New York Ancestors

Dear Grandparents,
My sister will be visiting the finger lakes region of New York for a family wedding this summer and asked about the areas where you lived. I'm not certain she realized that each of our eight great grandparents had family members who lived in New York. Today I'm beginning a series of posts that highlight our New York connections.

The red highlighted area on the New York state map is Steuben County. Named for Baron Frederic William Augustus Von Steuben, the German drill master who helped George Washington turn his volunteers into an effective fighting force, Steuben county was created March 18, 1796. It covers an area larger than the state of Rhode Island and remains rural with a population of about 100,000.

Hornellsville is located in middle of the western part of the county.

Our Steuben County connections include:

Uriah Stephens (6th great grandfather) born 27 August 1730 in Canaan, Litchfield, Connecticut emigrated to Canisteo with his family in 1788 including his wife Martha Rathbone or Rathbun. Their daughter Martha Stephens married George Hornell.

Martha Rathbun Stephens tombstone from the Old Settlers' Cemetery, Canisteo, NY.
Used with permission and thanks to cousin and also 6th generation descendant Gary Goodridge.
www.findagrave.com

Judge George Hornell (5th great grandfather), a native of York, Pennsylvania, settled in the area in 1793. He bought 3,000 acres and built saw and grist mills. The town was named for him after his death.

George Hornell's trunk in the Hornel Library 2012

George Hornell, Jr. (4th great grandfather) born 08 Aug 1792 was raised in Hornellsville. He became a lawyer and then a Presbyterian minister. He sold the family holdings in Hornell and became a missionary to the Indians in Michigan. He married Sarah Thacher.

George Hornell, Jr.

Nathaniel Thacher (5th great grandfather) was living in Canisteo, Steuben County at the time of the 1810 census. His wife,  Lydia Place, died in Hornell 23 September 1853. She is buried in the Hope Cemetery in Hornell. (Still would like to know why great grandfather Nathaniel died 23 August 1824 in Florence, Lauderdale, Alabama.)

Tombstone of Lydia Place Thacher

Naaman Cone (3rd great grandfather) was born 11 September 1804 in Laurens, Otsego County, New York. He moved to Hornellsville sometime after 5 October 1850 when he was listed as living in New Lisbon, Otsego County in the 1850 Federal Census. He is shown 06 June 1855 in the New York State Census with wife Joanna (nee Warner) sons Ira, Elijah, Eleazer and daughter Mary.

William Warner Cone (2nd great grandfather) born 18 October 1827 in New Lisbon, Otsego County, he married Eliza Utley 30 November 1854. They were residing in Hornellsville, when my great grandfather
Frederick Naaman Cone was born 29 March 1859.

William Warner Cone

Love,
Cecily Cone Kelly