Linebarger

This is one of the earliest of all German-American surnames. It is one of a group which include Lindberg, Lindenberg, Lindenberger, Leimberg, Leimberger, Limberg, and the derivatives Lineberger or Linebarger, which originate from villages in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, called after the 'Lime tree'. In this case the translation is 'the mountain (berg) covered by lime trees'. Not only is this surname one of the first German surnames into America, being introduced at a time when King George 11nd of England (1727 - 1760), was also king of Hannover in Germany, and king of America, but it is one of the earliest recorded surnames in Europe itself, see below. The genealogy of the surname in the USA pre-dates the War of Independence by nearly fifty years, and examples of the recordings taken from early New York State church registers include John Ludwig Leinenberger, christened at St Matthews Luthern church, Hannover, N.Y., on January 14 1744, John Leinberger, a witness at Bedminster, Buckingham County, N. Y. on May 5th 1775, and Nannie Lineberger, who married John Seybert, at Bradley Bend, N.Y., on Christmas Day, 1887. Very early recordings in Germany include Michael Lindenberger, who married Anne Wuelender at Jagstberg, state of Wuerttenstein, on April 26th 1610, and Christian Lindberg, a witness at Peetzig, Brandenberg state, on August 23rd 1715. The coat of arms has the very unusual blazon of a silver field, charged with a demi stag trippant, having a mermaids tail. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Heinrich de Lindenberg, which was dated 1253, in the charters of the city of Zurich, Switzerland, during the reign of Emperor Conrad 1V of the German Empire, 1250 - 1254. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.