<h1>Spelling</h1><p align="left"><font size="5"><strong>F</strong></font>ew of the early European immigrants could read or write. And those who could just jotted down what sounded right to  their ear. After all, spelling wasn't the focus of their writing -- getting the message across was. Life in the 17th and 18th  centuries was harsh. People struggled just to survive, to find food, shelter and protection from Native American tribes and  other European settlers. Spelling took a back seat to getting through one day at a time.</p> <p align="left">The 1659 will and inventory of John Sr., for example, shows his last name as "Parmaly" and "Parmely," and his son's name  spelled as "Parmile" -- all on the same document! For all we know, John Sr. may never have been literate; no copy of his  signature survives. (No, that is not his signature on the contemporary copy of the Plantation Covenant.) Most of the family's  Colonial era tombstones in Connecticut spell it Parmele, while today's most popular spellings are "Parmelee" and "Parmley,"  according to the U.S. Census Bureau.</p> <p align="left">In our nation's earliest days, when the majority of the population could barely read and write, many relied on others to do their writing for them. Early census records often reflected what the census taker thought was the "right" spelling. Even as late as 1870, census records show that one in five Americans under 21 was illiterate.</p> 