Lizzie Marries John McCullough

While Lizzie and her family were in California, they met a lawyer from Philadelphia named John McCullough, who was thirteen years older than Lizzie. McCullough had left a thriving law practice in Philadelphia because of ill health. He had gone to California in 1860 because it had a better climate. McCullough opened a law practice in the town of Mariposa and was very successful. In 1861 he became a member of the California Assembly, and the following year was elected a state senator. From 1863 to 1867, he was Attorney General of California. When he failed to be reelected, McCullough established a law practice in San Francisco and soon became known for his "sense of professional honor." Meanwhile Lizzie and her family had returned to Vermont.

In June of 1869, John McCullough stayed with the Parks in North Bennington. He and Lizzie had fallen in love, as we can see from her diary entry after he left:

June 21, 1869
McCullough left us. Mama and I went as far as Troy with him, And then went to have some dresses fitted.

On December 9th she added to that entry:
I wrote of our going to have dresses fitted, but did not write with what a sad heart I went, or did not write of the lonely ride home, when I first began to realize that he was gone.

John wrote to Lizzie as soon as he reached the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York the evening of June 21. In her reply Lizzie explained that she was not used to writing to gentlemen. John continued to write to Lizzie frequently from California. Whether sitting at the desk in her room given to her by her parents for her sixteenth birthday, or perched on a trunk while staying at the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York with her family, Lizzie wrote back. It did not take long before Lizzie's letters to John became less formal and took on more of a teasing tone. As John requested, in her letters Lizzie enclosed tiny pressed flowers and leaves. Sometimes she drew sketches that she thought John would like. He sent Lizzie an emerald ring, but her fingers were so small it didn't fit and had to be made smaller. John visited Lizzie in Vermont whenever he could. They announced their engagement during the winter of 1870-71.

John traveled to Vermont for their wedding at the end of August. He left San Francisco by train on August 22nd. It took him six days to reach Albany. He stayed overnight there and arrived in North Bennington on the 29th. Lizzie and John were married in North Bennington on August 30th, 1871.

Lizzie wrote in her diary:

Wednesday 30
Busy all day. Evening at eight John & I were married by Mr. Weston-- the Halls & Parks there. Mr. & Mrs. D. & Mrs. Phelps.

The next day Lizzie wrote about the start of their honeymoon:

Thursday 31
Left home at noon all together. Mr. & Mrs. D. Mrs. P. leaving us at Troy & going to Saratoga. We continued down on Hudson River Road & reaching here about 10-New York, St. Nicholas Hotel.

From New York, Lizzie and John sailed for England aboard a ship called the "Calabria," which landed in Liverpool. Lizzie wrote in her diary:

Tuesday 12
Got into Liverpool early in the morning & landed about eight & went to Northwestern Hotel. Rode around in a carriage to see the city & docks.

After a couple of months, Lizzie's parents and their friends joined Lizzie and John in Europe, where they all posed for a group photograph. Shortly before Christmas, John McCullough and Charley Lincoln, a close family friend, accompanied Lizzie and the other women back to the United States. Lizzie's father, Trenor Park, stayed in Europe a little longer because he had business to attend to.