♀ 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 • The Daoguang Emperor succeeds the throne of the Qing Dynasty in China.

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 • Colony of South Australia founded by Captain John Hindmarsh

1838


Mar 22
Age: 18y
1838 • Dissolution of the Federal Republic of Central America: Honduras and Costa Rica follow the example of Nicaragua and secede from the federation.

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 David Livingstone leaves Britain for Africa.

1843


Jan 10
Age: 23y
1843 • The first major wagon train headed for the American Northwest sets out with one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri on the Oregon Trail.

1846


May 16
Age: 27y

1852


Sep 10
Age: 33y
1852 Taiping Rebellion: The Taiping army took Hanyang and begins the siege of Wuchang.

1856


Feb 28
Age: 36y
1856 Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beats Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate, for a speech Sumner had made attacking Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas ("Bleeding Kansas"). Sumner is unable to return to duty for 3 years while he recovers; Brooks becomes a hero across the South.

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 Elisha Otis' first elevator is installed (at 488 Broadway, New York City).

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.

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 • The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison.

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