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When the Leaf House was being torn down at Conway's corner in Rochester a marriage contract was found dated June 1861. The contract was formal, yet it discerned a tender regard for the young couple binding themselves sacredly to the performance of the contract which was entered into June 3,1861 when the Civil War was ripening into a bloody orgy. The contract re ' ad, "We, the undersigned do hereby agree that we will consider ourselves bound to keep a marriage contract agreed upon this day, when I James M. Moorberger, returns from the army and we do consider the above binding and have set our hand and seal there upon this mird (Jay of June 1661. James M. Moorberger, and Calista M.L. Shepler. The letter, while not for prying eyes, detailed something of the young soldier's experiences in camp at Washington City July 8, 1861, after expressing his pleasure at receiving a letter from his fiance. When the war was over, young Moorberger returned to claim his bride and the marriage took place in the Leaf House with Rev. Murray performing the ceremony. They lived there for a time and went to Pittsburgh to reside. Mrs. Moorberger lived only until 1876 and after a time her husband went west. In due course of time he was married again and he died in 1914.
Moorberger was a stove moulder, his bride was the daughter of the late Capt. John F. Shepler a river captain and Mary Shepler of Bridgewater. She had two sisters, a Mrs. O.K. McKeage of Bridgewater and Mrs. J.B. Shumaker of Rochester. A daughter of the couple lived on the Northside of Pittsburgh as late as 1922. The marriage contract and letter for which it is surmised the couple had searched many times had become lodged in the wall of the Old Leaf House.