Steuben county is bordered by Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Allegany, Schuyler, and Chemung counties and the state of Pennsylvania.
County Formed: March 18, 1796
Parent County: Ontario
Daughter Counties: Schuyler
Major Land Transactions: Phelps and Gorham Purchase, 1788
Table of Contents
- History
- Cities, Towns, and Villages
- Repositories, Resources, and Societies – County
- Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Regional
- Repositories, Resources, and Societies – Local
- Civil, Public, and Vital Records
- Federal Census Records
- State Census Records
- Other Online Resources
- Selected Bibliography
History
The area now known as Steuben County was once populated by the Seneca Indians. After the American Revolution, in which the Seneca had taken the side of the British, legislators in New York State reached various agreements to gain control of the land. Steuben County was formed on March 18, 1796 from land that originated in Ontario County. Steuben County was named after Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a military officer in the American Revolution. Today, the county covers approximately 1397 square miles with a population of 100,000 people living in rural areas, small towns, and small cities.
Repositories, Resources, and Societies - County
Steuben County Clerk
Website: Steuben County Clerk
Address: 3 East Pulteney Square, Bath, NY 14810
Phone: (607) 664-2563
Steuben County - City, Town, and Village Clerks
Website: Steuben County – City, Town, and Village Clerks
Birth, marriage, and death records are maintained by the clerk of the municipality in which the event occurred; see Introduction to County Guides for details of other records which may also be held by municipal clerks. For contact information, see website.
Steuben County Surrogate’s Court
Address: County Court Building, 13 Pulteney Square E, Bath, NY 14810
Phone: (607) 622-8221
Steuben County Public Libraries
Website: Steuben County Public Libraries
Steuben is part of the Southern Tier Library System; see website to access each library.
Steuben County Historical Society
Website: Steuben County Historical Society
Address: One Cohocton Street, PO Box 349, Bath, NY 14810
Phone: (607) 776-9930
Email: steuben349@yahoo.com
Steuben County Historian
Website: Steuben County Historian
Address: 3 East Pulteney Square, Bath, NY 14810
Phone: (607) 776-2199
Email: Access on website
Steuben County - All Municipal Historians
Website: Steuben County – All Municipal Historians
While not authorized to answer genealogical inquiries, city, town, and village historians can provide valuable historical information and research advice; some maintain collections and webpages which may include transcribed records, local histories, and other genealogical material. See contact information on county historian’s page at www.steubencony.org or at the website of the Association of Public Historians of New York State at www.aphnys.org.
Repositories, Resources, and Societies - Regional
Bath National Cemetery
Address: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Juan Avenue, Bath, NY 14810
Phone: (607) 664-4853
Milne Library at SUNY Geneseo: Special Collections: Genesee Valley Historical Collection
Website: Milne Library at SUNY Geneseo: Special Collections: Genesee Valley Historical Collection
Address: One College Circle, Geneseo, NY 14454
Phone: (585) 245-5194
Painted Hills Genealogy Society
Website: Painted Hills Genealogy Society
Email: paint@paintedhills.org
Repositories, Resources, and Societies - Local
Alphabetized by location
Avoca Free Library
Website: Avoca Free Library
Address:18 North Main Street, Avoca, NY 14809
Phone: (607) 566-9279
Corning Painted Posted Historical Society
Website: Corning Painted Post Historical Society
Address: Benjamin Patterson Inn, 59 West Pulteney Street, Corning, NY 14830
Phone: (607) 937-5281
Email: pattersoninnmuseum@stny.rr.com
Hornby Historical Society Museum
Address: 185 South Place, Corning, NY 14830
Phone: (607) 962-4471
Southeast Steuben County Library
Website: Southeast Steuben County Library
Address: 300 Nasser Civic Center Plaza, Corning, NY 14830
Phone: (607) 936-3713
Howard Public Library: Genealogy Research
Address: 3607 County Route 70A, Hornell, NY 14843
Phone: (607) 566-2412
Civil, Public, and Vital Records
Civil Records are those created, recorded and/or maintained by a governmental body and include births, marriages, deaths, censuses, property, and probate. NB: The New York State government began collecting vital record data in 1880. Birth, marriage, and death records from New York State (excluding the five boroughs of New York City) after 1880 on can be obtained from the New York State Department of Health. For vital records previous to 1880, consult the municipality in which the event took place. Learn more about New York's vital records in our online guide.
Federal Census Records
Population schedules: 1790-1940 (except 1890). Online at Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and Findmypast.com (free to NYG&B members).
Access on Findmypast:
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State Census Records
- County originals at Steuben County Clerk’s Office:* 1825, 1835, 1845,
- 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925
- State originals at the NYSA: 1915, 1925
- Microfilm at the FHL, NYPL, and NYSL
- Many years are online at www.FamilySearch.org and www.ancestry.com
Other Online Resources
There are vast numbers of records on Ancestry.com that pertain to people who have lived in New York State. A search of the online card catalog by county may reveal lesser known resources that pertain to a locality, such as town records, abstracts, transcriptions, city directories, and local histories.
FamilySearch has extensive collections of New York records, including religious records, which are searchable by name and location, but not by county. The following collections include record images (browsable, but not searchable) that are organized by county:
“New York, Land Records, 1630–1975.” Includes land and property records.
“New York, Probate Records, 1629–1971.” Includes wills, letters of administration, and guardianship papers.
For both collections, choose the browse option and then select Steuben to view the available records sets.
Selected Bibliography
Abstracts, Indexes & Transcriptions
- Bostwick, Retta. “Inscriptions from the Lindsley-Mulford Cemetery, Township of Lindsley, Steuben County, New York.” NYG&B Record, vol. 85, no. 4 (1954): 223–227. [NYG&B eLibrary]
- County of Steuben Abstracts. Syracuse: Central New York Genealogical Society, 2000. Abstracts for a range of genealogical records originally published in the quarterly Tree Talks.
- Daughters of the American Revolution, comps. New York DAR Genealogical Records Committee Report. Since 1913 DAR volunteers have transcribed many thousands of unpublished cemetery, church, and town records throughout New York. The reports are at the DAR Library; copies are at the NYSL and the NYPL. The DAR has a searchable name index to all the GRC reports at http://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search/?Tab_ID=6 See Jean Worden’s index below for a listing by county of the New York record sets that were transcribed by the DAR before 1998.
- Dennis, Faye, comp. “Addison Rural Cemetery Transcriptions of Steuben County, New York.” Typescript, 1981. NYPL, New York.
- “Federal Census, 1800, Steuben County, New York.” NYG&B Record, vol. 60, no. 2 (1929): 118–119. [NYG&B eLibrary]
- Jackson, Edward F., and Mary S. Jackson. 1850 Census for the Town of Howard, Steuben County, New York, and Genealogical Data on the Families Who Lived There. Bowie, MD:Willow Bend Books, 2004.
- Jackson, Edward F., and Mary S. Jackson. Death Notices from Steuben County, New York, Newspapers, 1797–1884. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1998.
- Jackson, Edward F., and Mary S. Jackson. Marriage Notices from Steuben County, New York, Newspapers, 1797–1884. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1998. Includes almost 8,000 notices.
- Kelly, Arthur C. M. Index to Tree Talks County Packet: Steuben County. Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship, 2002.
- Martin, Yvonne E. Marriages and Deaths from Steuben County, New York, Newspapers, 1797–1868. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1988.
- Worden, Jean D. “Book 1, Subject Index.” In Revised Master Index to the NewYork State Daughters of the American Revolution Genealogical Records Volumes. Zephyrhills, FL: J. D. Worden, 1998. The Subject Index includes a listing by county of the cemeteries, churches, towns, and other sources of records transcribed by the DAR.
Other Resources
- Babbitt, John S., and Sue Babbit. Steuben County. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2010.
- Beers, G. W. Atlas of Steuben County, New York: From Actual Surveys and Official Records. Philadelphia, 1873. [NYPL Digital Gallery]
- Child, Hamilton. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Steuben County, NY, for 1868–9. Syracuse, 1868.
- Clayton. W. A History of Steuben County, New York: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia, 1879. Book includes a list of Civil War soldiers organized by town.
- Folts, James D. Indian Paths of Steuben County. Bath, NY: Steuben County Historical Society, 1974.
- Hakes, Harlo. Landmarks of Steuben County, New York. Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992. First published 1896 by D. Mason.
- Hoiland, Doris R. Pioneers of the Southern Tier; Steuben County. New York: The Author, 1974.
- McMaster, Guy H. History of the Settlement of Steuben County, NY: Including Notices of the Pioneer Settlers and Their Adventures. Bath, NY, 1853.
- Mulford, Uri. Pioneer Days and Later Times in Corning and Vicinity, 1789–1920. Corning, NY: The Author, 1922.
- Near, Irvin W. A History of Steuben County, New York, and Its People. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1911.
- New York Historical Resources Center. Guide to Historical Resources in Steuben County, New York, Repositories. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1981. [https://books.familysearch.org]
- Records of the Ithaca College Study Center for Early Religious Life in Western New York, 1978–1981. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library. A description of the holdings for each county is at http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/eguides/lists/churchlist1.htm.
- Roberts, Millard F. Historical Gazetteer of Steuben County, New York: With Memoirs and Illustrations. Syracuse, 1891.
- Sexton, John L., Jr. An Outline History of Tioga and Bradford Counties in Pennsylvania; Chemung, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, and Schuyler in New York. Elmira, NY, 1885.
- Sherer, Richard. Steuben County: The First 200 Years, a Pictorial History. Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company, 1996.
- Stuart, William M. Who’s Who in Steuben: A Biographical Record of Many of the Prominent Residents of Steuben County, New York. Dansville, NY: F. A. Owen Publishing Co., 1935.
- Thrall, W. B. Pioneer History and Atlas of Steuben County, NY: Compiled from Historical, Statistical, and Official Records. Perry, NY: Thrall, 1942.
- Turner, Orsamus. Pioneer History of Phelps & Gorham’s Purchase, and Morris’ Reserve: Embracing the Counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, Most of Wayne and Allegany, and Parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. Rochester, 1852.
- Wilson, Hugh M. Early Southern Steuben County and Some of Its People from Pioneer Days to World War I. Bath, NY: Lois J. Wilson, 1975.
The materials above are a compilation of resources available, with an emphasis on online resources, which might be useful to someone doing research within this county. The inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement of its content or accuracy. Please send any additions or corrections to webmaster@nygbs.org.