The following might be of some help to Tatum researchers. Lynda (Tatum) Veal >From a document from Lloyd M Hicks, 17300 SW 298th St, Homestead, FL 33030, sent to me by Randy Lewis (lewisfamily@mindspring.com), 1540 Eryn Circle, Suwanee, GA 30024: As has been pointed out previously in this narrative, before about 1850 there was no standardized spelling of names. The Tatoms often used several spellings within a single document. Our ancestors who left England generally uses T-A-T-A-M. Descendants of the Tatams still in England usually use T-A-T-T-A-M which was utilized concurrently with Tatam. Tatem, Tatham, Teatem, Teathem, Tatume and Tatum, perhaps others have been utilized, but the most common in the US have been TATOM, TATEM and TATUM, the last two almost consistently by the descendants of the NJ and New England branches. The VA branch generally used TATOM, while their descendants who went to GA more often utilized TATUM. Since Mrs. Scarborough's work was one of the first sources that I used after seriously beginning my genealogical research, I adopted her scheme of using TATOM in my compilations. I continue to use the spelling because it clearly distinguishes the Southern branch from the northern families, all of who share the common ancestor, Samuel, who went to Bermuda. The Tatoms are another family well represented in MS, particularly in old Itawamba and old Pontotoc counties. Numerous descendants still reside in that area of the state. The earliest Tatoms were probably Anglo-Saxon; the name is Old English in origin. Not until the latter part of the 16th century do we pick up our direct line, however, and this is in London. A grandson of Samuel, the immigrant to Bermuda, married Elizabeth Turner, whose maternal grandfather was John Trimingham, at one time Governor of Bermuda. Of these three families--Tatom, Turner and Trimingham--only the Triminghams have remained on the island.