Edward Payson Terhune (1830 - 1907)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Edward's lifetime.

In 1830, in the year that Edward Payson Terhune was born, on May 28th, the US Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The Act authorized the President to negotiate with Native Americans in the southern region of the US, exchanging their ancestral lands for federal territory west of the Mississippi River. Tens of thousands of Native Americans were forced to move - and march - west.

In 1843, at the age of merely 13 years old, Edward was alive when on May 22nd, an estimated 700 to 1,000 pioneers set out from Missouri on the Oregon Trail. Called "The Great Migration of 1843", the wagon train often had to build roads or float down rivers.

In 1869, when he was 39 years old, on January 20th, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, speaking about women's rights - including the right to vote - was the first woman to testify before the US Congress. In May, she and Susan B. Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA).

In 1890, by the time he was 60 years old, on January 2nd, Alice Sanger became the first female staffer to work in the White House. She was hired as a stenographer and, as such, took dictation.

In 1907, in the year of Edward Payson Terhune's passing, the Monongah coal mining disaster occurred on December 6th, happening at the Fairmont Coal Company’s No. 6 and No. 8 mines.. Over 361 miners were killed. Because there was no breathing apparatus at the time to help rescuers, recovery efforts were greatly hampered. It is considered the worst mining disaster in American history and led to government oversight in mining practices.