Finding a specific person in the hornell evening tribune obits can feel like a scavenger hunt where half the maps are outdated. You’d think in 2026, every local death notice would be a click away, right? Well, sort of. If you’ve spent any time digging through the archives of the "Maple City’s" long-standing paper, you know it’s a bit more complicated than a simple Google search.
The Evening Tribune has been around since roughly 1873. That is a massive amount of history. But as local media shifted under corporate ownership like Gannett (USA Today Network), the way we access these records changed. Whether you’re trying to find a recent passing or you're deep-diving into your family tree in Steuben County, there are specific "hacks" to getting the info you need without hitting a paywall or a dead link.
The Reality of Searching Hornell Evening Tribune Obits Online
Let's be real: the official newspaper website isn't always the easiest to navigate. Most people land on a page that looks like a generic news feed when they really just want to know if there's a viewing at Dagon’s or Brown & Powers this week.
Currently, the hornell evening tribune obits are largely hosted through the Legacy.com network. This is the "industry standard," but it has its quirks. If you search the name directly on the newspaper’s site, you might get zero results because the search bar is looking for news articles, not death notices.
Where the records actually live
- The Legacy Portal: This is where the most recent notices (from the last few years) are digitized.
- The Hornell Sun: This is a newer, independent local player. Since the corporate shift of the Tribune, many families have started posting obituaries here instead. If you can't find someone in the Tribune, check the Sun.
- Funeral Home Sites: Honestly, this is often faster. Brown & Powers, Bender-Brown & Powers, and Robertson’s usually post the full text before it even hits the Sunday edition.
It's kinda frustrating when you're looking for someone like Ronald Aultman or Joyce Hovey—names that appeared in the local records just this month—and the search engine gives you a 404 error. The trick is to search by "Hornell, NY" on the aggregate sites rather than just the paper's name.
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Why the Digital Archives Feel Incomplete
Ever wonder why you can find an obit from 1950 easier than one from 1995? It’s because of the "digital gap."
Archives from the mid-20th century were often painstakingly microfilmed and then indexed by sites like Ancestry.com or GenealogyBank. For example, there’s a solid database for the Evening Tribune covering 1949 to 1950 on Ancestry. But for the years between the microfilm era and the "Internet of Everything" era—roughly 1980 to 2005—the data is spotty.
During that time, the paper was changing hands. It went from the W.H. Greenhow Corporation to Hollinger, then eventually to GateHouse (which became Gannett). Every time a company sells a paper, the digital archives can get "lost" in the migration.
If you are looking for a relative who passed away in, say, 1992, you might have to go old-school.
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Accessing the Physical Records
The Hornell Public Library on Genesee Street is a goldmine. They have the sesquicentennial history of the area and, more importantly, the microfilm reels.
- Don't call and ask them to search for you unless you have a very specific date. They’re busy.
- Do go in person if you're local. There is something surreal about winding those reels and seeing the old ads for grocery stores that haven't existed in thirty years while you look for a family name.
Using the Hornell Evening Tribune Obits for Genealogy
If you're a family history buff, these obits are more than just a "sad goodbye." They are a roadmap.
Back in the day, the Evening Tribune was a "paper of public record" for the Steuben County clerk. This meant the obituaries were incredibly detailed. You won’t just find a name; you’ll find the maiden names of three generations of women, the specific regiment a grandfather served in during the Korean War, and even where they worked (shoutout to the old Erie Lackawanna Railroad workers).
Pro-tip for researchers: Search for the husband's name if you’re looking for a female relative from before the 1970s. It was common practice to list her as "Mrs. [Husband's First Name] [Last Name]." It’s an annoying hurdle, but it’s the reality of the records.
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A Note on the "Spectator"
On Sundays, the paper often circulates as The Spectator. If you’re looking for a weekend notice, don’t panic if the branding looks different. It’s the same editorial team covering Hornell, Canisteo, Arkport, and Alfred.
What Most People Get Wrong About Local Death Notices
People assume that every death results in an obituary in the paper. It doesn't.
Obituaries in the Hornell Evening Tribune are actually paid advertisements. If a family chooses not to pay the fee—which can be several hundred dollars depending on word count and photos—the paper might only run a "Death Notice." A death notice is a tiny, two-line blurb that just lists the name and the date of death.
If you’re searching for hornell evening tribune obits and coming up empty, it might be because a full bio was never submitted. This is why checking the funeral home websites is so vital; they often host the full version for free.
Actionable Steps for Your Search
If you are looking for a specific record right now, follow this sequence:
- Step 1: Check the Funeral Home directly. If the passing was in the last 10 years, go to Brown & Powers or the specific home handling the service. They have the most accurate, unedited text.
- Step 2: Use the Legacy.com Hornell search. Don't just type the name into Google. Go to the Legacy "Hornell area" portal. It filters out people with the same name from other states.
- Step 3: Try the Hornell Sun archives. For more recent (post-2022) listings, the Sun has become a major hub for community news and "sad goodbyes" that might skip the corporate paywalls of the Tribune.
- Step 4: Contact the Hornell Public Library. If the death was before 2000, this is your best bet for a primary source document. They can guide you toward the right microfilm reel.
- Step 5: Check the "We Remember" pages. Some families now use the "We Remember" digital memorials which are often linked to the Tribune’s digital presence but live on a different server.
Finding these records is basically about knowing which era of technology you're dealing with. The deeper you go into the past, the more you have to rely on physical archives and local librarians who know the "Maple City" like the back of their hand.