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.