A Leinbach/Lineback/Linebaugh Genealogy
 
   
Margaret, Elisabeth, Ernest, Myra, Gilbert and Charles Lineback, ca. 1947
 
  Introduction
 
This genealogy of the Leinbach/Lineback/Linebaugh family began one hot summer day in the mid-1950's while listening to an ancient woman, Bess Lineback, recite an oral history of our part of the family that has lived in the Seward community of western Forsyth County, North Carolina since 1810. Her telling of the stories about these ancestors, many long dead and some all but forgotten, brought these people back to life and gave new meaning to the old homesites where they were born, the woods and fields in which they toiled, and the graveyards were they now rest. The foundation of this genealogy is my handwritten notes of conversations with Bess on that and many other afternoons as she sat on my grandparents' front porch waiting for the postman to arrive with the day's mail.

Since the first of those early notes were made, material has been added from other oral histories; private communications; books and assorted publications from numerous public and private libraries; the Federal census and other records of church and state; the State Archives of North Carolina; numerous visits to graveyards; and, of course, other genealogies. While every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of all additions made to this genealogy from these varied sources, the attainment of absolute perfection is an unreasonable expectation. Errors of both omission and commission are always present in any such undertaking. Please let me known when you find them in this one.

These pages are not intended to be the definitive Leinbach/Lineback/Linebaugh genealogy. Any number of other genealogies containing considerably more detail might well serve that purpose. Rather, this genealogy was started over forty years ago with the objective of identifying all my Leinbach grandparents dating from to the earliest known ancestors and learning something of their lives. That was accomplished decades ago. A genealogy is, however, never finished. This one has been expanded over time to include others in the North Carolina branch of the Leinbach/Lineback family, specifically, and those in all branches of the Leinbach/Lineback/Linebaugh family in America, generally. Nevertheless, hundreds, if not thousands, of Leinbachs, both living and dead, are not yet represented here. If you have knowledge of any of those that are missing, please forward the details so that they can be included as well.

Beyond making an abridged genealogy of the Leinbach/Lineback/Linebaugh family in America available on the World Wide Web, this site is also intended to function as an Internet clearinghouse for information about other related genealogies, publications, and family reunions. Your comments about this site and suggestions for improvement are always welcome.

Best regards,
Dave Lineback
Cary, North Carolina

 

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