Marrying in Plankinton Before Dakota Became Two States

Researching my husband's Steiner ancestors, this social item on page 1 of the Crawford County News (Bucyrus, Ohio), August 28, 1884, caught my eye: Addie Steiner, formerly of Nevada [Ohio], was recently married at Plankinton, Dakota to C.S. Deering.Adda "Addie" Forrest Steiner (1860-1915) was my husband's 1c2r. She grew up with her parents and siblings in small-town Nevada, Ohio, according to the US Census of 1870 and 1880.Why Go from Ohio to Dakota?Somehow, in 1884, Addie managed to travel to Plankinton, Dakota Territory and marry Charles Sawyer Deering (1839-1899), a widower who had served in the 13th Maine Infantry on the Union side of the US Civil War two decades earlier. He was born in Maine and farmed in Maine before embarking on a different work life.From Addie's Ohio hometown to her new home in Plankinton is a distance of 950 miles. How she got to Dakota is a mystery. Remember that Dakota Territory wasn't split into the two states of North Dakota and South Dakota until very…