Sumpter vs. Sumter

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Why did some people spell it Fort Sumpter instead of Fort Sumter? It's named after Revolutionary War leader Thomas Sumter, isn't it? Just like the town of Sumter, SC?

Why do some people persist in using the archaic, if not outright incorrect, spelling today when the official site name is Fort Sumter?

 

[Saint Jude]

Dunno! Maybe because it's a linguistically-challenged word. When you pronounce it, the m-t combination makes it sounds as if there's a p in there.

 

[unionblue]

I understand it might have to do with the spelling practices of the time. Some folks would spell words and places as they sounded and not as they were listed.

 

[rpkennedy]

I understand it might have to do with the spelling practices of the time. Some folks would spell words and places as they sounded and not as they were listed.

There were attempts to standardize American English as early as the 1820s but with educational access being uneven, it wasn't until the late 19th century that it really caught on and became widespread. Until then, most people just spelled words phonetically.

I tend to agree that it was just that some people heard a "p" sound in the word and so added it when they wrote it out.

Ryan