David H. Linebarger was born in December 1837, in Missouri. By at least 1877, he resided in Montana and was active in community and state politics as Treasurer of Jefferson County, Montana, and his later work with the Democratic Executive Committee from his home in Gilt Edge, Montana. Although listed as a day laborer in the 1900 Montana census, prior to and after that time, David H. Linebarger worked as a miner and speculated in a variety of mining operations in and around Gilt Edge, Montana.
By 1900 David H. Linebarger had been married to Dora Linebarger for some time. Dora Linebarger was born in April, 1868, in Missouri. At the time of the 1900 census, the Linebarger's had a daughter, Maud, born in August, 1891, and a son, Walter L., born in 1893. The couple had at least one more son, Elmer Clinton, who was born March 12, 1905. Dora Linebarger likely worked as a laundress to support herself and family as David A. Linebarger, thirty years her senior, grew infirm and then died. By 1920, Dora, Walter, and fourteen-year-old Elmer Linebarger all lived in Garfield County, Montana. Twenty-seven-year-old Walter Linebarger listed his occupation as farmer in the 1920 Montana census. Dora Linebarger died in the early months of 1945.
By the time of the Great Depression, Elmer C. Linebarger still lived in Garfield County and in 1935 received a federal crop loan for his mother's farm, as well as one for his own farm in 1936. In 1936 Elmer Linebarger took a job as the Commodity Clerk for the Garfield County Relief Office. He held this position at least until 1940. Elmer and his wife Pearl had a baby girl, Doloris Jean, on October 28, 1939. In late 1942 through a war service appointment, he became a Driver Firefighter in the Fort Peck District of Montana. According to family correspondence, Elmer Linebarger and his family were still in Fort Peck, Montana, in 1945.
From the guide to the Linebarger Family papers, 1877-1945, (Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)
