Riverview Cemetery Project

05/15/2020

An article in the Wallaceburg News dated April 25, 1900 tells of some graves moved from the Old Water St. Cemetery to the new Riverview Cemetery. This stone shown below was the one referred to in the article. It stands in the West area of the Cemetery in Plot 890. The old cemetery interments were gradually being relocated to the Riverview Cemetery to allow for a road to be built thru, now known as Water St.. A Concrete marker remains in Pioneer Park at the Corner of Park St. and Water St. to mark the location of Wallaceburg's original Cemetery.

12/06/2019

Extra Extra, Read all about it.
If anyone is interested in browsing through old Wallaceburg newspapers, I have been working on saving them to pdf files. They are available on some of the computers at the Chatham Library, Wallaceburg Library and Wallaceburg Museum, just ask at the desk. These include the Wallaceburg Herald from 1894 - 1899 and The Wallaceburg News from 1896 - 1907. More editions will be added as I get them done. You can also view My Riverview Cemetery Database where you can find information on anyone buried at Riverview Cemetery.

07/29/2019

Who can tell me what "Quail on Toast" refers to. Any guesses.

07/27/2019

Here is an article for an excursion to Sombra from Wallaceburg for $0.40 round trip. Taken from Wallaceburg Herald, June 19, 1896. Excursions like this were quite popular at the time and would often include taking the train to Port Lambton and take a Steamer to Detroit or Sarnia and return later in the evening.

07/27/2019

My Cemetery database for Riverview Cemetery is now available for use at the OGS, Chatham Library, Wallaceburg Library and Wallaceburg Museum. I have also scanned to pdf, full copies of the Wallaceburg Herald newspapers from 1894 - end of 1899 and The Wallaceburg News from 1896 - end of 1899 that were on Microfiche at the Wallaceburg Library. These files are also available at the above mentioned locations and will make it much easier to read up on the amazing history of this town and area. I will continue to scan more newspapers and make them available as well.

As a new feature on this page I will include interesting facts and articles that I come across as I peruse these papers.

03/28/2019

With my database completed I am now scouring the old newspapers to find more information to fill in some of the blanks.
At present I am scanning and reading The Wallaceburg Herald from 1894 to 1897 using the Library Microfiche Collection. I will add the date of the newspaper and page that I find Obituaries or death notices in and add that to my database. I will also save the entire newspapers in PDF format and give a copy to the Library. This will make looking up information easier than having to use the Microfiche. I am hoping to have the Wallaceburg Herald available in the next month or so.
If your are looking for old Obituaries or Wedding or Birth announcements that would have appeared in the Wallaceburg Herald, send me an e-mail at henryvanharen@hotmail.ca.

03/03/2019

The Riverview Database is now basically complete and has the most complete listing of all interments since the cemetery was first used in 1885. If you are doing your family tree or just interested in finding a family member that was interred there, I can help you find their location. You can contact me by E-mail at henryvanharen@hotmail.ca.
My database is also available for use at the Wallaceburg Museum.

The database also now contains links to photos of each individuals cemetery stone where one exists. The database has been updated to Jan. 1, 2019 and hopefully will be updated about every 6 months with the more recent burials.

I am very interested in any input on the usefulness of this information and if there are any comments on how to improve what I have done. If you use it at the Museum please leave a written comment and leave it at their office or contact me at my E-mail above.

01/12/2019

I have dropped off a copy of my Riverview Cemetery Database at the Wallaceburg Museum this week. Their website is http://www.kent.net/wallaceburg-museum/ . It will be available as a research tool for anyone who wishes to search for family or friends interred at Riverview. I have over 15,000 entries in the database that is easily searchable. Just stop in and ask one of the staff members.
If you have any questions or can add any information that may be missing from database, please contact me at henryvanharen@hotmail.ca. The database is read only so please do not try to change any of the information.

01/07/2019

I would like to focus now on one area of the Cemetery, the west side between the Mausoleum and the workshop.

This area has many older stones, including some that have been moved here from the Old Water Street Cemetery. This section also has 2 areas for infants, one near the Mausoleum and one near the middle of the section.

You may have noticed a large area in the middle of this section that has very few stones. This part of the cemetery was used for many of the victims of the 1918 flu epidemic and as a Potters Field.

01/07/2019

Hello Everyone,
Making much progress on my database for Riverview Cemetery. To date I have 15,409 individuals listed. This includes internments with markers, without markers and individuals that are listed on markers but not yet deceased.
Of this total count, there are 3,204 individuals that are buried here with no markers. This means that about 20 % do not have stones. I have spent the last 6 years photographing and researching many different sources and believe I have the most complete listing of burials in Riverview Cemetery. If anyone is interested in finding a specific individual or family group, I would be happy to assist. The best way to contact me is by E-mail at henryvanharen@hotmail.ca

12/09/2018

I will still continue to add some info to my database and the website to try to keep them updated. I also will be adding photo links on the database so pictures of the stones can be seen (this may take some time to do). If anyone is interested I can print up or provide a file containing the information on specific family names. This will provide location, names, birth, death and burial dates, age, cause of death (in some older entries), Veteran info and relationship info. Donations are encouraged for this information as it has taken much time and expense to provide and maintain this project.
You may contact me by E-mail at henryvanharen@hotmail.ca for further information.

12/09/2018

Hello everyone,
I have just completed the last area of the Riverview Cemetery on my Database and on the ckcemeteries.ca website. I believe I have the most complete list of all the burials at the cemetery whether they are marked or not. I have found that between 20 & 25 % of the graves are unmarked. If you are wanting to find family members or anyone in general and have been unable to locate them, contact me by E-mail and I should be able to help you out. My E-mail is henryvanharen@hotmail.ca

09/23/2018

Sorry I haven't posted anything to this page for quite a while. I have been busy working on the ckcemeteries.ca site adding photos and info for the south area of Riverview Cemetery. I am working on the last section of the cemetery now and should have it finished in about 2 months. After I finish Riverview on the website I will continue working on my Database which contains all of the info I have gathered on interrments, marked and unmarked, so if you are looking for anyone in the Cemetery that you have been unable to locate, I can likely help.

01/16/2018

Chapel, Donation Wall & Columbarium

01/16/2018

It has been a while since I have posted any updates on this site. I have added a new map in the photo area that will better show how I have divided the Cemetery into smaller areas that are used on my database and the www.ckcemeteries.ca website.
I have now finished all of the areas north of the Mausoleum. I have now been busy working on adding photos and information for the South1 Area of the Cemetery. I have also added the new Columbarium area to the website. This is used for Cremations and is located next to the Chapel.
I encourage everyone visiting the ckcemeteries website to review the information for your loved ones and if there are any corrections that need to be made let me know by E-mail or phone. I try hard to ensure that information is as accurate as possible but a project like this is bound to have errors or missing information and I welcome any additional information.
To date I have over 12,500 individuals listed on my database and have taken over 10,000 photographs of cemetery stones and markers.

In the early 21st century, a local community member often stated, " It is not right to see the gravestones of our ancestors left to deteriorate, be vandalized, and disappear under the ground. What is the point of living, if only to be forgotten. We have a responsibility to act as custodians of our c...

01/16/2018

This is an updated map of Riverview Cemetery, Wallaceburg showing the area designations that I am using for my database and the website www.ckcemeteries.ca. This should make it easier to find the location of stones using the plot # and area listed on the website.

08/17/2017

Dedication Plaques for Riverview Cemetery Chapel