Ruth Beard
Ruth was the wife of John Gaither of South River, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Her children were born from January 1677/8 to 1697: John, Ruth, Benjamin, Rachel, Edward, Mary, Rebecca and Susan.
Her son John Gaither gave sworn evidence before the Land Commission between 1716 and 1718, and in it he named his mother as Ruth Beard. The Land Commission took depositions from old settlers to fix the bounds of tracts whose markers and papers were being lost. A Ruth Beard fits the will of Richard Beard of South River, made on 24 July 1675, which left "to dau. Ruth and her sons, part of 'Timber Neck.'" Her first child was born two and a half years later.
J. D. Warfield's history of 1905, and a later printed genealogy, call her instead "Ruth (Morley) Gaither," daughter of Joseph Morley. Morley's will of 1672 made her husband an executor and legatee of the whole estate, but it does not call him a son-in-law or name a daughter Ruth. Her son's sworn statement and the Beard will agree with each other, and Beard is probably her maiden name.
Her husband died without a will in November 1702. As administratrix she took charge of his estate, and its inventory of 20 May 1703 came to £437. An administratrix was a woman appointed by the court to settle an estate when there was no will. Her sons John and Benjamin signed as kin. A commission of three neighbours later divided the land among the children.
On 13 January 1703/4 she married Francis Hardesty, and a son, Francis, was born to them on 27 February 1707/8. Her daughter Ruth's husband, John Warfield, died in 1718. Ruth was buried at All Hallows on 5 October 1719.
Sources
If Ruth Beard is in your family, start your own tree.
Cite: Heirology, "Ruth Beard (d. 1719)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/ruth-beard-1719-14e068.