creek road (leading from Beaver Dams to Townsend) through to connect with the road leading to Monterey, near the residence of Charles TOMPKINS, the distance being less than a mile. This will form an important connecting link; and the only wonder is that it has not been opened before.