♀ Ruth Burress

1819 - 1878

 

Butter, Burris

Ruth Burress
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Parents
Spouse
Michael Plaster
Michael Plaster
1813 - 1892
Children

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.

 

Timeline

1820


Aug 7
Age: 1y
William Burress - 1820 United States Federal Census

residence


Little 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 • A revolt begins in Santa María Chiquimula, Totonicapán department of Guatemala.

1836


Jun 23
Age: 17y
Ruth Burress - Oregon, Biographical and Other Index Card File, 1700s-1900s

marriage


Michael 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 city of Houston, Texas, is founded.

1838


Mar 22
Age: 18y
1838 First Anglo-Afghan War: British and Presidency armies set out from Punjab in support of Shah Shujah Durrani's claim to the throne of Afghanistan.

1840


Age: 20y
Michael Plaster & Ruth Burress - 1840 United States Federal Census

residence


Township 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 Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.

1843


Jan 10
Age: 23y

1846


May 16
Age: 27y
1846 • The Liberty Bell is cracked while being rung for George Washington's birthday.

1849


Oct 1
Age: 30y
1849 Zachary Taylor refuses to be sworn in office on a Sabbath. Urban legend holds that David Rice Atchison, President pro tempore of the United States Senate is President de jure for a single day.

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
1852 • The Studebaker Brothers Wagon Company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, was established.

1856


Feb 28
Age: 36y
1856 • 500 Mormon handcart pioneers leave Iowa City and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah, carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts.

1857


Age: 37y

moved


Oregon ⇓
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 France and the United Kingdom formally declare war on China in the Second Opium War.

1860


Age: 40y
1860 • German chemist Albert Niemann makes a detailed analysis of the coca leaf, isolating and purifying the alkaloid which he calls cocaine.Niemann, Albert (1860). On a New Organic Base in the Coca Leaves ("Über eine neue organische Base in den Cocablättern", published version of Ph.D. dissertation).

1878


Apr 3
Age: 59y
Ruth Burress - Oregon, Biographical and Other Index Card File, 1700s-1900s

death


Brownsville, 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 Geiger (Corporation), formed as Geiger Brothers.

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