Place:East Nissouri, Oxford, Ontario, Canada

"[East Nissouri], which is situated in the North western part of the County, and fourteen miles from Woodstock, is bounded on the north by the townships of Blanchard and Downie, (County of Perth); on the south by the township of North Oxford; on the west by the township of West Nissouri, Middlesex County); and on the east by the township of West Zorra. The original township of Nissouri became divided into two townships, as those of East and West Nissouri, and in 1851; the eastern portion, under the township name of Nissouri (East), was declared to form part of the County of Oxford, while Nissouri West remained attached to the East Riding of Middlesex. The township only commenced settling in 1819, and is now very well settled with a population, as returned by the census taken in 1861, of 3484, (being 1854 males and 1630 females) showing an increase over the census returns for 1851, of 1366. There were 844 children attending school; births in 1860: 128; deaths in same year: 27. The soil of the township is of a very fertile quality, and excellently adapted for agricultural and horticultural cultivation. It is well supplied with mill streams, and is watered by the middle branch of the Thames, which flows through the southern portion of the Township.

The Thamesford and East Nissouri Gravel Road runs through the Township. There are four Post Offices within the township, viz:-Lakeside, Kintore, (17th lot 11th concession), Thamesford, and Nissouri P.O. (source: County of Oxford Gazetteer and General Business Directory, for 1862-63, from Bill Martin's Genealogy Pages Site Map

A list of the householders for North Oxford in 1862-63 follows this excerpt from the gazeteer.

In 1975 East Nissouri, as part of the county municipal restructuring, merged with the townships of North Oxford and West Zorra to become the new municipality or Township of Zorra.

The map of Oxford County circa 1951 from Ontario Archives locates the communities and physical features of the county. (Click at the bottom of the page to see the map enlarged.)

A sketchmap from Ontario GenWeb provides a simple illustration of the location of the former townships.

Research Tips

The primary source for basic documents (vital statistics, land records, wills) for people who lived in the Province of Ontario is the Archives of Ontario, 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M7A 2C5.

Early Records

Civil registration did not begin in the province until 1869. Before then there may be church records of baptisms and burials. For the most part these are still held by the denomination who recorded them. Copies of marriage records made pre-1869 had to be sent by individual clergymen to the registrar of the county in which the marriage took place. These marriage records are available through Ontario Archives, on micorfilm through LDS libraries, and on paid and unpaid websites, but because they were copied at the registrars' offices, they cannot be considered a primary source.

Vital Records after 1869

Birth, marriage and death registrations are not open to the public until a specific number of years after the event occurred. Births to 1915 are now available [October 2014]; dates for marriages and deaths are later. Birth and death registration was not universally carried out in the early years after its adoption. Deaths were more apt to be reported than births for several years. The more rural the area, the less likely it would be that these happenings were reported to the authorities.
Images and indexes of civil registrations for the "viewable" years can be found on paid websites, and indexes only on FamilySearch. The FamilySearch Wiki on Ontario Vital Records explains how these records are organized and their availability.
In September 2014 Ancestry.ca announced that its paid website has been subjected to a "houseclean" of its Ontario BMD database, adding data that had been omitted and making many corrections. Its provision now includes

• Births, with 2,172,124 records covering 1869-1913.
• Marriages, with 3,393,369 records for 1801-1928 including Ontario county, district and Roman Catholic origins as well as province-wide civil registration.
• Deaths, with 2,190,030 records comprising Ontario civil registrations of deaths, 1869-1938 and registrations of Ontario overseas deaths for 1939-1947.

Land Records and Wills

Information on how to access land records and wills is best sought on the Archives of Ontario website. An ancestor's land holding might be found on Canadian County Atlas Digital Project if he was in occupancy circa 1878.

Association for the Preservation of Ontario Land Registry Office Documents (APOLROD). A list of Land Registry Offices for all Counties of Ontario.

Censuses

The original censuses are in the hands of Library and Archives Canada, known to Canadians as "LAC". Copies of original microfilms are online at the LAC website for all censuses up to 1921. Each census database is preceded with an explanation of the geographical area covered, the amount of material retained (some census division material has been lost), the questions on the census form, and whether there is a name index. Census divisions were redrawn as the population increased and more land was inhabited.
Other websites, some paid and some free, also provide Canadian census originals and/or indexes online. One can also view censuses on microfilm at the LAC, at the Archives of Ontario (see address above), or at large libraries throughout Canada.

Hard-to-Find Places

• National Resources Canada's Index of Geographical Names: Query by Name. This database includes even the smallest places all over Canada and provides geographical co-ordinates and maps which extend out from the "found place". Correct spelling of a place is essential.
• Archives of Ontario have a web page titled "The Changing Face of Ontario" (which is very hard to find without this link). This provides maps of Ontario and its divisions in the 19th century (pre Confederation in 1867) and also includes links to series of historical maps of the individual counties as they were between 1867 and the 1970s when a huge reorganization of municipalities began. The Districts of Northern Ontario and Maps of Southern and Central Ontario circa 1951 show the townships of each county.

E-books, Books and Newspapers

• The Internet Archive, particularly texts from Canadian universities, can contain interesting material
• Our Roots is a Canadian website similar to The Internet Archive
• Global Genealogy is an online bookshop specializing in Ontario material who will ship anywhere in the world.
• The Ancestor Hunt is a blog listing old Ontario newspapers that are available online, both free and pay websites. This is a very extensive list.
  
  

Some websites with more local information on Oxford County

• The Oxford Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has a large website which includes an index to local wills and a map which is a reference to the cemeteries list below.
• An index to cemeteries throughout Oxford County provided by Oxford GenWeb. More than 100,000 headstone photographs, maps and information of all 102 cemeteries found in the County of Oxford. Each cemetery contains a list of existing surnames as well as the corresponding headstone photograph. The webpage does not include every burial, only those with a decipherable headstone engraving.
• Oxford County Library provides a website full of indexes from the 19th century.
• An prize-winning essay written by a local teenager in the 1930s about the Townships of Blandford and Blenheim
• The Ontario Visual Heritage Project presents its collection of items for Oxford County.

source: Family History Library Catalog