My understanding is that many/most folks in early America were illiterate. They would go to the courthouse to have their land records documented, record a marriage bond, record a will. They could say their name, but the court recorder spelled them as well as he could sound out the name. That is why I have been able to track some of my Virginia ancestors through 3 different spellings: Pruitt, Pruett, Prewitt. All the same family, just recorded by the court recorded of the day. I used to get upset that my Pruitts were only spelled "Pruitt," but certainly found out that looking at spelling would have ended my Pruitts many generations too soon. Cindy Pruitt Spencer