Leimbach has two roots, leim and bach. In the German language, leim used to mean clay, and bach is brook. So the name could be translated as Claybrook.

In America, the spelling of the name became fluid, changing several times through the years. In a document in the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pa., immigrant Johannes Leinbach acknowledged that his father's name was spelled with an "m" while spelling his own name with an "n." Johannes may have thought, erroneously, that he was reverting the name to its true origins. He knew his father had been a linen weaver in an area where flax was a major crop. He may have thought that Lein, meaning "flax," had been part of the name.

Or, Johannes may have wanted to distance the name from the word Leim, which was losing its old meaning of "clay" and taking on the meaning of "glue." Currently Leim does means "glue," the kind made from animal bones and horse hoofs. Lehm means "clay."

Whatever Johannes' intentions were, the lenient spelling rules of the day created many variations. In the first assessment of Oley Township, his name was spelled Leinabah. And later, his sons Frederick, Henry and John were listed as Leimbach on the 1759 tax rolls.

The name also has been altered by descendants who anglicized it, and by clerks and census takers who misspelled it. Leinbach remains the most common spelling in Pennsylvania. You can also find Leimback, Leinback, Leinbaugh, Linebach, Lineback, and of course, Linebaugh.

A remote royal origin

St. Elizabeth of Thuringia

Gertrud played a role in Elizabeth's canonization. In 1231, Gertrud visited Elizabeth at a convent, accompanied by a young servant named Berthold. Berthold was apparently a dandy, a clothes horse, a fop. Elizabeth commented unfavorably on his worldly attire. Berthold apologized and asked Elizabeth to pray for him. Later, he became quite ill with a fever. Elizabeth's prayers were reported to have revived him. This episode was cited as one of 99 miracles Elizabeth performed.

Gertrud later became the first abbess of a convent, the Kloster Haydau, in Altmorschen, which was up the road from her family's seat in the village of Leimbach. That village is now abandoned. The site, along the Fulda River, now features a number of shallow depressions in a field.

Whether Gertrud is in our ancestry is unknown. And whether our ancestors were the noble family is a matter for debate. All references to the von Leimbachs say they are an Ausgestorben, or extinct, family.

So where did all these later Leimbachs come from?

But whatever the origin, whatever the spelling, we are all molded from the same clay.

Back to Chapter 4