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Person

Ruth Ann Bedford

Also Ruth A. Bedford · Ruth Ann Millar · Joan Bedford · Miller

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypePerson
Born1834-11-30
Died1911-11-26
WithinBeaver Island
ErasStrang era
On this page
Person
Born
1834-11-30
Died
1911-11-26
Spouse
Thomas Bedford
Siblings
Capt. Harrison “Tip” Miller
Eras
Strang era
Concepts
mormonismgovernanceheritageStrang era
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

Ruth Ann (Miller) Bedford (1834–1911) was the established wife of Thomas Bedford and sister of Capt. Harrison “Tip” Miller. The held Collar card preserves variant wife-name forms—“Joan (or Ruth Ann) Millar”—while its 1860 household transcription uses Ruth A. Bedford. A separately transcribed 1880 census places Ruth A. Bedford, age 45, beside Harrison Miller’s Manitou County household and reports her death in Charlevoix County on November 26, 1911.1

Evidence and limits

The relationship bridge is supported by a later research card, its embedded family diagram, a 2025 community profile, and an independently transcribed 1880 census. A reproduced 1911 Charlevoix Sentinel notice supplies the exact birth date and marriage date; the historical-study source gives a specific death date but is not a civil death record. The original marriage, census, or death image has not been located.

See also

Footnotes

  1. Detour Through History, “The Family Relationship of James J. Strang’s Assassin, Thomas Bedford,” August 2, 2009. ↩

Kin

Capt. Harrison“Tip” Miller1838 – 1931This articleRuth Ann Bedford1834 – 1911Thomas Bedfordb. c. 1815
Only relations stated in the sources are drawn; absence means unrecorded, not childless or unmarried.

Sources

  1. Described in this archive: Helen Collar Papers web transcriptions.
    The card describes Thomas Bedford’s wife as “Joan (or Ruth Ann) Millar,” calls her Tip Millar’s sister, and transcribes the 1860 household as Ruth A. Bedford with Edwin, Julia, and Harrison. It is a research-card transcription, not the original civil or census image.
    web · collar_biographical_biographical-papers-a-g
  2. Described in this archive: Helen Collar family-tree images.
    The diagram visually connects Ruth and Thomas Bedford within a Miller–Bedford–Campbell chart and labels Harrison “Tip” Miller. It corroborates the card’s family bridge but is not an original vital record.
    web · collar_family_trees · collar-bio-b-004-thomas-bedford-01-mueller-bedford-campbell-family-tree
  3. A later community profile names Ruth Ann as Thomas Bedford’s wife and reports an 1834–1911 lifespan. The year-level birth estimate agrees with the independently transcribed 1880 census age, but the profile is not treated as a civil record.
    internet_archive · northern_light_2025
  4. Historical research post transcribes the 1880 census: Ruth A. Bedford, age 45, lived next door to Harrison Miller in Manitou County; it also reports her November 26, 1911 death in Charlevoix County. The census age supports circa 1834–35, while the post is not itself a primary death record.
  5. Reproduces a contemporaneous obituary notice stating that Mrs. Bedford was born in Westchester County, New York, on November 30, 1834; it also reports her June 8, 1853 Beaver Island marriage to Thomas Bedford. This supports the exact birth date independently of the later census transcription.

Added 2 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Ruth Ann Bedford”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/people/ruth-ann-miller-bedford/, accessed [date], citing Helen Collar Papers, Clarke Historical Library, “Thomas Bedford” biographical card, in “Biographical Papers A–G,” accessed 2026-08-02. (and 4 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-02. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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