Following is a small part from the book, A Family of Five Republics, by Paul Myron Linebarger and Walter Franklin Lineberger, Printed by W. B. Conkey Company, Hammond, Ind. 1925
14 A Family of Five Republics The Tale of an Old Hymn Book: This period is as appropriate as any other, perhaps, to acquaint our kins- men with a very interesting old hymn book, which Johannes Leinberger (whose English name is John Line- barger) brought with him from the North Carolina home to Park County in 1822. We are sorry that space does not permit us to give here some of the reminis- cences of the Honorable Joseph G. Cannon, whose fam- ily migrated, likewise, from North Carolina northward, in company with the founder of the Indiana branch of the Linebarger family in 1822. Mr. Cannon was, for many years, the Speaker of the House of Representa- tives. His memory with advancing years was as clear as that sense of duty toward the American people which A Family of Five Republics 15 ever distinguished his long and-useful public career. Suffice it to say in the brevity of this volume that "Uncle Joe" as he is affectionately known, declared that when the covered wagons of the combined Linebarger. and Cannon families came to the Wabash River, that the Linebargers entered into the solitude of Indiana while the Cannon family went farther on into the prairie lands of Illinois. Of all the books that the Indiana Linebarger family brought with them, the authors know of but two. We shall speak first of the hymn book which in German is entitled "Das neue und verbesserte Gesangbuch," published in 1807 at Germantown, Pa., by Michael Bill- meyer, and which, according to the inscription in a skilled and practiced penmanship of the difficult Ger- man schrift, was bought by Johannes Leinberger in November, 1811. At the time this old hymnal came into the possession of one of the authors in 1896, with it was also delivered a quantity of music scrolls, and compo- sitions which, although yellow and faded with age, were remarkably well preserved. This music, all written out by the same John Linebarger, gave proof that he was an organist and choir leader of marked ability. The musical trend of the family at that period still contin- ued its influences down through the hardships of life in the Virginia wilderness, and in the lonely mountain slopes of western North Carolina. And now we shall introduce the second book which is the family Bible of the same John Linebarger, and which shows that he married Mary Hoot December 3, 1799. Hence, John Linebarger had already been mar- ried twelve years when he inscribed this hymn book, ac- cording to reference to this old German Bible which is now in the possession of Mr. Levi Linebarger of Rock- ville, Indiana. We trust that our kinsfolk of Virginia and North Carolina will pardon the space we are taking up in mentioning these two books, which, although they have no immediate interest for them, may serve to throw 16 'A Family of Five Republics a side light upon their own particular family searches. We are indebted to Mr. John A. Linebarger of Rock- ville, Indiana, for having verified some of the dates in this old German Bible from the tombstones in the old Linebarger cemetery a few rods from the house of one of the original Linebarger homesteads eight miles north- west of BockviIIe, Indiana. We assume that this John Linebarger was born near Belmont, North Carolina, about 1764. There is a tradition in the family that as a young boy, he insisted on joining the family group that went out to attack the British at King's Mountain, and that young as he was, his marksmanship reflected credit upon his youth. There are many presumptions in which much of conjecture is removed when we study the meagre details of this old hymn book and old German Bible, but we shall have to dismiss this subject by merely expressing the pleasure we felt in attending a Lutheran church service upon the site (but not, of course, in the same building) where this hymn book was first used, and it will interest some to know that we actually sang (but in very low voices) from this hymn book in German while the congregation sang the song in English. NOTE. The German Bible data is as follows: Lewis Line- barger, born Oct. 8, 1800, Elizabeth Linebarger, born March 19, 1803, Nancy Linebarger, born July 6, 1805, Henry Linebarger, born Dec. 24, 1807, George Linebarger, born June 6, 1810, John Linebarger, born Nov. 4, 1812, Andrew Linebarger, born June 8, 1815, Polly Linebarger, born Oct. 24, 1818. John Linebarger, Sr., died May 6, 1847, and was buried in Linebarger Cemetery at West Union, Illinois. Mary, wife of John, Sr., died Dec. 14, 1857, and was buried in the same cemetery. In connection with this footnote, the authors would state that according to the information received from Mr. John A. Line- barger, for twenty years Superintendent of Public Schools at Rockville, Indiana, his grandfather and the grand uncle of Paul Linebarger, came from North Carolina in 1822, when he was seven years of age. This would indicate that all of the above children were born in North Carolina.