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 • Thomas Jefferson founds the University of Virginia. |
1820
Aug 7
Age: 1y
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 • 86 free African American colonists sail from New York City to Freetown, Sierra Leone. |
1836
Jun 23
Age: 17y
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 • Sam Houston is inaugurated as first elected President of the Republic of Texas. |
1838
Mar 22
Age: 18y
birth of childAnn Marie Plaster Lee County, Iowa, USA ⇓ |
1838 • Lord Durham and his entourage arrive in Upper Canada to investigate the cause of the 1837 rebellion in that province. This leads to Durham submitting the Durham Report to Britain. |
1840
Age: 20y
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 • Maronite leader Bashir Shihab II surrenders to the British forces and goes into exile in Malta. |
1843
Jan 10
Age: 23y
birth of childMargaret J Plaster Gentry County, Missouri, USA ⇓ 1 Source ⇓ |
1843 • The event that inspired the Beatles song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! is held in England. |
1846
May 16
Age: 27y
birth of childThomas Jefferson Plaster Gentry County, Missouri, USA ⇓ 1 Source ⇓ |
1846 • Mexican–American War – Battle of Palo Alto: Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande at Palo Alto, Texas in the first major battle of the war. |
1849
Oct 1
Age: 30y
birth of childElizabeth Ellen Plaster Athens, Gentry, Missouri, USA ⇓ 1 Source ⇓ |
1849 • The St. Louis Fire starts when a steamboat catches fire and nearly burns down the entire city. |
1850
Sep 24
Age: 31y
1850 • United States Senator Daniel Webster gives his "Seventh of March" speech in which he endorses the Compromise of 1850 in order to prevent a possible civil war. |
1850
Sep 24
Age: 31y
1850 • The Fugitive Slave Law is passed by the United States Congress. |
1852
Sep 10
Age: 33y
birth of childEmily L Plaster Gentry County, Missouri, USA ⇓ 1 Source ⇓ |
1852 • The Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, London, admitted its first patient. |
1856
Feb 28
Age: 36y
birth of childLaura Hanna Plaster Gentry County, Missouri, USA ⇓ 1 Source ⇓ |
1856 • The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War. |
1857
Age: 37y
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 • France and the United Kingdom formally declare war on China in the Second Opium War. |
1860
Age: 40y
1860 • Assisted by the British navy, the troops of Giuseppe Garibaldi cross from Sicily to the Italian mainland. |
1860
Mar 22
Age: 40y
birth of childGeorge Washington Plaster Brownsville, Linn, Oregon, USA ⇓ 5 Sources ⇓ |
1860 • first Rules derby between Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C., the oldest football fixture in the world. |
1870
Age: 50y
1870 • Leon Michel Gambetta escapes the besieged Paris in a hot-air balloon. |
1878
Apr 3
Age: 59y
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 • U.S. Coastal Survey renamed U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. |