Newspaper Heraldry: Howison or Howson?

Long before the Internet, many newspapers ran heraldry/genealogy query pages or columns that focused on regional surnames. 

One such newspaper was the Sun (Baltimore, MD), which received the following letter from a reader in 1908.

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Sun (Baltimore, MD)
5 July 1908

Messrs. Editors:

In your issue of March 22, 1908, an article appeared in regard to the Hooe family and mentioned an intermarriage with the Howson family. Ann Moore Howison, born April 11, 1807, died March 4, 1872,, was the daughter of Samuel, born 1780, died 1843, and Helen Rose (Moore) Howison, born 1787, died 1850. Samuel was the son of Samuel (?) or Stephen (?) Howison, of Charles county, Maryland, and later of Prince William county, Virginia. He married Mary Brook(e), of St. Mary's county, Maryland, and was the son of John (?) Howison, of Scotland, later Maryland, the emigrant, who married Mary Wood, formerly of Scotland.

Is not the name of Howson and Howison the same, only differently spelled? Is the Robert Howson referred to in the article of March 22, 1908, any relation to the above-mentioned Howison family of Maryland and Virginia? Has any article appeared on the Howison family?

M.