Most of my ancestors lived in Pittsylvania County, but quite a few of their descendants now live in Henry County. Some of the names familiar to the area are: Hubbard, Walker, Fuller, Pigg, Aaron, Arnn, Wells, Shorter, Palmer, Martin, Marlow, Eanes, Shelton, Ramsey, Angle, Anthony, Ziegler and Woody. My husband is not local, but in researching his family I even found that they connected back to the area through the Fuller and Lawrence families.
I descend from Abraham Arnn, Sr. through two of his sons. Through the years, the
descendants of Abraham Sr. have spelled the surname in an interesting variety
of ways. One family researcher, Larry Aaron, found the name spelled no less than
16 different ways in court documents relating to the family. One of my branches
from Abraham Sr. spells the surname Aaron today and the other spells it Arnn.
There are also descendants who spell the name Aron.
 As you conduct your own research, keep in mind that having a firm spelling of one's surname is a fairly recent occurrence. As you can see from the Aaron/Arnn family, when it comes to old documents, spelling doesn't count, especially with names. In your research, you must be willing to look at all the different possible spellings of the surname of your ancestor and even some that don't seem possible! Many people have lost out on a plethora of information simply because they were insistent they couldn't be related to someone due to a spelling difference in the surname. Prior to the publishing of the first Dictionary of the English Language in 1755 by Samuel Johnson in England, there were no spelling rules. In the United States, there wasn't a standard for spelling until Noah Webster published the first American dictionary in 1828. Since everyone spelled as they deemed fit prior to 1755, you should not worry about spelling in old documents and letters. There are at least three reasons for the spelling variations of our ancestors' names: 1) They may have been illiterate, 2) someone else, such as a clerk or clergyman might have created the record, and 3) they may have had an accent which was unclear or unfamiliar to the person taking the information.
Now, back to the Aaron/Arnn family:
Abraham Arnn, Sr. was born around 1734. He is speculated to have married Judith
Diehl. However, there are no primary sources to support this speculation. It is,
also, theorized that he may have married a Philpott. There have been no legal
documents found to date which mention his wife. Abraham and several of his children
moved from Lancaster, PA to Pittsylvania Co., VA around the year 1771. On 6 Sept
1777, Abraham subscribed to the oath of allegiance in Pittsylvania Co., VA. During
the Revolutionary War, he served on the jury several times and provided supplies
for the troops. He is the first name listed in the Patriot Index published by
the Daughters of the American Revolution. The birth order and some of the birth
dates of his children are unknown. In addition to the children listed below, Abraham
might have had a son named Moses who married Abigail Payne on 18 Sep 1782 in Pittsylvania
Co., VA. However, there is no documentation to prove that Moses was the son of
Abraham Arnn, Sr. Abraham died in 1815 or 1816 in Pittsylvania Co., VA. Children
of Abraham Arnn, Sr.: Jacob Horatio married Judith Kearby, Catherine married (1)
John Whitsell & (2) Harmon Cook Sr., Abraham Jr. married (1) Chloe Pearson
(2) Nellie Purdue and (3) Seneth Regan, Mary married Tobias Kingery, George Washington
married Sarah Walker, Isaac married (1) Polly Walker and (2) Elizabeth Fuller
and Susannah married Joseph Fuller. My descent from George carries the surname
Aaron. My descent from Isaac spells the surname Arnn.
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