Lybarger Linkages Newsletter
Spring, 2000 . . . . . Vol. XVI No.
1 . . . . . ISSN 0887-9354
Official Newsletter of the Lybarger Memorial Association
LYBARGER HISTORIES SOLD OUT
The Lybarger Descendants is now sold out. Four hundred copies were published in the summer of 1997. Credit for their distribution goes to John Lavern Lybarger of Mansfield, OH, one of the co-authors. He has been busy updating the book since then as new and corrected information is sent to him. The decision about publishing a newer expanded revised edition will be made at the LMA annual meeting in July.
If you have additional information to contribute or corrections to submit you would be well advised to get them in as soon as possible. A family data sheet is enclosed for you to use. Be sure to send them to John L. Lybarger at the address on the form. You can also send him any changes via his e-mail address at
jlybarger.neo.rr.com . If you misplace the enclosed form you can send your additions or corrections to him at 2205 Cloverdale Dr., Mansfield, OH 44903-9055.
PLAN NOW FOR LMA MEETING AND REUNION
Please reserve the dates of July 15 and 16 for the annual reunion and annual meeting of the Lybarger Memorial Association at Madley, PA. For those arriving on Friday the 14th there will be an informal gathering after dinner around the pool at the Best Western Motel in Bedford. The schedule of official events follow:
Sat. July 15:
Lunch : 12 noon, Clara's Place, Best Western Motel
Trustees meeting: 1:45 pm, Lybarger Lutheran Church, Madley
Annual meeting :2:30pm, Lybarger Lutheran Church
Dinner : 6:30 pm, Irene's Restaurant just east of Bedford
Sun. July 16:
Sunday: breakfast 8::00 am, Clara's Place, Bedford
Church service : 10:00 am, Lybarger Lutheran Church nondenominational service of remembrance
Group photo opportunities: 11:00 an
Reunion picnic : 12 :00 noon, Lybarger Grove next to church
Twelve rooms have been reserved at the Best Western Motel for Lybarger relations. Call 814-623-9006 for reservations. Mention that you are part of the Lybarger reunion party. No reservations are required for meals at the Best Western or at Irene's.
Coming by car, via the PA Turnpike, exit at Bedford. After the toll booth turn left going uphill. You will quickly see the Best Western on your left. There are many excellent motels in Bedford as A is a popular tourist and reunion location. If you have the equipment you can camp under the trees at the Lybarger Picnic Grove. Call Jack Lybarger at 814-266-7919 for details. Any other questions? Call John H. Lybarger, LMA president, at (740) 342-3110.
LYBARGER POETRY BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE
The book. The Selected Poems of Lybarger Relations that many of you have been waiting for is now available from the Lybarger Memorial Association. Only 100 copies were printed so if you are planning to order a copy now is the time to do so. Twenty percent of the books have already been sold. This 55 page book includes 24 contributors born from 1860 to 1978 each of whom has one to three pages to him or herself. The poetry ranges from the silly to the serious and from the sacred to the secular.
The book was printed on light gray 8 x 11 paper and bound with black plastic spiral binding. The outer front cover is clear plastic through which the title page is visible and the back cover is a medium gray heavy paper. The very last page is left blank so that newly written or discovered poems may be added.
The cost for current LMA members (7/1999-6/2000) is $7.00 and for all others the cost is $9.00. Shipping cost is included. You can use the order blank of this newsletter which gives the name and address of the treasurer. Books will be shipped by Lee Lybarger from Delaware, OH. If you see Lee in person you can purchase books for a dollar less which saves the cost of shipping. That is one reason to attend the reunion at Madley, PA in July.
CHURCH ROOF IS REPLACED
The LMA trustees are happy to report that a new roof is on the white frame Lybarger Lutheran Church at Madley, PA. As most of you know it is no longer used as a church and is now owned by the Lybarger Memorial Association. The total cost came to $3,340. The repairs included strips of wood under the new galvanized corrugated 29 gauge metal covering which covered the main building and pulpit area. Side laps were sealed and chalking applied. The work was completed on Dec. 30, 1999
Credit for seeing that the work was done goes to Mason Bullington who, with his wife of Laura Poorbaugh Bullington, has been active in helping to preserve and promote the Lybarger heritage at Madley.
Still to be done are "snow birds" or guards on the roof to prevent snow from sliding off and hitting the gutters. New gutters and downspouts will be installed. By the time of the reunion in July the concrete steps and walkway will have been replaced as well.
NEWEST CONTRIBUTORS TO CHURCH FUND
Eight additional persons have contributed to the Lybarger Church fund in the past 6 months. A total of 83 persons have sent in contributions since the appeal for funds to repair the church was first issued in the Fall, 1998 newsletter. What is most heartening are the many contributions that come from folks who have never seen the church. This represents a real vote of confidence in the Lybarger Memorial Association. Needless to say, this is very much appreciated. The eight new contributors are: Nadine Bridges, Pomono, MO Laura L. Bullington, Bedford, PA Phyllis M. Bunnelle, Santa Clara, CA Penelope W. Genise, Bellevue, WA Rachel Hendrix, Bourbannois, IL Donald Melvin, Superior, CO Judy Wheatley, Merritt Island, FL Gerald Jack & Marlene Lybarger, W. Manchester, IN
The LMA trustees thank all those who contributed special funds for the maintenance and repairs to the church.
YEAR 2000 EVENTS
This year of the new millennium will be special and memorable for those who plan to be married, celebrate wedding anniversaries, or have children. "Lybarger Linkages" has already learned of a new millennium birth (see story pg. 5). If you know of any Lybarger relation who has or will experience any of these events this year please report them to the editor of the newsletter as there will be a special article in the Fall, 2000 and Spring, 2001 editions that will report on these events. Also include other major events such as graduations, interstate residential moves, launching a new business, starting a new job, publishing a book etc. if the event was reported in a newspaper send it to the LMA, P.O. Box 611, Delaware, OH 43015. Please note the date, name of paper, and city and state of the news article.
HOW TO CHRONICLE ANCESTORS IN 1900'S
Interesting ways to record your family's history present themselves now that we have passed into both a new century and a new millennium. Here is an idea you might want to consider if you have access to family history records or genealogies such as The Lybarger Descendants. You can create a time line of the past 100 years that compares events in your family's and ancestors' lives to the wider historic events of America and the world.
A suggested way to organize the chronology: first assemble several sheets of lined paper, or use a computer word processor. Down the left column write the years beginning with 1900. Skip a couple of lines between each year as you may need the extra line in the corresponding middle and right columns
In the middle column, headed "family events", write the family or ancestor's name followed, in brackets, by the letters B for birth, D for death, M for married, A for anniversary, G for graduation, NJ for new job, MM for major move to a new location, etc. according to the year in which the event happened. In the third vertical column to the right you note the significant corresponding event in history that occurred.
You can refer to books in your library that publish chronologies . A good one is The Timetables of History It divides events for each year by categories such as history and politics, literature and theater, religion and philosophy, visual arts, music, science and technology, and daily life. In choosing from a variety historic events you might want to select those that are apt to have had an impact on the lives of your family and relatives, e.g. compare the impact of Babe Ruth hitting 60 home runs in a season vs. women gaining the right to vote in 1920, or who won the World Series in a given year vs. the start of the Great Depression in 1929.
A project like this a good way to start conversations between grandparents, parents, children and other relatives about the events in the lives of their forebears and of their place in the wider American and world history.
LYBARGER RELATION PUBLISHES FIRST NOVEL
Diana M. Wilder of North Hampton, N.H. has come out with her first novel entitled Pharaoh's Son. According to the promotion on her web site,
www.Egyptales.homestead.com 'The colossal stereo of Pharaoh comes crashing down into a throng of worshippers, bringing the festival day of the good god Ptah to a sudden bloody end." Featured in the novel is a pursuit by brothers in and around the coffin-choked halls of the Pyramids. This is a tale of a betrayal and murder that involves an ancient Egyptian royal family.
The book can be purchased over the web by accessing Amazon.com or by going to 1stbooks.com where you can find out more details about the novel. This is an example of the new way publishing is now being done - over the internet.
Diana began writing at the age of nine when she composed her first poem. As the promo states, "Growing up in the military helped to hone an imagination and instilled in her a love of history." She earned a bachelor's degree in ancient and medieval history at the Univ. of North Carolina. She is presently completing Cities of Refuge a sort of prelude to Pharaoh's Son.
Born in Philadelphia on Dec. 15, 1954, Diana is the daughter of James and Vona (Galli) Wilder and the granddaughter of Durand and Mildred (Lybarger) Wilder (1999-1977). She holds a middle management position with Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.
WRESTLING COACH DOES IT
The Columbus Dispatch (OH) reported last March 1, 1999 of how a coach, Dennis Lyberger, has changed the Worthington High School wrestling team from coming in last or near to last in state tournaments to where they were contenders for first place last Spring. Coach Lyberger had this to say, "Some of the guys have had success, and I think that should help everybody. The way I see it, once you've seen it done, suddenly the dream is more realistic, it looks attainable. "
CHARLES THOMAS BOCKHOUSE SR. 1910-1999
The man who designed and built the alter for the Lybarger Church at Madley, PA passed away on Aug. 10, 1999 at his home in Manns Choice, PA. Charley, as he was affectionately known, was born on March 10, 1910 in Cumberland, MD. On Nov. 13, 1931 he married Lottie Mildred Stouffer, the daughter of Lora Pearl Lybarger and Edward Wesley Stouffer.
Charley was employed at the Celanse Corp. in Cumberland for 25 years. From 1952 to 1962 he owned and operated a dairy farm at Manns Choice. He was active in the Lutheran Church in various capacities - as president of the Pennsylvania State Sunday School Assoc.; as executive secretary of the BeCalm Lutheran Ministries of Bedford County, PA; as a pastor in rural parishes in Rural Retreat, VA, Winchester, VA, and Manns Choice, PA. He was also a lay minister for Christ Lutheran Church the successor congregation to Lybarger Lutheran Church.
He is survived by his wife, Lottie, to whom he was married for 68 years, two sons Charles T. Bockhouse Jr. and Ed- ward H. Bockhouse of Manns Choice; a sister Elsie MacDonald of Cumberland, 5 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.
JAMES W. LYBARGER 1972-1999
On Feb. 15, 1999 James Wesley Lybarger of Urbana, IL died accidentally at work owing to a seizure that he suffered causing him to fall backwards on his head on the concrete floor. He was born on Dec. 28, 1972 at Urbana, the son of Duane and Patricia Friese Lybarger Surviving him are a daughter, Mariah Lybarger of Evansville, IN, a sister, Christina Lybarger Burtzos of Cissna Park, IL, his parents. James was a member of Holy Cross Church in Champaign. He worked for Bell Helmets at Rantoul, IL and was a NASCAR fan.
CHRISTINA L. LYBARGER 1975-1999
It is with great regret that we must report the death of Christina Lybarger at the age of only 24. According to a Nov. 29, 1999 report in the Omaha World-Herald she was killed in a one-vehicle accident near Macedonia, Iowa. The driver of the vehicle was held on suspicion of motor-vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of the accident Christina was from Council Bluffs, IA and is survived by her daughter Rebecca, a son Thomas, parents Carol and Bud Gardner, Doug Lybarger, Delores Emerson; stepfather, Dave, brothers Bill, Joe and Danny; sisters, Came and Tracey; grandparents and other relatives.
RICHARD EARL LYBARGER 1920-1999
Richard Earl Lybarger was born on March 18,1920 in Harrisburg, PA to Earl Franklin Lybarger and Bessie Aiken Malaney. Richard served 4 and a half years in World War II in the U.S. Marine Corps as a corporal. He was involved in the invasion of Guadacanal and later was wounded on Pelieu Island in the Pacific for which he was awarded a Purple Heart. He owned two gas stations, operated a car garage, and taught auto mechanics at Westinghouse High School in Pittsburgh, PA. He was an active member of the Presbyterian Church. He is survived by his beloved wife, Jeanne Smith, whom he married on Sept. 11, 1953.
LYBARGER COUSINS WHO FOUGHT IN THE PACIFIC
The obituary for Richard Earl Lybarger brings to mind the World War II story of how seven cousins served in various capacities in The Pacific Theater of World War II Their common ancestor was Elijah Crum Lybarger (Knox County, OH 1838-1889), who was either their grandfather or great grandfather.
First there was, as mentioned earlier, Richard Earl Lybarger who was in the Marine Corps at Guadacanal. His cousin George William "Billy" Lybarger was also in the Marines in the Pacific but was instantly killed when the tank he was in received a direct hit from an enemy shell during the battle of Guam in 1944. Meanwhile their cousin Carroll Myron Lybarger was serving with the Naval Seabees in the Pacific.
Carroll's brother, D. Gene Lybarger was in the Navy as a hydraulic specialist 2nd class. He worked on servicing naval fighter and bombing planes on front line naval bases from Aug. 1942 until August 1945. He moved north with U.S. forces as they progressed toward Japan from bases in the Solomon Islands, to New Guinea and eventually to Iwo Jima. At one point he was sent to Mindinao (Philippines) for recuperation following an jury received from Japanese bomb fragments. While there he linked up with Carroll for a few days. He said to his brother, "Our Washington state Lybarger cousin, Earl L. Bell, is here too. He is also in the Seebees but in a different unit" (the sixth of the closely related cousins). So the three of them had a brief reunion. They had a common grandfather in George Lybarger as well as a common great grandfather in Elijah.
The seventh of the cousins, James Durand Wilder and a great grandson of Elijah Crum Lybarger, was a Naval officer who also served in the Pacific. Jim volunteered for the Navy in October, 1942 and was sent to officer training in various locations in the U.S. Commissioned in December, 1944, he was sent to the Pacific to serve on the USS Pritchett; a destroyer. He was a Combat Information Officer and air controller assigned to using radar and radio to direct U.S. Naval fighter planes to intercept incoming enemy aircraft.
His ship received an indirect hit from a Japanese suicide plane in which 13 fellow crew members were killed and about 35 injured. He was released from active duty in June, 1946, recalled by the Navy in November, 1950, and assigned to a destroyer in Korean waters. He transferred to Navy JAG Corps where he served as an attorney from 1951 to 1970. In an interesting twist of history, Jim's son, Charles, served on a Japanese destroyer as part of his training in the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps in the summer of 1973.
The men mentioned thus far are first or second cousins to each other. But they have a third cousin in John Holmes Lybarger who is descended from William Lybarger, a brother of Elijah's father. John served in the Navy as part of the amphibious forces responsible for maintaining and operating the base at Marpi Point in Saipan. John enlisted in the in 1942 and was mustered out in March, 1946 as a gunners mate 2nd class. John, by the way, is the president of the Lybarger Memorial Association.
It should also be noted that the brothers of these cousins also served in World War II but were sent to the European Theater. Jim's brother, Richard Stanley Wilder was in northern Italy in a field artillery unit with the army. He served from 1944-1946. Another brother of Gene and Carroll was Emmet Theopolis Lybarger who served in the U.S. Army in Germany. Also, Ed Commins, Emmet's brother-in- law (husband of his sister Ruth Conine) also served in the European Theater.
No doubt there were other grandsons or great grandsons of Elijah Crum Lybarger who served in World War II, but who they are or where they served is not known as of this writing. There were other more distantly related Lybargers who served in the Pacific such as William Harrison Lybarger of Shelby, Ohio who served in the Air Force. It is nevertheless interesting to discover that there were so many closely related Lybarger cousins who were involved in World War II in the Pacific.
PUBLIC MEMORIALS TO VETERANS
Numerous Lybargers have died as a result of the wars in which America has been involved. In a few instances these Lybarger relations are buried at military cemeteries or remembered on public monuments. An example came to the attention of the newsletter editor when Leonard Lybarger of Shaker Hts., OH visited the military cemetery at Margarten in The Netherlands. Margarten is a village 6 miles east of Maastricht. Among those buried there is a Corporal Herbert Wesley Lybarger who was a member of the l8th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division of the U.S. Army, He died on April 14, 1945 only 24 days from the end of World War II in Europe.
The son of Herbert M. Lybarger and Jessie M. Bowles, Herbert was born on Aug. 16, 1912 at Neapolis, Lucas County, Ohio. He married Helen Heckerman. They had one child, Richard who was born on April 17,1944, a year before Herbert's untimely death.
The Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. includes the name of Arden Russell Lyberger who was killed in action in Vietnam on Dec. 8, 1970. He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. He was born on April 30, 1947, in Gramlingtown, Cambria County, PA to William Robert Lyberger and Doris Rhea Gramling.
If any reader knows of any veteran of any war who was memorialized at a military cemetery or on a public monument e.g. in a public square, please let the editor of the newsletter know so that recognition can be acknowledged in a follow-up article.
RECORDS AND REMEMBRANCE
The editor had the good fortune to audit a survey course on ancient Greek and Roman history at a local university last Fall. When the professor came to the Roman period she talked about how the pagan Romans put Christians to death who did not respect the emperor as the god of the empire. Had they done so they would have been free to practice their Christian religion.
What is interesting is that the early Christians were not martyred any more than were other groups who didn't bow down to the Roman emperor as a god. The Druids in the northern part of the Roman Empire (France and Britain) suffered a similar fate. Also, many Jews were crucified. Christians at that time were viewed as a sect of the Jews.
However, and this is the important point, Christians recorded who was made to suffer death at the hands of the Romans. Other groups did not keep records so they are not easily remembered. But the Christian martyrs are remembered because we have records of who among them were martyred for their faith.
What we can learn from this is if you want to be remembered by later generations or if you want your ancestors to be remembered it is vitally important that you keep records, be they letters, identifiable photographs, documents, writings, etc. Without written or visual evidence we and our ancestors are lost forever to fixture generations. Indeed, the Jewish people are a good example of a community that continues to this day partly because they wrote down, preserved and passed on their history from their beginnings in Egypt under the Pharaohs until the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Romans
Out of a sincere desire to preserve our privacy some of us may not want later generations to know what we did, how we lived, or what we thought and believed about anything. We may think that our lives will not be worth remembering. But consider this: who among us would not prize a single letter from a great grandparent of the 1800's or early 1900's? It would matter Effie what they wrote about. Just to have anything would be highly treasured.
O.K., so we agree that we should preserve our letters, identifiable photos and personal documents? How do we do this? Where should they be kept? Several copies of written materials should be made and given to each of the grown children and one's own siblings to assure that they will not be lost to future generations
Another set of materials should be kept with a historical or genealogical organization that makes preservation of personal documents part of their mission. This assumes that your county historical or genealogical society or library will be interested in your materials and that they have the facilities to reserve and keep them for use by later generations. So, just as we are thankful that the early Christians kept records of who among their faithful, were martyred by the Romans, just think of how grateful future generations will be because we bothered to keep and preserve photographic and written records of our lives, however insignificant we may think they have been.
QUOTATION FROM ADLAI STEVENSON
Nothing so dates a man as to decry the younger generation.
COME TO MISSOURI REUNION
If you want to meet friendly Lybarger relations and cannot get to the reunion at Madley, PA in July , you am attend the reunion at the DeWitt Community Center in DeWitt, MO on Sunday Aug. 20th. Festivities begin at 12 noon. To get there from I-70 , go north 10 miles on U.S. 65 to Marshall. at which point you take route 41 north for 18 mi. to U.S. 24. Turn right (east) for one mile to DeWitt and then turn right of the highway between two closed gas stations, Go two blocks. The community center is on the left just after the store buildings. There are only 80 persons who live in DeWitt so it should not be hard to find. Incidentally, this is a big reunion - about 140 attended last year.
Motel accommodations are best found in Marshall, MO. If you have any questions contact Jesse R. Lybarger, P.O. Box 175, DeWitt, MO 64639-0175. Or call 660-549-3347, or e-mail him at
Lybarger@cvalley.net . You do not have to bring any food and you do not even have to make a free will offering. Most important is your presence. All Lybarger relations are welcome
GOLDEN WEDDING ANNIVERSARY IN INDIANAPOLIS
"The Indianapolis Star" reported that Barbara Joan Vossler and John Troyal Lybarger celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on May 23, 1999 with a dinner and theater party. John and Barbara were married on May 20, 1949 in Richmond, IN. He was a district manager for 37 years for Conrad until he retired in 1990.
John was born, the second of 5 children, on July 30, 1930 at Cambridge City, Wayne County, IN to Beatrice Ada Lightner and John Hairy Lybarger. John and Barbara have two children, Randall Jay and Dawn Ellen. They are also blessed with one grandchild. John is a current member of the
LMA.
MILLENNIUM LYBARGER RELATION BORN
The first known Lybarger relation to be born in the new millennium of 2000 is Nolan Timothy Wilder, born on January 27, 2000. He is the first child born to Tim (35) and Maxine Fisher (34) Wilder of Mechanicsburg, PA. Nolan is the great grandson of Mildred Lybarger Wilder (1899-1977). For the grandparents, Dick and Margie Wilder, it is their 12th grandchild and their fourth grandson after a string of granddaughters.
PERSONALITY FOCUS
In this issue of Lybarger Linkages we are giving special emphasis about an ancestor instead of a living relation. This is a story of an illustrious person, George W. Lybarger, about whom very little was known until the editor received an inquiry from Lilita Bergs, a consultant for the Somerset Historical Society, Somerset County, PA. They were preparing a museum exhibit for the Somerset Historical Center. It concerned farming history 1750-1970 and included the growth of communities in Somerset County. In the course of preparing the exhibit George W.'s ledger was found summarizing his trade and business interactions. It was used as an example of a local trades person, the varied work he did, and the nature of his cash and barter interaction with the community. The information they sent to the LMA newsletter editor was enough to generate two stories - this one and the one that follows.
George Washington Lybarger was the first child of 12 children born to Joseph J. Lybarger and Susan Gymer on January 16, 1829 in Bedford County , Pa. On Oct. 14, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Capt. Long's Company G, 54th Pennsylvania Volunteers for the Union Army and was mustered out at the end of his enlistment as an Orderly Sergeant. He immediately re-enlisted in the same company and regiment and served until May 31, 1865 at the close of the war. Having attained to the rank of second lieutenant. He thus served throughout the whole of the Civil War
Serving in the same company were his brothers Pvt. Joseph J (b. July 9, 183 1), Pvt. Henry G. (b. Jan. 16, 1839), Pvt. William (1842-1962), and Pvt. Valentine G. (b. 1846). It is not known on which battlefields they fought, but judging from the death date of William it is probable that he died in battle or from illness while in the Union Army. Two other brothers also died or were killed while serving in the Civil War. George W. survived the war and became a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, a national mutual support and advocacy organization for veterans of the Union armed forces.
Census records indicate that in 1850 he was living with his parents as late as age 21 at which time his occupation was that of cooper, a maker and repairer of wooden barrels. In 1860 he was still a cooper but was living in the household of George Gibbons.
He married Catherine Hutzel in 1967 who died 1913. To them were born Albert in 1867, Nathaniel in 1869, Lanah Catharine in 1873, and George W Jr. in 1875. Another daughter, Susannah, died in infancy in 1871. His obituary stated that he was survived by numerous grandchildren and one great grandchild. He was a member of the Lutheran Church.
This story of George W. Lybarger is an interesting illustration of what can be found about an ancestor if one digs through enough records in county courthouses and historical societies. This story also demonstrates how family history does not come alive until the private and public records of an ancestor become known. Birth, death, and marriage records combined with geographic location only provide the bare skeletal outline. To adequately do the research of our ancestors requires a long term commitment to digging through state and local archives and engaging in extensive correspondence with living relatives if they can be found. Even in the case of George W. Lybarger we do not know who his living descendants are nor do we know who the descendants are of his many siblings. Yet they surely exist as he came from a family of 12 children.
HOW ONE ANCESTOR'S SURNAME WAS SPELLED
The Somerset Historical Society, Somerset County, PA discovered a variety of documents concerning the genealogy and biography of George Washington Lybarger which testifies to the confusion in the way the surname of LYBARGER was spelled as late as the 1880 census and a 1912 obituary.
Various censuses for Pennsylvania used the following spellings:
1850: Londonderry Township, Bedford County George W. LYBARGER, age 21, is living with his parents, Joseph LYBARGER, age 49, and Susanna, age 37.
1860: Larimer Township, Somerset County George W. LEIBERGER, age 32, is living in the household of George Gibbons, age 40.
1870: Summit Township, Somerset County George W. LYBARGER, age 41, is living with his wife Catherine, age 35, and his two children
1980: Summit Township, Somerset County George LIBERGER, age 51, is still living with his wife Catharine, age 46, and his four children.
In Brian J. Ensley's Civil War Veterans Reference the spellings are LYBARGER. But in the History of Bedford and Somerset Counties the list of Capt. Longs company gives the spelling of LYBERGER as well as LYBARGER. In making application for membership in the Grand Army of the Republic George W. signed his name as LYBARGER.
Finally, his obituary in the Sept. 12, 1912 "Meyersdale (PA) Commercial" newspaper used the spelling of George W. LEYBERGER. A competing newspaper, the "Meyersdale Republican" of Sept. 5,1912 used the spelling of LYBARGER.
What is to be learned from this? First, we must always be aware that different spellings of a surname can be applied to the same person. Second, in deciding which spelling to use note if the first name and middle initial, if available, refers to the same person. Third, note if the events of birth, marriage, and death follow a chronological pattern. Fourth, note if the geographical location is the same. In this case they all centered in one county. Fifth, and most important, note the way the ancestor spelled his or her name based on signatures found on documents and letters. Finally, if a choice of which spelling to go with is difficult go with the best option and put the alternate spellings in brackets.
PIONEERING IN KNOX COUNTY CON'T.
The following article continues the series of articles on the pioneer settlement of Knox County, Ohio based on the account found on page 211 in Hills 1881 History of Knox County, Ohio. Much of what is said here would apply equally to the Lybargers who pioneered in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Indiana , and Illinois. In this issue we are focusing on cooking and the domestication of animals.
"Cooking, in pioneer times, was an interesting operation. The trammel and hooks were found among the well-to-do families, as time progressed. Previous to this, the lug-pole, across the inside of the chimney, about even with the chamber floor, answered for a trammel. A chain was suspended from it, and hooks were attached, and from this hung the mush-pot or tea-kettle. If a chain was not available, a wooden hook was in reach of the humblest and poorest. When a meal was not in preparation, and the hook was endangered by fire, it was shoved aside to one end of the lug-pole for safety
"Iron ware was very scarce in those days. Instances are related where the one pot served at a meal to boil water for mint tea or crust coffee, to bake the bread, boil the potatoes, and fry the meat By fine management this was accomplished. Frequently the kettle had no lid, and a flat stone, heated, and handled with the tongs, was used in stead of one, when a loaf or pone or pumpkin pie was baked.
"A shortcake could be baked by heating the kettle moderately, putting in the cake, and tipping it up sidewise before the glowing fire. Bannock, or board-cake was made by mixing the cornmeal up with warm water, a pinch of salt and a trifle of lard, into a thick dough, spreading it on a clean, sweet-smelling clapboard, patting it with the cleanest of hands, and standing it slanting before the fire, propped into the right position by a flat-iron behind it. Baked hastily, this made a delicious cake, sweet and nutty and fresh, and the pretty stamp of the mother's dear, unselfish, loving fingers was plainly detected in the crisp crust
"The cultivation of domestic animals, both beasts and fowls, for the purposes of food, began early. Cows for milk, butter, beef and leather, and swine for pork, were bred, ear marked and turned into the woods to browse. "Root hog or die," was the law for mart and beast, but the woods were prolific and the hogs grew fat. The young pigs were exceptionally a sweet morsel for the bear. Bruin, always singled out these young animals in preference to any other meat; but the pigs were often successfully defended by the older hogs, who, upon the least signs of distress from one of their number, would go boldly to the rescue, and fiercely attack the foe, however formidable, often the pig was released and bruin, or the panther, compelled to &wend a tree for safety.
"The boys often found wild turkeys' nests in the woods, and would bring home the eggs, and place them, to be hatched, under a trusty old hen, in an outside chimney comer, where they could assist the hen in defending the eggs and brood from the opossum or hawk. A flock of turkeys sometimes originated in this way, but more often, as they grew to maturity, they would fly away into the woods and never reappear. This grandest of birds is identical in civilized and savage life, and is the peculiar production of America. The wild ones were always a dark brown, like the leaves of their native woods, but when tamed, or "civilized," the diversity of color becomes endless.
"When corn bread and milk were eaten for breakfast, hog and hominy for dinner and mush and milk for supper, there was little room for tea and coffee-, and at a time when one bushel of wheat for a pound of coffee and four bushels for a pound of tea, were considered a fair exchange, but Me of these very expensive articles was used."
A CHINESE PROVERB
Fallen leaves return to their roots.
1913 REUNION PHOTOGRAPH FOUND
The editor of "Lybarger Linkages" came across a photograph of a Lybarger reunion that was held on Saturday August 2, 1913 in the rural community of Tontogamy, Wood County, Ohio south of Toledo. It was the fifth such annual reunion and was held at the home of Mrs. Emanuel Lybarger. Emanuel died in 1892 but his wife Nancy Jane Andrews continued their reunion tradition.
They had 13 children born between 1846 and 1869 many of whom would have been in the photograph, namely Valentine, Elizabeth Ann, Andrew Jackson, Oliver Perry, Phoebe Ellen, Riley Henry, Grant, Loretta M., and Milo Monroe. At least four of the thirteen had died by the time of the 1913 reunion. Five of them had a total of 29 known children, including 12 by Andrew Jackson, most of whom would have been in the photograph as well. More about the Emanuel and Nancy (Andrews) Lybarger family and their descendants may be found in the 1997 The Lybarger Descendants pg. 109, 189-190.
The one identifiable person in the photo is Jesse James Lybarger from Harrisburg, PA. He is the bald headed man seated on the end at the right. This photo was given to Ins son Donald and it was from him that the editor inherited it. These reunions were continued by Milo Monroe Lybarger (1869-1936), youngest son of Emanuel, until about the 1930's. Milo was also involved in the Lybarger Memorial Association and their reunions at Madley, PA in the 1920's.
This branch of the Lybargers originated in Bedford County, PA and moved to Seneca County, OH in the early 1800's. There they came to know the Flack family who had also migrated to Seneca County, and with whom they intermarried. The Flack and Lybarger families moved on to Wood and Lucas Counties, Oh. From there a branch of the Lybargers migrated to Kansas City, MO. where a descendant lives today. If there are living descendants who remember stories about the Lybarger reunions in Wood or Lucas counties please contact the LMA office at P.O. Box 611, Delaware, OH so that a follow-up story can be done.
