Spelling Changes for Carruthers

There are multiple versions of the original derivation of the Carruthers name - none being the definitive answer.  One author states it as coming from "Caer-Ruthryis" - the Fort of Ridderick, while another states it as coming from "Cuir-Ruther" - the Fort of Assault.  The final "s" only means "son of Carruther".  Carruthers possessed lands in Scotland when Gaelic was the language.

In any case, the first Carruthers were "probably" from France.  The fleur-de-lis (flower of the lily) on the heraldic charge of the Carruthers, has long been associated with the royal house of France.  Additionally, modern DNA testing seems to indicate European and Norse Viking (think Normandy in modern day France) lineage at some time in the past.

This version of the family name appears to have originated in America, in the northern states in the early 1700s.  Earliest records appear in the areas populated through the ports in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York.  Several definitive instances exist where the spelling was changed from Carruthers to Carothers during the Revolutionary War.  In these families, spelling existed in documents before the war as Carruthers and after the war as Carothers.  All versions, i.e., Carruthers, Carothers and Caruthers exist in military records for that period.  Pennsylvania Carothers migrated on to northern Missouri in the early 1800s, then via the Oregon Trail to western United States.

Similar to Carothers, this version of the family name appears to have originated in America with settlers from the Scotland homeland and Ireland in the early 1700s.  As a general rule, but not covering all situations, the Caruthers spelling appears to have been concentrated in the southern states, notably the Carolinas and Virginia, but also in the port in New Jersey.  After the American Revolution, the Carolina Caruthers started spreading west into Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, southern Missouri and Texas.

At least one family, traced back to the Carruthers in the Butterquhat estate in Scotland, has been identified using multiple spellings - including Carouthers.  The reason is not known at this time why some in the family chose the specific spellings of their name, but brothers and sisters spelled their names differently.  This family settled in North Carolina and New Jersey before moving on to Louisiana and Texas.

The original derivation of this spelling is unknown.  However, this spelling is usually associated with the family in England.  Documentation exists on James Carrothers in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in the late 1700s.  He moved his family to Kentucky in 1796.  His son Adam (b. 1 Oct 1782, d. 1858 in Kentucky), went by the Carothers spelling.

Quite probably not the first Carrithers, but a good example of name spelling changes - was Adam Caruthers.  He became provoked at the Caruthers line and changed the spelling of his name to Carrithers.  A chapel that he built in Spencer County, Kentucky was named Carrithers Chapel and was still in good condition in 1931.

The earliest Carithers known to this researcher is William Carithers (b. 12 Apr 1754) of Abbeville, South Carolina.  He married in Georgia with the family later moving to Mississippi. 

To be developed.