Plumas
County
Biographies
WILLIAM WINNE KELLOGG
No
biographical record of the Sacramento Valley would be satisfactory without
specific mention of Senator William W. Kellogg, of Quincy, who is undoubtedly
one of Plumas County’s most distinguished and most beloved citizens, owing to
his sterling qualities, his outstanding ability, his long and able service in
various public capacities and his professional success. Senator Kellogg was born in Berkshire County,
Massachusetts, on the 13th of March, 1837, and is a son of Langdon
and Wealthy Ann (Boise) Kellogg. In both
paternal and maternal lines he is descended from old American families, long
established in New England. The Kellogg
family is of English origin and the annals of the old city of Farmington,
record that Lieutenant Joseph Kellogg acted as a trainer of the militia as
early as 1651, but, save the fact that he came from England, nothing is known
of his history. Succeeding generations
of the family have been represented in various walks of life, some of its
members attaining wide distinction.
Langdon Kellogg, father of Senator Kellogg, conducted important
commercial enterprises and owned mills devoted to manufacturing powder. The Boyse family
settled in Massachusetts in 1636, and Patrick Boyse
served in the first Massachusetts legislature, while later members of the
family took part in the American war for independence.
William
Winne Kellogg was named for Captain William Winne, a personal friend of the Kellogg’s who kept a hotel
at Albany, New York, and was well known and influential in that state. Reared among the favorable surroundings of
his native county and an academy, and arrived at man’s estate with a splendid
physique and an alter mind. In 1858, at
the age of twenty-one years, he came to California by way of the isthmus of Panama, and in 1858 located in Plumas
County. His early years in this state
were devoted to mining, in which he met with but indifferent success. With the reported discovery of gold on the
Frazier River, in British Columbia, he joined the rush for that el dorado, but upon his arrival at The Dalles,
Oregon, he learned that the reported gold discovery was a hoax, and he
thereupon returned to Plumas County. On
coming to this county he had at first located at Rich Bar, where he mined for a
few years. He was elected constable of
Rich Bar township, later became justice of the peace and in 1861 was elected
county assessor and moved to Quincy, which has been his home continuously
since. In 1863 he was elected county
clerk and auditor, and on retiring from that office became the editor and
publisher of the Quincy Union, which he conducted for about three years. In the meantime he took up the study of law
and in 1873 was admitted to the bar of California. He practiced law for fifty years and a record
of the outstanding incidents of that half century of practice would fill a
volume and prove exceedingly interesting reading. Naturally a ready and forceful speaker, he rose
to his greatest heights as a defense lawyer in criminal cases, and as such he
stood in the front rank of the great criminal lawyers of this state. He has been able to move an audience to tears
or laughter at his will and not only in his addresses to juries, but also on
civic and political occasions has risen to heights of oratory never excelled
and seldom equaled.
In
1880 Mr. Kellogg was elected to the state legislature and ably represented his
constituency. When the sentiment in the
lower counties of the Sacramento Valley became strong against hydraulic mining
on the account of the debris washed into the streams, he ably defended the
rights of the hydraulic miners and was able through several sessions of the
legislature to defeat the debris legislation.
In 1882 he was elected to the state senate and served four years in that
body with ability and faithfulness.
Senator Kellogg continued in the practice of law until about 1923, when
he retired and is now leisurely enjoying the golden sunset years of his life,
secure in the respect and esteem of his fellowmen.
On
September 15, 1878, in Quincy, Senator Kellogg was united in marriage to Miss
Sarah L. Cates, the accomplished daughter of the late Oliver F. and Mary G.
(Strange) Cates, of San Francisco. She
was brought to California by her parents when ten years of age, was graduated
from Mansfeldt’s School of Music, in San Francisco,
and for several years was a teacher of the piano. To Senator and Mrs. Kellogg was born a son,
Boise Bell, in 1888 and died in 1903, at the age of fifteen years. By a former marriage Senator Kellogg had two
children, Clarence W. and Charlotte.
Clarence W., who is now retired, after having practiced medicine very
successfully in Bakersfield, this state, lives at Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo
County, California. He graduated from
the Cleveland (Ohio) Medical College and the Cooper Medical College of San
Francisco, and pursued a four-year course at the University of Berlin. He married Miss Katherine Day, of San
Francisco, and had a daughter, Kate Craig Kellogg, who became the wife of Major
Johnson, of the World war. After their
marriage they went to live in Alaska.
They are now both deceased and their child, William Winne,
Jr., has been legally adopted by his grandfather, Dr. Kellogg. Charlotte Kellogg became the wife of Ben
Martin, of Santa Cruz, California, and died, leaving two children, William
Clarence and DeLoss Kellogg. Dr. Clarence Kellogg was reared by his
step-mother, who gave to him the same loving care and attention that he would
have received had he been her own child. A faithful wife, a loving mother and
grandmother and a loyal friend, she holds a warm place in the hearts and
affections of all who know her.
Senator Kellogg has always supported
the Republican Party with the same energy, sincerity and ability with which he
has addressed all undertakings. He cast
his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, a fact of which he is deservedly
proud. During his active years he was a
great organizer of business enterprises and has been at the head of several of
Plumas county’s leading concerns. He is
a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is a past noble
grand and a past district deputy, and has been elected several times a
representative to the grand lodge. He is
also the oldest member of the Nevada City lodge of the Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks. He is a firm believer in
a supreme being and in spiritual existence after death. His ability and reputation as an orator
created a constant demand for his services as the principal speaker on numerous
public occasions, and he has never in any way disappointed his hearers. He has undoubtedly delivered more patriotic
historical and dedicatory addresses than any other person now living in
California, and his Fourth of July and Memorial Day addresses have been
particularly eloquent. Many of his
speeches have been printed, and his speech dedicating the I. O. O. F. hall at
Quincy, the one dedicating the Memorial hall in Quincy and that dedicating the
Rich Bar monument are regarded as oratorical gems of particular
brilliance. His Memorial hall address
was published in full in the “Grizzly Bear,” the official organ of the Native
Sons of the Golden West and the Native Daughters of the Golden West. Senator Kellogg has written a number of
extremely interesting and valuable articles on historical events of the early
days in this locality and these have appeared in the local newspapers to the
great pleasure of the reading public.
Despite his ninety-four years, he is remarkably well preserved
physically, being able to read without glasses and hearing well. He is strong and active, takes a keen
interest in everything about him and is an extremely interesting
conversationalist. He has honored the
state by his life and labors and Plumas County is proud to own him as her own.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3 Pages 144-149. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.