Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Kellogg Jr., Benjamin

Born: 1806-XX-XX New York

Died: 1855-12-22

Benjamin Kellogg, Jr. was a prominent merchant, landowner, and town and city official in Pekin, Illinois. In 1829, he and his partners established Crain, Kellogg, & Company, the first mercantile business in Pekin. Kellogg began purchasing public land in September 1832, when he bought 160 acres in Mason County, becoming the first person to purchase land in what would become Allen Grove. Between 1832 and 1855, he purchased thousands of acres of public land in Mason, Tazewell, McLean, and Logan counties. Kellogg was also active in Pekin's civic affairs. At the first town elections held in July 1835, he won election as town clerk, and in August, he became treasurer of the Board of Trustees. He won a second term as town clerk in 1836. When Pekin received its charter as a city in 1849, Kellogg became the first city clerk, holding that job until October 1850. In 1850, he was working as a clerk and owned $20,000 worth of real estate. Eager to get a railroad through Pekin, in 1853, Kellogg and a partner personally subscribed $100,000 for the Mississippi and Wabash Railroad. Abraham Lincoln represented Kellogg in numerous cases in the Tazewell County Circuit Court.

Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Mason County, 68:128, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois (Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1879), 605; For an exhaustive list of Kellogg's land purchases, search "Kellogg Benjamin Jr," https://www.ilsos.gov/isa/landsrch.jsp; History of Tazewell County Illinois (Chicago: Chas. C. Chapman, 1879), 566, 569, 614; Ben C. Allensworth, ed., History of Tazewell County (Chicago: Munsell, 1905), 2:901, 908; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Tazewell County, IL, 114; Gravestone, Lakeview Cemetery, Pekin, IL; Peoria City and County Illinois (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1912), 2:607; For Lincoln's cases involving Kellogg, search "Kellogg, Jr., Benjamin," Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Search.aspx.