The Brief Marriage: John Marker and the Civil War Years

By Mary Graybill

Originally published on The Leaf on the Tree

A Winter Wedding in Wartime

In the cold December days of 1861, just as the first Christmas of the Civil War loomed over Maryland, Susan Catherine Linebaugh stood at the altar of the Evangelical Reformed Church in Frederick.

It is here that she said “I do” to John Marker.

She was not yet 21

John, born September 6, 1840, in Frederick County, came from a large farming family with deep roots in the region. Raised by Peter Marker and Mary Warrenfeltz, he likely knew Susan through church or farming circles.

Their marriage on December 12, 1861 came at a precarious time—eight months into a war that would forever change the nation.  

Maryland, a border state, felt the war in every corner of daily life. While John’s specific role in the conflict isn’t clearly recorded, he died during its peak—December 6, 1863, just before Christmas. Whether from battle, disease, or hardship, the war likely played a role.

He was only 23

Susan was left a widow at 23, with a toddler in her arms and another child growing within her.

Two Daughters and a Lifetime of Resilience

Their first daughter, Mary Catherine Marker, was born in April 1862, just four months after their wedding. Around September 1864, their second daughter, Laura Anna, entered the world—likely never knowing her father.

The grief must have been consuming.

Yet Susan stayed in Frederick, raised her girls, and carried on. Her resilience is threaded through every census record and family memory that follows.

Even after she became Mrs. Josiah Kline, Susan’s daughters from her first marriage remained close.

In fact, Laura Anna Marker Hurd was still referred to in local obituaries as the daughter of “Susan Kline Marker”—preserving that connection between past and present. 

The Lasting Echo of a Short Life

Though John Marker’s life was brief, his legacy lived on through his daughters and the strong lineage they helped create.

●       Mary Catherine Marker married multiple times and lived a full life until 1951.

●       Laura Anna Marker lived until 1947, raising children and grandchildren in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Through them, the name Marker remained part of the family history.

Final Thoughts

Sometimes, the shortest chapters leave the deepest impressions.

In only two years of marriage, John Marker gave Susan a family and, unintentionally, set her on a path of resilience, survival, and second chances.

His grave stands in Myersville—a reminder of what was lost, but also of what began.