Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Kellogg, James K.

Born: 1800-01-17 Pittsfield, Massachusetts

James K. Kellogg was a farmer, justice of the peace, town supervisor, and educator. Little is known of his early life other than he attended public schools and worked on his father's farm. He left the farm to study at Union College, Schenectady, New York, from which he graduated with honors. While at Union, Kellogg met Mary Fisk, whom he married in 1833. The next year, the couple moved to Tazewell County, Illinois. Leaving his wife in Pekin, Kellogg sought out a farm for himself, purchasing 254 acres of public land in Morton Township. In 1837 and 1838, he acquired an additional 160 acres of public land. Mary Kellogg died in childbirth, and James returned to Schenectady, where he married Aschah, Mary's sister. James and Aschah would have two children together. After teaching for a time in Fayetteville, New York, James and Aschah returned to Tazewell County, settling on the farm property in Morton Township. Kellogg's career in agriculture ended in 1838 when he moved to Tremont to become a teacher at the town school, a position he would hold until 1851. In addition to his teaching duties, Kellogg involved himself in Tremont's civic affairs. From 1853 to 1854, he served on the Tremont Board of Supervisors. He retired from teaching in 1858, and devoted the remainder of his life to supervising his business interests, travel, and charitable activities. In 1860, he was living in Tremont and owned real property valued at $12,000 and a personal estate of $1,500. He was a Republican and a member of the Congregational Church of Tremont.

F. A. McCarty, "A Memoir of James Knowles Kellogg," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 12 (January 1920), 503-14; Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Tazewell County, ed. by Ben C. Allensworth (Chicago: Munsell, 1905), 2:823; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Tazewell County, 68:206, 69:21, 70:22, 40, 90:69, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; History of Tazewell County Illinois (Chicago: Chas. C. Chapman, 1879), 661, 715; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Tremont, Tazewell County, IL, 101; Gravestone, Mount Hope Cemetery, Tremont, IL.