I hope this isn't plagerism. I'm copying this out of the book "Gamecock- The Life and Campaigns of General Thomas Sumter." by Robert D. Bass. I hope it helps some of you. Page 258 paragraph 2 "Sumter is from "sumpter," a word which comes from Old French sommetier, which is derived from Latin sagma, a packsaddle. Sumpter designates an animal used to transport baggage, as a sumpter horse, and also a driver of such animals. In England in the thirteenth century sumpter changed from an occupation to a proper name. Family tradition says that the Sumpters came from Wales. Thomas Sumter spelled his name Sumpter or Sumter. On January 31, 1792, he signed his congressional pay voucher as Thomas Sumpter, but on March 2, 1792, and thereafter he signed it Thomas Sumter.