Losing someone in a tight-knit community like the Maple City or surrounding Steuben County isn't just a private family matter; it’s a piece of local history moving from the present into the past. For decades, the go-to source for this was the Hornell Evening Tribune obituaries. You’d pick up the paper at a gas station or find it sitting on the porch, flip to the back pages, and see who had passed. It was a ritual. But things have changed. Digital shifts, corporate buyouts, and the way we consume local news have made finding these records a bit of a scavenger hunt if you don't know exactly where to look.
If you are looking for a recent notice or trying to dig up genealogy records from 1985, you’ve probably realized that a simple Google search doesn't always give you the direct answer anymore. It's frustrating. You want to pay your respects or verify a date, and instead, you get hit with three different paywalls and a bunch of generic aggregate sites that don't actually have the text of the obituary.
The Reality of the Hornell Evening Tribune Today
Let’s be real. The "Trib" isn't the independent local powerhouse it used to be years ago. Like many small-town papers, it fell under the umbrella of Gannett (the same massive company that owns USA Today and the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle). This matters because it changed how Hornell Evening Tribune obituaries are published and archived.
Nowadays, when a family works with a funeral home in Hornell—think Bender-Brown & Powers or Dagon Funeral Home—the obituary is typically uploaded to the funeral home's website first. Then, if the family chooses to pay the extra fee, it gets sent to the Tribune. Because of the cost, some families are skipping the print newspaper entirely. This means if you are only looking at the newspaper archives, you might actually be missing a significant number of local deaths. It’s a gap in the record that didn't exist twenty years ago.
Finding Recent Notices (2020–2026)
For anything recent, your first stop shouldn't actually be the newspaper's own landing page, which can be a cluttered mess of ads. Instead, most people find success using the Legacy.com partnership that Gannett maintains.
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Basically, Legacy acts as the digital host for the Hornell Evening Tribune obituaries. If you search there, you can filter by date or name. One thing to keep in mind: these digital guestbooks stay open for a while, allowing you to leave a note or share a photo, which is a nice touch that the old print editions obviously couldn't offer. But honestly, the search interface can be clunky. If you type in a name and nothing comes up, try searching just the last name and "Hornell" to account for typos, which happen more often than you'd think in digital transcriptions.
Digging Into the Archives: For the History Buffs and Genealogists
Maybe you aren't looking for someone who passed away last week. Maybe you're trying to find your great-uncle who lived on Canisteo Street and died in the late seventies. This is where it gets tricky.
The digital archives for the Hornell Evening Tribune obituaries are somewhat fragmented. For records from the early 2000s to the present, the official newspaper website or Legacy.com is your best bet. But for the "deep" history—the stuff from the 1800s through the mid-20th century—you have to go old school.
The Hornell Public Library is an absolute goldmine. They have microfilm. Yes, that clunky machine where you spin the reels and squint at the glowing screen. It sounds tedious, but it is the only way to see the obituary exactly as it appeared in print, including the surrounding news of the day, which gives you so much more context about the life the person lived.
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- https://www.google.com/search?q=FultonHistory.com: This is a legendary, if slightly chaotic, resource for New York State researchers. It’s a massive database of scanned newspapers run by a dedicated enthusiast. If you search "Hornell Tribune" along with a surname, you can often find scans of pages from the early 1900s. The search engine is finicky, though. You have to use exact phrases or it’ll give you 10,000 irrelevant results.
- NY State Historic Newspapers: A much cleaner, more modern interface than Fulton History. It’s a project supported by the Empire State Library Network. They have been digitizing the Tribune in chunks, and it is a lifesaver for anyone who can’t physically get to Hornell to visit the library.
- Steuben County Historical Society: Sometimes the obituary doesn't tell the whole story. If you're looking for where someone is buried or their family lineage, these folks in Bath have records that supplement what you'll find in the newspaper.
Why Some Obituaries Seem to "Disappear"
I’ve heard people complain that they "know" someone passed away in Hornell, but they can't find the Hornell Evening Tribune obituaries for them anywhere online. There are a few reasons for this that have nothing to do with your tech skills.
First, as mentioned, it's expensive. To put a full-length obituary with a photo in a Gannett-owned paper can cost hundreds, sometimes over a thousand dollars depending on the word count. Families on a budget often opt for a "death notice"—a tiny, three-line blurb that just lists the name and funeral date—or they just post it on social media and the funeral home’s site.
Second, the Hornell Evening Tribune has shifted its publication schedule over the years. It isn't a massive daily operation like it was in the mid-20th century. If a death occurs on a Friday, the notice might not appear until mid-week, or it might be bundled into a weekend edition. If you’re searching the exact date of death, you’re looking in the wrong place. You need to search at least two weeks forward from the date of death to catch the actual publication.
Practical Steps for Your Search
If you are currently trying to track down a specific person, don't just rely on a single search engine query. The web is "leaky," and local data falls through the cracks.
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Start with the funeral homes. In the Hornell and Arkport area, the big names are Dagon Funeral Home, Bender-Brown & Powers, and Robertson's. Their websites are usually updated within 24 hours of a death. They are free, they don't have paywalls, and they often contain more personal details than the edited version that ends up in the newspaper.
If that fails, move to the Hornell Evening Tribune’s section on Legacy.com. If you still find nothing, it's time to check the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). While the SSDI won't give you the flowery prose about their love for gardening or their years at the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, it will give you the hard dates you need to then go back and check the library microfilm.
Don't overlook the Power of the "Hornell" Facebook groups. There are several "You know you're from Hornell when..." or local community boards. Often, when a well-known local passes, someone will post a clipping or a link. It’s the modern version of the over-the-fence backyard chat.
Local Nuances You Should Know
Hornell is a place where family names run deep. When searching Hornell Evening Tribune obituaries, you’ll see names like Argentieri, Dagon, or its connections to the railroad history. Because of this, many people who lived in Hornell for fifty years might have moved to a nursing home in North Hornell, Bath, or even Dansville in their final months.
If your search in the Hornell paper comes up dry, check the The Spectator (serving Wellsville and Bath) or the Dansville-Wayland Express. Often, an obituary will be placed in the paper of the town where the person lived the longest, not necessarily where they died.
Finding these records is about more than just dates. It's about preserving the narrative of a community that has seen a lot of change. Whether you are looking for a veteran’s service record or just trying to find out where to send flowers, these archives are the thread that keeps the community's story together.
Actionable Tips for Successful Retrieval
- Broaden the Date Range: Search for the name starting from the date of death and extending 30 days out. Delays in paperwork or family decisions are common.
- Use Maiden Names: If searching for a woman, always try "First Name (Maiden) Last Name" and just the maiden name. Older obituaries in the Tribune often listed women by their husband's name (e.g., "Mrs. John Smith"), which can be a nightmare for modern researchers.
- Check the "Area" Papers: If the Tribune doesn't have it, the Corning Leader often covers Steuben County deaths if the individual had a prominent role in the region.
- Call the Library: The staff at the Hornell Public Library are used to these requests. If you have a specific date and name, they can often verify if a record exists in their physical archive much faster than you can find it on a buggy website.
- Save the PDF: When you do find a digital obituary, don't just bookmark the link. Links die. Newspaper sites restructure. Print the page to a PDF and save it. That way, you have the record forever without worrying about a future paywall blocking your access.