This class photo was taken in 1863 or 1864 at the Lutherville Female Seminary in Lutherville, Maryland. The town was founded in 1852 by two Lutheran ministers, John Kurtz and John Morris, and the school was chartered a year later, in 1853. It operated as the Maryland College for Women from 1895 until 1952, when it closed.
An arrow is pointing to one of the girls in the photo and the name Isabel Shaffer Markey is written on the back. Isabel Shaffer was born in Maryland in May 1848. In 1872 she married Henry Markey. They had three children in four years–two boys and a girl–and another girl in 1884. By 1880 they had moved to San Francisco. According to the U.S. Census, in 1900 they were living on Fillmore Street. Isabel died there in November 1908, at age 60.
Tokens of Companionship 
Isabel and some of her classmates are lovely young women, stylishly dressed. Isabel seems to be the one with the most imaginative and expensive-looking clothes, and one of the few wearing jewelry.
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You’re right, Carol! I wonder how much the Civil War influenced women’s clothing styles and choices? I haven’t seen many group shots like this taken during the war.
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