Born 16 Nov. 1853 at Westbury, Wiltshire, England.[1] Daughter of James May and Mary Ann Harding.[2] Emigrated from Liverpool aboard the Louisiana; arrived in New York, 17 June 1867.[3] Migrated to the Salt Lake Valley with the Leonard G. Rice company; arrived 5 Oct. 1867.[4] Married Jessie William Fox, 8 May 1873, in Salt Lake City; twelve children.[5] Founding member, with EBW, of the Utah Women’s Press Club, 1891–1928; member of the Reaper’s Club, 1892.[6] Served as treasurer of the Utah Territorial Woman Suffrage Association, 1893–1896.[7] Served as counselor in the Primary in the Salt Lake City Fourteenth Ward, 1879–1898.[8] Served as president of the Fourteenth Ward Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association (YLMIA), 1895–1904.[9] Served as first counselor to President Martha H. Tingey and as president of the YLMIA, 1898–1937.[10] Active in the National Council of Women with EBW and others, 1903–1925.[11] Wrote the text for the song “Carry On” for the Mutual Improvement Association Conference, presented 8 June 1930.[12] Died 12 Apr. 1958 at Salt Lake City.[13]
[1] Birth Registration, Westbury, Wiltshire, England, General Register Office, vol. 5A, p. 120, no. 411. My Story by Ruth May Fox, Supplemented by Miscellaneous Articles Pertaining to Her Life, ed. Leonard Grant Fox (n.p.: printed by the author, 1973), 2. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 2 Jan. 2018), Ruth May (KWCZ-D44).
[2] Birth Registration, Westbury, Wiltshire, England, General Register Office, vol. 5A, p. 120, no. 411. My Story by Ruth May Fox, Supplemented by Miscellaneous Articles Pertaining to Her Life, ed. Leonard Grant Fox (n.p.: printed by the author, 1973), 1.
[3] “Ruth May,” database, 1840–1932, Saints by Sea (https://saintsbysea.lib.byu.edu/mii/passenger/89500?netherlands=on&europe=on&scandinavia=on&mii=on&sweden=on&keywords=The+Louisiana, accessed 5 Dec. 2019).
[4] “Ruth May,” Pioneer Database (https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel, accessed 2 Jan. 2018).
[5] “Sealings of Couples, Living and by Proxy, 1851–1889,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Endowment House, vol. H, p. 426, Jesse William Fox and Ruth May, 8 May 1873, microfilm 183398 (restricted access), FHL. My Story by Ruth May Fox, Supplemented by Miscellaneous Articles Pertaining to Her Life, ed. Leonard Grant Fox (n.p.: printed by the author, 1973), 17.
[6] EBW, Diary, 31 Oct. 1891; 3 Oct. 1892. My Story by Ruth May Fox, Supplemented by Miscellaneous Articles Pertaining to Her Life, ed. Leonard Grant Fox (n.p.: printed by the author, 1973), 23–24. Linda Thatcher and John R. Sillito, ‘“Sisterhood and Sociability’: The Utah Women’s Press Club, 1891–1928,” Utah Historical Quarterly 53, no. 2 (Spring 1985): 144–156.
[7] My Story by Ruth May Fox, Supplemented by Miscellaneous Articles Pertaining to Her Life, ed. Leonard Grant Fox (n.p.: printed by the author, 1973), 25–27.
[8] My Story by Ruth May Fox, Supplemented by Miscellaneous Articles Pertaining to Her Life, ed. Leonard Grant Fox (n.p.: printed by the author, 1973), 27.
[9] My Story by Ruth May Fox, Supplemented by Miscellaneous Articles Pertaining to Her Life, ed. Leonard Grant Fox (n.p.: printed by the author, 1973), 28.
[10] My Story by Ruth May Fox, Supplemented by Miscellaneous Articles Pertaining to Her Life, ed. Leonard Grant Fox (n.p.: printed by the author, 1973), 28–30, 39, 41–42. Young Women, Timeline of Young Women General Presidents (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/callings/young-women/leader-resources/timeline?lang=eng, accessed 7 Feb. 2018), 3.
[11] My Story by Ruth May Fox, Supplemented by Miscellaneous Articles Pertaining to Her Life, ed. Leonard Grant Fox (n.p.: printed by the author, 1973), 34–35. EBW, Diary, 19–21 Mar. 1903.
[12] My Story by Ruth May Fox, Supplemented by Miscellaneous Articles Pertaining to Her Life, ed. Leonard Grant Fox (n.p.: printed by the author, 1973), 37, 57–58. J. Spencer Cornwall, Stories of Our Mormon Hymns (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971), 48–52. “Carry On,” Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985), 255.
[13] “Utah Death Certificate Index, 1904–1961,” database and images, Utah State Archives (http://archives.utah.gov, accessed 3 Jan. 2018); from Utah Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, series 81448, file no. 58 18 0958 (1958), Ruth May Fox.