Walter Franklin Lineberger (July 20, 1883 – October 9, 1943) was an American businessman and politician who served as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

for three terms from 1921 to 1927.

Early life and career

Born near

Whiteville, Tennessee Whiteville is a town in Hardeman County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,606 at the 2020 census and 4,638 at the 2010 census, Whiteville is the location of two privately owned prisons, Whiteville Correctional Facility and Harde ...

, Lineberger attended the local public schools, the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, and the

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

. He engaged in mining and agriculture in Mexico. In 1911, he moved to

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, where he worked as a farmer and then as a banker. He served as president of the Guarantee Bond & Mortgage Co., Inc. He joined the Engineer Officers' Reserve Corps of

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in June 1917 and served with the 116th,

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, 107th and 115th Engineer Battalions until he was discharged in March 1919 at the rank of major.
Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers
', volume XLVII, number 1, January 1921, (New York:

American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...

, January 1921), page 96 (Roll of Honor). He served in France during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

from December 1917 until March 1919 and received the

Croix de guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

Congress

Lineberger was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

-elect Charles F. Van de Water in California's Ninth Congressional District. He won a special election on February 15, 1921, by a vote of 32,442 to 21,056 for

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

candidate Charles H. Randall, whom Van de Water had defeated for re-election three months earlier. Lineberger had 58.5% of the vote to Randall's 38.0%. Re-elected to the Sixty-eighth and Sixty-ninth Congresses, Lineberger served in the House of Representatives from April 11, 1921, to March 3, 1927. He won reelection with 59.1% of the vote in 1922 and with 63.9% in 1924. Lineberger did not seek renomination to the House in 1926, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination as

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

Death

He died on October 9, 1943, in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

, and was interred in

Santa Barbara Cemetery Santa Barbara Cemetery is a cemetery located at 901 Channel Drive in Santa Barbara, California. Founded in 1867, it serves as a nonsectarian cemetery. Notable interments * Heather Angel (1909–1986), actress * Peter J. Barber (1830–1905), arc ...

Electoral history

Republican Walter F. Lineberger won the special election to replace fellow Republican Charles F. Van de Water, who won the election but died before the

67th Congress The 67th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 19 ...

convened. Data for this special election is not available.1921 special election results
/ref>

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lineberger, Walter F. 1883 births 1943 deaths 20th-century California politicians Burials at Santa Barbara Cemetery Military personnel from Tennessee People from Whiteville, Tennessee Politicians from Long Beach, California American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Texas A&M University alumni United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War I 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives