Little attention should be paid to these spelling variations when examining original source documents. It should be remembered that many persons, before the mid-nineteenth century, were unable to read or write. Therefore, the name spelling was left to the census-taker or court clerk entering the information. Today the most commonly used form of the surname in America appears to be Rubottom. The author has chosen to use this form of the surname consistently in this book.
Exceptions occur when exact quotations are provided that used alternate forms.