Michael and Ruth Plaster, in 1857, made the 2,000 mile journey over the plains of the Oregon Trail to Brownsville, Linn County, Oregon. They had seven children at the time. Traveling on the Oregon Trail was difficult, and women planning to leave would gather for important social events with friends in the months before to sew quilts together. An article on the Oregon Trail says that "When it came time for a family or a group of families to leave, the farewells were often grandiose and sad...During the journey, women did most of the things they did back home; cooking every meal, taking care of the children, gathering food and fuel for the fire. Women had to do these things in dust, rain, hail, in tents or in the open air." Ruth's parents are listed as William Burress and Eleanor Frakes in the Oregon Biographical Index.
1819
Mar 30
| 1819 • Captain William Smith in British merchant brig Williams sights Williams Point, the northeast extremity of Livingston Island in the South Shetlands, the first land discovered south of latitude 60° S. |
1820
Aug 7
Age: 1y
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residenceLittle York, Hardin, Kentucky, USA ⇓ Also living in Little York is a Job Burris. On the same page, a Charles and David Dougherty are also living. 1 Source ⇓ |
| 1820 • The Daoguang Emperor succeeds the throne of the Qing Dynasty in China. |
1836
Jun 23
Age: 17y
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marriageMichael Plaster Schuyler County, Illinois, USA ⇓ "Schuyler County Illinois I Do hereby Certify that I Did Join to gether in Marriage Michel Plaster & Ruth Burrass on the 23 day of June 1836". Signature of the justice of the peace is difficult to make out. 4 Sources ⇓ |
| 1836 • The first printed literature in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is produced by Justin Perkins, an American Presbyterian missionary in Persia. |
1838
Mar 22
Age: 18y
birth of childAnn Marie Plaster Lee County, Iowa, USA ⇓ |
| 1838 • The first known report about the lowest temperature on Earth was made, indicating −60 °C (−76 °F) in Yakutsk. |
1840
Age: 20y
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residenceTownship 66, Lee, Iowa Territory, USA ⇓ Michael and Ruth (Burress) Plaster are living with their oldest daughter Ann Marie Plaster, who is about one or two years old. On the next page is a 20-30 year old Joseph Burris. 1 Source ⇓ |
| 1840 • Uniform Penny Post is introduced in the United Kingdom. |
1843
Jan 10
Age: 23y
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birth of childMargaret J Plaster Gentry County, Missouri, USA ⇓ 1 Source ⇓ |
| 1843 • Publication of Edgar Allan Poe's Gothic short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" in a Philadelphia magazine. |
1846
May 16
Age: 27y
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birth of childThomas Jefferson Plaster Gentry County, Missouri, USA ⇓ 1 Source ⇓ |
| 1846 • Mexican–American War: Open conflict begins over border disputes of Texas' boundaries. |
1849
Oct 1
Age: 30y
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birth of childElizabeth Ellen Plaster Athens, Gentry, Missouri, USA ⇓ 1 Source ⇓ |
| 1849 • Second Anglo-Sikh War – British forces retreat from the Battle of Tooele. |
1850
Sep 24
Age: 31y
| 1850 • California is admitted as the 31st U.S. state. |
1850
Sep 24
Age: 31y
| 1850 • The postage stamp issues of Austria begin with a series of imperforate typographed stamps featuring the coat of arms. |
1852
Sep 10
Age: 33y
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birth of childEmily L Plaster Gentry County, Missouri, USA ⇓ 1 Source ⇓ |
| 1852 • Loyola College was chartered in Baltimore, Maryland. |
1856
Feb 28
Age: 36y
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birth of childLaura Hanna Plaster Gentry County, Missouri, USA ⇓ 1 Source ⇓ |
| 1856 • Taiping Rebellion: Suspecting treachery on the part of East King Yang Xiuqing, Shi Dakai garrisons Anhui and begins his march back to the Heavenly Capital, having defeated a strong Xiang Army detachment. |
1857
Age: 37y
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movedOregon ⇓ The Plasters were pioneers on the Oregon Trail from Missouri to Oregon, a journey of 2,000 miles. In the "Oregon Biographical Index", it mentions that Ruth Burress and her husband Michael Plaster traveled to Oregon in 1857 from Gentry, Missouri over the plains. This photo is not of them, but of some travelers from that time period. See gallery for more info on the Oregon Trail: https://johnsonfamily.talldude.net/ruth-burress-124/gallery/oregon-trail/all 2 Sources ⇓ |
| 1857 • Kuala Lumpur, the future capital of Malaysia, is founded as a tin mining settlement. |
1860
Age: 40y
| 1860 • Austria, Britain, France, Prussia and the Ottoman Empire form a commission to investigate the causes of the massacres of Maronite Christians, committed by Druzes in Lebanon earlier in the year. |
1860
Mar 22
Age: 40y
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birth of childGeorge Washington Plaster Brownsville, Linn, Oregon, USA ⇓ 5 Sources ⇓ |
| 1860 • South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the United States Union. |
1870
Age: 50y
| 1870 • Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction. |
1878
Apr 3
Age: 59y
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deathBrownsville, Linn, Oregon, USA ⇓ A newspaper article published in the Oregon State Journal says that she died "Near Brownsville Apr. 3, 1878, Butter Plaster, wife of Michael Plaster, aged 59 years and 3 days." 2 Sources ⇓ |
| 1878 • John A. Macdonald returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada. |