Heritage Quest Online (Library Card Bar Code Required)
A database consisting of the full text of local histories, family histories, and Federal Census indexes and images 1790-1910.
This is accessible from any computer using your CCLD library card.
Ancestry Library Edition
Temporarily enjoy Ancestry Library Edition from home. Offered by Proquest as we undergo quarantine, access this database using the first 6 numbers of your library card.
“The Library of Congress’s Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Online Checklist provides a searchable database of the fire insurance maps published by the Sanborn Map Company housed in the collections of the Geography and Map Division. The online checklist is based upon the Library’s 1981 publication Fire Insurance Maps in the Library of Congress and will be continually updated to reflect new acquisitions.” For more information on how to read these maps, visit the LOC page, ABOUT THIS COLLECTION. UPDATE: As of August 2018, the library’s Internet Service is no longer working with FamilySearch. People are advised to look at FamilySearch from home, or go to the nearest LDS Research center. Horseheads research center: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Elmira_New_York_Family_History_Center Soundex Calculator Social Security Death Index FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service Find a Genealogist German Genealogy Group Fulton History Wikipedia’s list of online newspapers Upstate New York Death Records 1957-1963 Downstate New York Naturalization and Vital Records Reclaim the Records A not-for-profit group of genealogists, historians, researchers, and open government advocates. They identify important genealogical records sets that ought to be in the public domain, fight for their release via FOIL requests and court cases. They then digitize everything and put it all online for free, without any paywalls or usage restrictions. NYS records New York State Archives and Records Administration New York Town Historians Genealogists who research New York State Painted Hills Genealogy Society Steuben County Burial Index Steuben County GenWeb RootsWeb U.S. GenWeb Cyndi’s List VitalChek Forms for Military Service Records at the National Archives DAR Patriot Index Volunteer Lookup Service Elmira Prison Camp Revolutionary War Soldiers
Accessible Archives
Developed by dedicated instructors and students of American history, their databases contain the rich, comprehensive material found in leading historic periodicals and books.
Eyewitness accounts of historical events, vivid descriptions of daily life, editorial observations, commerce as seen through advertisements, and genealogical records are available in a user-friendly online environment
Accessible Archives Collections
Genealogy & Local History at the Steele Memorial Library Blog
Keep up with our newest additions, resources, and news in the Genealogy and Local History Department
Chemung County Sanborn Maps online
FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service
Records span billions of names across hundreds of collections–including birth, marriage, death, probate, land, military, IGI extracted, and more. Currently Family Search has NY State census for 1855, 1865 (browse only), 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, and 1925. The Steele Memorial Library is an Affiliate Library with FamilySearch. Some records not able to be viewed at a computer at home may be viewed here at the library from our computers.
Joyce M. Tice Genealogy Site
A web site dedicated to genealogy of Chemung County, Bradford County Pennsylvania, and Tioga County Pennsylvania.
Joyce Tice Elmira Town and City of Elmira Page: articles, maps, directories, tax rolls, cemetery records, historical information on schools, Elmira business histories and photos, Elmira churches, etc…
Use this calculator to figure out the soundex code for your name.
Name index to deaths recorded by the Social Security Administration beginning in 1962.
Records span billions of names across hundreds of collections–including birth, marriage, death, probate, land, military, IGI extracted, and more. Currently Family Search has NY State census for 1855, 1865 (browse only), 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, and 1925.
A way to find genealogists with many different locations and specialties. Service provided by the Board for Certification of Genealogists. This is not an official endorsement by the Steele Memorial Library. All genealogists are independent.
From the German Genealogy Group this database currently contains the indexes to Birth, Marriage and Death records from 1862 to 1948 for the five boroughs of New York City (Bronx, Kings, Manhattan, Queens and Richmond).NEWSPAPERS
Here you will find the Elmira Morning Paper 1888-1921, the Elmira Star-Gazette 1891-1907, the Corning Newspaper 1847-1905 and 1917-1953, and the Waverly, NY newspaper 1907-1914.
NYS Historic Newspapers
The NYS Historic Newspapers project provides free online access to a wide range of newspapers chosen to reflect New York’s unique history. To search the entire collection, use the Search Tab. Or, click on a county to search or browse geographically. Current Chemung County titles online here are: Elmira Gazette 4/1/1891–7/27/1901, The Elmira Daily Bazoo 1877, The Havana Journal (Sundays of 1889), and The Valley Breeze (Fridays 9/1891–7/1913).
Obituary Daily Times:Volunteers contribute indexes of obituaries from their local papers, Entries are put into a searchable database, Entries are emailed to list subscribers, Volunteers can contact contributors for an actual obituary.
Chronicling America
Online newspapers by the Library of Congress. Also includes a full list of total newspapers for regions in the United States, whether they are digitzed or not, and holdings information.NEW YORK STATE
Official death records from New York State Department of Health. This site allows you to search for death records plus download these records for genealogical purposes.
From the Italian Genealogy Group, this page provides access to a Naturalization Records, NYC Death and Marriage indexes for Kings, Queens, Bronx, Manhattan, and Richmond Counties.
This site offers a wealth of information about New York State Historical Documents and Public Records. From this site you can search the holdings of not only the state library but the state archives, and a historical documents catalog records for more than 25,000 archives and manuscripts collections housed in most, but not all, New York repositories (libraries, historical societies, and other organizations with established archives).
There are over 1600 local government historians in New York State. It is often difficult to find a listing for an historian in every town, village, city, county and borough. APHNYS provides these listings for historians the Empire State.
Disclaimer: This list of professional genealogists is not intended to be an official endorsement by the Steele Memorial Library, CCLD, FamilySearch, or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a list of professional researchers who offer fee-based family history services to help patrons find ancestors in this State.
A comprehensive locally produced genealogy site covering the entire Painted Hills Area of Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania. Including the Pennsylvania Counties of McKean and Potter plus the New York State Counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, and Steuben.
A browsable list of burials in Steuben County from 1967-2003. You also have the opportunity to request a copy of the obituary. To use this resource, you will need to have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer.
A collection of links to genealogical resources about Steuben County. This site includes links to census records, vital statistics, township histories and much more. Ellis Island Records A searchable database of immigration records, 1892-1924, from the famed port of entry to the United States.
A highly renowned genealogy site with surname archives.
The GenWeb site is organized by state and then you can browse by county.
An excellent clearing house of genealogical web sites.
VitalChek Network has an internet, voice and fax network setup to help people get a certified copy of a birth certificate, death certificate, marriage certificate and other vital records.MILITARY LINKS
This site provides information about obtaining military service records and family history records from the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
For no charge, volunteers from the Daughters of the American Revolution will conduct research to see if your ancestor fought in the Revolutionary War.
Site of the history of Elmira’s Civil War Prison.
Friends of the Elmira Civil War Prison Camp
The Friends of Elmira Civil War Prison Camp is a non-profit 503c based in Elmira, New York. It is the mission of the Friends of the Elmira Civil War Prison Camp to protect and preserve the history of the Civil War in Elmira, Chemung County and surrounding areas and to educate the public about that history.
A rootsweb community of people interested in their Revolutionary War ancestors. People upload their ancestor’s name along with their email address for people to contact them regarding the Revolutionary War ancestor.
Civil War Soldiers & Sailors
The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS) is a database containing information about the men who served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. Other information on the site includes histories of Union and Confederate regiments, links to descriptions of significant battles, and selected lists of prisoner-of-war records and cemetery records, which will be amended over time.