Part of the Steuben Co., NY GenWeb pages Judy Allen Cwiklinski coordinator

Caton

HISTORICAL GAZETTEER

CATON page 213

"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."

1. Elmwood Cemetery - (ct1)

2. Kelly Hill Cemetery - (ct2) (10/23)

3. Old Baptist Church Cemetery - (ct3) (10/23)

4. Browntown Cemetery - (ct4) (10/23)

5. Tobey Family Cemetery - (ct5) (10/23)

6. Gregory/Wilkins Cemetery - (ct6) (10/23)

7. Red School Cemetery aka Gillett Cemetery - (ct7) (10/23) update added 11-10-01

8. Herrick Cemetery or Honness School House Cemetery - (ct9) (10/23)
   Temporary name - until known name is known - Judy

9. Bechtol - (Barto Hill) Cemetery - (ct12) (10/23)

10. Private Moslem Cemetery - (ct13) (10/23)

11. W. Caton cemetery misc. info. per George Hill (ct14) (10/23)

    • temporary number until I find out which cem this deals with - Judy

You are our[an error occurred while processing this directive] visitor to visit this page thanks for stopping by!

Last modified Saturday, 10-Nov-2001 14:30:41 MST