Title: George J. Kellogg Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1846-1919

Creator:

• Kellogg, George J., 1828-1919

Call Number: Whitewater Mss BL

Quantity: 1.8 c.f. (4 archives boxes and 1 flat box)

Repository:

Housed at the University Archives & Area Research Center, Harold Andersen Library, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Whitewater Library / Whitewater Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of Kellogg, an early nurseryman of Rock County, Wisconsin; including business and family correspondence, diaries recording daily activities and weather observations, financial records of his nursery business, printed recollections of experiences during the California Gold Rush, and miscellaneous biographical and genealogical material.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-whit00bl

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

George Josiah Kellogg, an early Wisconsin nurseryman and horticulturist, was born on March 20, 1828 at Cicero, New York. He migrated to Wisconsin at the age of seven and began his involvement with horticulture by picking blueberries and harvesting nuts and apples near Kenosha. Kellogg attended a common school, graduated from Governor L. P. Harvey's academy and then taught school at Brighton, Racine County, and Rush Creek, Jo Daviess County, Illinois. He also worked in various Wisconsin pineries, and in 1849 drove five yoke of cattle to California where he dug for gold in the placer diggings near Hangtown for about three years, netting about 15,000.00 dollars.

In l852 Kellogg returned to Wisconsin via Panama and settled at Janesville where he began his nursery business. In 1899 he moved to Lake Mills and turned his horticultural firm over to his two sons, L. L. and M. S. Kellogg. However, he continued to raise fruit as a hobby and he won many awards at state and local fairs. Kellogg was a charter member of the Wisconsin Fruit Growers' Association.

Kellogg was married to Emily A. Lewis in 1861. After her death he married Mary Hassam. George Kellogg died on January 8, 1919.

The Kellogg collection is organized as biographical material, diaries, correspondence, financial records, and miscellany.

The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL consists of clippings about Kellogg, genealogical information about the Kellogg family, and The Narrative of Geo. J. Kellogg from 1849-1915, a printed memoir of his Gold Rush experiences, together with some brief recollections of his early life in Wisconsin.

Among the DIARIES is the volume from which these recollections were extracted. However, the original journal contains only brief entries written in nearly illegible handwriting. Fortunately, entries in the later diaries are both somewhat longer and generally easier to read. The later diaries also reveal Kellogg's scientific interest in recording weather conditions. Forms filed with the miscellaneous papers suggest that Kellogg may have collected weather data in a systematic way for the Smithsonian Institution. A portion of Kellogg's diary entries have been published on microfilm by University Microfilms and are available in the Historical Society Library (P77-592, 593).

The CORRESPONDENCE consists of general files, which contain fragmentary references to his nursery business and letters to Kellogg or Mrs. Kellogg from various members of his family. Of special interest in the family papers is the correspondence from Samuel Lewis to Mrs. Kellogg concerning his financial difficulties both in New York State and after migrating to the West. It seems likely that Lewis attempted to improve his economic condition by enlisting in the military during the late 1850's, but only a few letters deal with this aspect of his life. Also filed here are clippings concerning Lewis' death in 1886 and a notebook for a business, apparently a general mercantile store, operated by Lewis in Oswego, New York, in 1846. Also with the correspondence is a file of letters written to Frances Platt, a teacher and Rock County resident. It is not clear why these letters are included in the Kellogg collection, but it is likely that she was a cousin. Of special note among her letters, the majority of which were written by former school friends, is a 1849 proposal of marriage from Anderson Benson. The letter was written while Benson was en route to the California gold fields and he describes conditions witnessed in Salt Lake City. Also filed with the family papers is a published biography (1869) of Dr. D. B. Kellogg, whose relation to George Kellogg is also unclear.

The MISCELLANY includes eleven address, memoranda, and notebooks dating from 1851 to 1918 which contain notations on weather, mail received, and other information. The notebooks are generally difficult to read. Also included are records for property apparently owned by Kellogg at some time, a few printed advertisements issued by the Kellogg Nursery, and some forms on which Kellogg carefully recorded his weather observations for the Smithsonian Institution.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Lucy Mary Kellogg and via Mrs. James Lawliss and John Cumming, Brighton, Michigan, 1915, 1974-1975. Accession Number: M75-253

Processing Information

Processed by W. Abdullah (FGH intern-l977) and Carolyn J. Mattern, 1989.

	Series: Biographical Material
Box   1 Folder   1-2	Genealogical data, 1873-1898, 1949-1955
Box   1 Folder   3	Biographical narrative
Box   1 Folder   4	Clippings
	Series: Diaries	⇧
Box   1 Folder   5-8	1847-1891 Note: A transcription of the diary for 1849 May 15-October 18 prepared by Richard L. Rieck has been added to the folder.
Box   2 Folder   1-2	1891-1918
	Series: Correspondence	⇧
	General Correspondence
Box   2 Folder   3	Nursery, 1882-1918
Box   2 Folder   4	Norwood Stock Farm, 1918
Box   2 Folder   5	Minnesota State Horticultural Society, 1918
Box   2 Folder   6	Miscellany, 1847-1918
	Family Correspondence
Box   2 Folder   7	Balcam, C.H. and Rose, 1917-1918
Box   2 Folder   8	Kellogg, A.G., 1913-1918
Box   2 Folder   9	Kellogg, C.B., 1869
Box   2 Folder   10	Kellogg, Edith A., 1891-1916
Box   2 Folder   11	Kellogg, Eloise, 1917-1918
Box   2 Folder   12	Kellogg, Emily Lewis, 1857-1897
Box   3 Folder   1	Kellogg, Howard, 1908-1918
Box   3 Folder   2	Kellogg, L.L., 1917-1918
Box   3 Folder   3	Kellogg, Lucy Mary, 1918
Box   3 Folder   4	Kellogg, M.S., 1916-1918
	Lewis, Samuel
Box   3 Folder   5	Correspondence, 1856-1888
Box   3 Folder   6	Information re death, 1888
Box   5	Oswego day book, 1846
Box   3 Folder   7	McPherson, Gertrude, 1910-1917
Box   3 Folder   8	Platt, Frances, 1848-1911
	Series: Financial Records	⇧
Box   3 Folder   10-11	Account books, 1847-1859, 1899-1917
Box   4 Folder   1-3	Sales records, 1855-1883, 1912-1913
	Series: Miscellany	⇧
Box   3 Folder   8A	Miscellaneous writings
Box   3 Folder   9	Miscellaneous notebooks
Box   4 Folder   4	Legal records
Box   4 Folder   5	Nursery advertisements
Box   4 Folder   6	Meteorological observations