The Mccullough Family Prepares for President Harrison's Visit

Preparations for the visit of President Harrison to the McCullough home began with John McCullough's letter of invitation. Once the President had accepted the McCullough's invitation to stay with them, there was a multitude of additional preparation to be done. Family members agreed to vacate their bedrooms to allow the President and his party to sleep in their most comfortable rooms. John McCullough and his wife, Lizzie, gave President Harrison their room, which family members called Lizzie's room, as she had occupied it since the house was built in 1865. The entire family moved upstairs to the third floor.

As hostess, Lizzie McCullough made a partial list in her diary of guests to include as house guests and/or for the two dinners in honor of President Harrison. Although Lizzie does not list Governor Page, General Theodore Peck, or a Miss Lewis among the dinner guests on August 18th in her diary, Stillson includes their names in the official record of the event. Stillson also tells us that the guests for a second dinner on August 19th were the same as for the previous evening, with the addition of Senator George Edmunds and General William Wells.

Lizzie planned all of the meals for the McCullough household during the week of the Centennial Celebration. She created a series of menus including ones for the welcoming dinner for the president, on August 18th; breakfast on August 19th before the day's public events; and dinner on August 19th following the Centennial Celebration.

Lizzie also noted in her diary the need to telegraph for certain menu items, such as soft shell crabs . On the reverse of this memo is a list of the order in which the courses for one of the meals during the week of the Centennial Celebration were to be served.

In anticipation of entertaining large numbers of people both as house guests and at formal meals, the McCulloughs temporarily increased their household staff from eight to fifteen people. One of the regular members of the staff was Sarah. Among those hired for the occasion was "Dan, the Erie cook," an employee of Mr. McCullough's railroad, who was responsible for preparing the meals planned by Lizzie. There were several additional who would have been responsible for setting the table.