1850 US Bill of Sale/ f-->s

[Joseph Puentes <makas@...>]

I was watching a documentary about American Slave Narratives. In one of the stories it was talking about slaves being sold at auction and they showed a bill of sale. the time period was about 1850. In the bill of sale at the bottom it spell "witness" like this:

"witnefs"

now this reminds me of the times I've seen Castañeda spelled Caftañeda

does anyone know about the use of the "F" for "S's" in early handwritting?

thanks,

joseph