****************************************************************************
File contributed to the Fulton County ILGenWeb Project
Copyright 2008, all rights reserved.

These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format 
without the written consent of the author at http://fulton.ilgenweb.net.

****************************************************************************

Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County
Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890

****************************************************************************

The Biography of John W. LINEBAUGH 

Pages 847-848, transcribed in full by Karen CRANE Goggin 

[Surnames: BUTLER, LINEBAUGH, WISE] 

    
JOHN W. LINEBAUGH. The life of this gentleman, whose portrait appears on the opposite page, may well be taken as an example by the youth of our country, who are aspiring to positions of honor in life, and careers that will benefit both themselves and the human peace in general. By his justice and strict integrity of purpose he has won for himself a high place in the esteem of all who know him, and having made honesty his watchword merits the respect in which he is held. He is numbered among the largest landowners in Kerton Township, Fulton County, owning twelve hundred acres of land, the most of which is located in Kerton Township. 
    
It will be interesting to consider the lineage of the gentleman of whom this biographical sketch is written, as well as the early surroundings of his life. The parents, James and Susan (Wise) Linebaugh, natives, respectively, of Maryland and Virginia, were united in marriage in Rockingham County, Va., and there our subject was born April 7, 1820. The father left Maryland at the age of twenty-four years, and removing to Virginia, engaged in farming and also in the teaming and freight business. After his marriage he operated a farm belonging to his father-in-law until 1827, when he removed to Coshocton, Ohio, buying seventy-six acres of land and afterward buying fifty acres more and spending the remainder of his life there. He died at the age of seventy-three years, while the wife passed away when sixty-three years old. 
    
In early childhood our subject was brought by his parents to Ohio, where he continued to live under the parental roof until twenty-one years of age. He then hired to wealthy farmers and stock-dealers, being trusted with large sums of money in the feeding, buying and selling of cattle. He was considered one of the best judges of cattle and hogs in the surrounding country, and frequently, when there were no railroads, drove his stock to Ft. Cumberland, Md., where he shipped them to Baltimore. For fourteen years he continued in this business and after his marriage started independently for himself. He dates his first arrival in Fulton County from the year 1857, and from that time until 1890 he was a continuous resident of Kerton Township. 
    
On another page of this volume will be found the ancestral history of Miss Rebecca Butler, with whom Mr. Linebaugh was united in marriage June 25, 1857, and who since then has been his faithful and devoted wife. They have had four children--Francis M., Cynthia C. (deceased), John N. and James L. The sons are all married and live in homes of their own. Mrs. Linebaugh owned one hundred and twenty acres of land on section 20, Kerton Township, and here she and her husband lived in a small log cabin. Mr. Linebaugh worked assiduously and untiringly upon the farm, clearing the land of the heavy timber and getting the soil under cultivation. He also bought, fed and sold cattle and hogs and was prospered greatly, handling thousands of dollars and at different times having five hundred and thousand dollar bills in his possession. 
    
From time to time the money which Mr. Linebaugh earned by hard labor he invested judiciously in land until he is one of the large landowners now living in the township. Continued and excessive work has injured his health, and he has therefore retired from the more active duties of life. He recently bought a house and two lots in Summum, Woodland Township, where he is now residing. After a life of usefulness and industry he is now spending his declining years surrounded by all the comforts and many of the luxuries of existence. Politically, he votes the Democratic ticket, but has not taken an active part in politics. By his unceasing application to business he has secured a competency and his unwavering honesty and true nobility of character have won for him the high regard of his fellow-men.