Lizzie's and John's Family

Lizzie was pregnant. At first she wanted to stay with her mother in Vermont until the baby was born, but then she changed her mind and decided it was more important to be with her husband, who had returned to California. Lizzie took the train across country to be with him. Because it was not proper for a lady to travel alone, family friend, Charley Lincoln, accompanied her. Lizzie's letters to her mother describe the journey, which took a very long time because the train tracks were covered with snow once they reached Wyoming and had to be shoveled by hand.

The McCullough's first child, Hall Park McCullough, was born in San Francisco on June 23rd, 1872. Lizzie noted in her diary that he weighed 11 ½ pounds at birth. When he was about five months old, Lizzie began to dress him in short dresses, because that was the way little boys were dressed in Victorian times. When Hall was almost a year old, Lizzie wrote a letter to her mother describing him:

Hall has so much color and his eyes are so bright and full of mischief. I don't think he is remarkably forward in any respect except reasoning, and it is funny enough to see him sit and study a thing out….

Lizzie missed Vermont, so in 1873 Lizzie, John and little Hall Park moved back in time for the birth of the McCullough's second child, Elizabeth Laura (Bess), who was born in North Bennington on July 22nd, 1873. Their third child, Ella, was born the following year. Their last child, Esther, wasn't born until 1888.

The McCulloughs now spent part of their time in North Bennington and part of their time in New York City. Lizzie's mother lived long enough to see her first three grandchildren. She died in 1875. When Lizzie's father, Trenor Park, died in 1882, Lizzie and her sister, Lila, and her brother, Train, inherited the mansion. Lizzie and her husband, John, wanted to own the house by themselves, so they bought out Lila and Train's share. John McCullough took over Trenor Park's business interests and management of the family's finances. John became president of both the Chicago and Erie and the Bennington and Rutland Railroads. He was also a controlling owner of several others. Because of their connection to the railroad, Lizzie and her sister, Lila, were able to travel with their families from New York to Vermont each summer in a private parlor car. Many years later, Lizzie's daughter, Bess, described what the trip was like.