Why are the last names in my family spelled in different ways?

A few generations ago literacy was not so universal. You might have some ancestors who didnt know how to spell their own names and did so with some variations

Well, maybe because your from Tennessee and spelling is spotty in certain areas there 😉

It's common for this to occur for a couple of reasons such as easier to pronounce, someone mispelled it, or family couldn't agree on spelling to name a few.

I don't know. Usually the different spellings mean they are unrelated.