Place:Riverside, Essex, Ontario, Canada

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

The village of Riverside was incorporated in 1921 and was annexed by Windsor in 1966.

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Riverside is a neighbourhood on the eastern edge of Windsor, Ontario. It is best defined by the waterfront road, Riverside Drive, which runs parallel to the Detroit River. The western boundary is approximately Westminster Boulevard running easterly to Rendezvous Shores and the Windsor/Tecumseh town line. That town line is formally defined by a drainage ditch to the Eastern side of the Rendezvous property. Rendezvous Shores is a recent development on the lands which were a large grass field between a marine basin and the Rendezvous Tavern, the Tavern was approximately 1150 feet (350.5 m) south from the Lake St. Clair shore and the marine basin, while the adjoining properties were a maximum 800 feet (243.8 m), thus the marine basin jutted out into the southwest corner of Lake St. Clair. Most of the structure was break wall which was later landfilled to the east, and on most marine charts is referred to as Askin's Point.

Riverside was a town until annexed by Windsor on Jan. 1, 1966. It truly extends all the way to Tecumseh to the East but that 3 mile (4.8 km) stretch along Riverside Dr. of waterfront property and farms, is what would retrospectively be called a Hamlet in the city plans.

Further information on Riverside can be found on Wikipedia.

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 Essex County

• The Internet Archive has A brief sketch of the county of Essex, in the province of Ontario, Canada [microform] : also a short history of the formation and growth of the town of Essex, with biographical sketches of some of the public men, descriptions of buildings &c., describing its climate, situation, resources, soil, productions, and advantages as a place of settlement by J E Johnson (1889)
• Essex Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society lists their research resources available at the Windsor Public Library, Central Branch. At the moment their list of publications is unavailable as it is being digitized.
• Essex County GenWeb has some out-of-date and incomplete entries, but there may be something of interest
• miscellaneous genealogical transcripts for Essex and Kent Counties in Ontario, Canada