LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS -AUGUST14, 2016
H. Steuber&Son
byLynneBelluscio
On Friday, Terry asked me if I
had seen theposting for theEstate
Sale at the Stockdale house at 42
EastMainStreet. No I hadn’t, but
I looked over her shoulder at the
computerandsaw the“H.Steuber”
signs in the barn. H. Steuber was
Henry Steuber and his son Lewis
lived in the Stockdale house, so
it made sense that the signs were
in that barn. Although the prices
of the signs were rather steep, I
decided that it would be a shame
for those signs to leaveLeRoy, so
theHistorical Societybought both
of them.
The long one is 16 feet long
and I hope there will be room
for it above the bookcases in the
library. The other shorter one, I
hope will fit in the lower hallway
in theAcademic Building. In the
meantime, I am searching through
all our photographs to see if I can
find these signs onbuildings.
HenrySteuberwas born inGer-
many on June 5, 1828. His biog-
raphymentioned that “he received
such an education as the common
schools of Germany afforded,
and servedhis apprenticeship as a
cabinetmaker.”
Steuberbuilding (with 5windows) now theHobbyHorse.
In 1849 he sailed for theUnited
States. The voyage took two and
a half months and he settled in
Hamilton, inMadisonCounty,NY.
Hecame toLeRoyshortlyafterand
workedforA.C.Burpee. (Willhave
to do a little research about A.C.
Burpee.) Henry’s brother George
came fromGermany in 1852. The
twobrotherswent into thefurniture
and undertaking business. Aswas
the custom at that time, furniture
makersalsomadecoffinsandwere
often listed as undertakers.
In 1859, they opened a second
shop in Batavia, but it was de-
stroyedbyfire in1862. (Thisdate
may be inaccurate since the Steu-
ber brothers, Henry and George,
are listed in the 1869-67Genesee
Country Directory. Their cabinet
and undertaking store in Batavia
was listed at 74MainStreet).
They continued their business
in LeRoy, but fire destroyed that
building in1868.Undaunted, they
rebuilt the LeRoy store located at
50Main Street. (This building is
the site of the Hobbyhorse). At
somepoint theSteuberssoldout to
R.Miller, who in turn sold to Joy
&Williams.HenrySteuberworked
for Joy&Williams for two years
and then formed a partnership
with A.F. Drake which continued
until 1872.
In1888,HenrySteubermoved to
the storeon the corner ofMill and
MainStreet.Hepartneredwithhis
sonFrankuntilFrankdied in1891.
Then he partnered with his son
Lewisand thebusinesswasknown
asH.Steuber&Son.The largesign
can be seen on the building in the
photograph of the corner of Mill
and Main Streets (where Penuel
Christian Fellowship is located
today.)
Henry’s brother George, who
hadgone intobusiness forhimself,
lived on Clay Street and retired
in 1900. He died in 1905. Henry
died the year before inMay1904.
Henry’s son, Lewis, continued
the business on the corner ofMill
Street and in 1943 he established
LeRoy’s first funeral home in the
formerhomeofThomasLarkinon
Trigon Park. Most funerals, up to
this timewould have been held in
family homes, with the deceased
being laid out in the front parlor,
but this traditionfaded,andfuneral
homes became the norm.
The Steuber Funeral Home
eventually became Steuber and
Steinmetz. When that
funeral home closed,
Gary Steinmetz do-
nated the Steuber
business records to
theHistoricalSociety.
Theyarean invaluable
source of information
about the deaths of
people inLeRoy.
TwoSteuber signs now at theHistorical Society.
Staircase in the Steuber Store
on the corner ofMill&Main.
1940 LeRoy Book (staircase
torn out).
HenrySteuber
The large Steuber & Son sign can be clearly seen in this c. 1909
Seyffer photograph showing the Steuber store on the corner of
MainandMill Street.Thephotographwas takenafter 1909when
the cement bridgewas installedandbeforeMainSt.was paved.
