This has been been designed and constructed largely by hand, as I have wanted it to be simple to understand and repair when necessary. Anyone familiar with html programming should be able to look at the actual code and see how it works, whereas web pages generated by design/edit page tools are basically incmprehensible and must be processed by the same tool to make any changes. The downside is that this doesn't look as fancy or professional as you might have seen elsewhere. The goal for now has been to build out enough of the family tree to be somewhat useful and to use that to prototype page design and auxiliary functions like Person searches and more guided editing and additions to the existing family tree. Much of this is still in progress, but improving day-by-day. I want to point out that my dream is for the expansion and continuation of this resource to be a collective effort including other Kellogg genealogists from all branches of the tree. (FYI: The web hosting contract is paid until November 2027, at which point the expense will need to be shared or commercially sponsored.)
Following are some additional technical amnd organizational details for those interested. PLEASE contact me by email if you want to help move this along. I see no reason that this shouldn't be the repository for Kellogg genealogy.
System for Flexible and Unique Ancestor Tracking
In retrospect, the numerical system of Hopkins for identifying Kelloggs is pretty unworkable; if someone got missed, the entire system is compromised. How do you expand it in a non-arbitrary way? Also, the numbers give little information on their own other than to vaguely approximate the generation of the numbered individual. Lastly, I disagree that Phillippe is the "first" Kellogg. That distinction should belong to Nicholas. My system, used here, is that Nicholas is <1>, his children, William and Thomas are <1.2a> and <1.2b>, respectively. The next generation, following Thomas' tree, is Phillippe <1.2b.3a>, followed by Phillippe's children, Thomas <1.2b.3a.4a>, Annis <1.2b.3a.4b>, Robert <1.2b.3a.4c>, Mary <1.2b.3a.4d>, Prudence <1.2b.3a.4e>, Martyn <1.2b.3a.4f>, Nathaniel <1.2b.3a.4g>, John <1.2b.3a.4h>, Jane <1.2b.3a.4i> and Rachel <1.2b.3a.4j>. Thomas' children continue the sequence as <1.2b.3a.4a.5?>, while Martyn's children continue the sequence as <1.2b.3a.4f.5?>, etc. My unique identifier is <1.2b.3a.4f.5c.6j.7a.8d.9e.10c.11f.12f.13b.14a.15a>. Thus, each Kellogg has a unique identiifier in a system that is rational and infinitely expandable. With these identifiers it is simple to find the relationship between any two individuals in the family. Frank Billings Kellogg (1856-1937), the senator from Minnesota, U.S. Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize winner, is <1.2b.3a.4f.5c.6j.7a.8d.9e.10c.11d.12b>, and is thus my first cousin thrice removed.
Data Organization
Using this system has another useful outcome: it also provides a rational method to organize the voluminous data produced. Each generation corresponds to a subdirectory level; e.g., the page for me is found at: https://kellogg-genealogy.org/g1/g2b/g3a/g4f/g5c/g6j/g7a/g8d/g9e/g10c/g11f/g12f/g13b/g14a/g15a/15a.html. Similarly, and adapting the convention established by Hopkins to this web project, each Kellogg (male or female) that has children has his/her own web page, i.e., an html file. Again, by Hopkins' definition, a Kellogg must have a Kellogg surname, children of the marriages of Kellogg women (who will not have Kellogg surnames) are assigned unique identifiers, but not their own web pages.
Another advantage, certainly, is that web pages can support and display photographs, maps, and many kinds of other information and media. Thus, each Kellogg that has children also has his/her own associated media repository, which is an associated subdirectory within that person's subdirectory.
Specification for a Kellogg "page"
The goals here are: 1) to maintain a consistent look and feel across the entire kellogg-genealogy.org site; 2) pay homage to Hopkins' three volume set (The Kelloggs in the Old World and the New, Sunset Press, San Francisco, California, 1903) by emulating his style and organization; but, 3) modernize the accessibility and update the information to make this a living resource instead of just a snapshot of the late 1890s to very early 1900s, limited to what data Hopkins could accumulate and analyze manually.
The first Kellogg and file organization. I don't completely understand Hopkins' decision on who should be the first Kellogg, and since more facts about the Kelloggs in the U. K. has likely emerged in the past 125 years or so (although I haven't personally researched this), as mentioned in the Welcome in this document Nicholas is the first Kellogg, i.e., generation 1. This definition is carried forth with his page directory "g1" and filename: "g1/1.html". Nicholas' supposed two children (according to Hopkins), William and Thomas, are generation 2, and their page filenames are "g1/g2a/2a.html" and "g1/g2b/2b.html", respectively. One child of Thomas, Philippe, continues the line to generation 3, and his page is "g1/g2b/g3a/3a.html". Note each Kellogg page has its own subdirectory in the directory tree, and this is completely analogous to the Kellogg family tree. Each Kellogg subdirectory may have parallel subdirectories for additional information like pictures, maps, and perhaps other media, and parallel html files for notes, essays, photographs, gravestones, badges, etc. In addition, if children of that Kellogg continue the line, their own subdirectories are found as subdirectories.
As in the Hopkin's books, only Kelloggs - male or female - that parent a subsequent generation have pages; i.e., if they die unmarried or married but do not have children, their branch of the tree ends on their father's page. However, extensive information about that individual can, in some cases, be found on that page. Male Kelloggs who have children extend their branch, as generally all of their children will have Kellogg surnames. Female Kelloggs will not extend the line beyond their children because those children will have the surnames of their father.
Internal and external links. The Kellogg tree pages are part of a "web" of information. At a minimum, each Kellogg page should identify (i.e., link to) the page of that person's father, and (only for male Kelloggs) link to the pages of his children - if such exist. This site uses relative links for internal references, i.e., it takes advantage of the hierarchy defined by the directory tree. For example, the father of Phillippe <1.2b.3a>, whose page is at "g1/g2b/g3a/3a.html", is Thomas <1.2b>, found at "g1/g2b/2b.html", or in a relative sense at "../2b.html". Three of Phillippe's children are Thomas <1.2b.3a.4a>, Martyn <1.2b.3a.4f> and Nathaniel <1.2b.3a.4g>. Their pages are at "g1/g2b/g3a/g4a/4a.html", "g1/g2b/g3a/g4f/4f.html" and "g1/g2b/g3a/g4g/4g.html", respectively. The relative links (with respect to Phillippe's page) to the pages for Thomas, Martyn and Nathaniel are "g4a/4a.html", "g4f/4f.html" and "g4g/4g.html", again respectively. For relative links to more distant relatives, this sytem actually works in a very similar manner as finding "cousin" relationships: proceed up the tree to the common ancestor, then forward to the person to be linked. The relative link between <1.2b.3a.4a.5b.6c.7g> and his/her "cousin" <1.2b.3a.4g.5a.6b> is "../../../../g4g/g5a/g6b/6b.html" - found by counting up the tree to the common ancestor <1.2b.3a> (four generations) and back down the tree to the cousin's page address at "g1/g2b/g3a/g4g/g5a/g6b/6b.html".
Only very stable external links, like Wikipedia, government sites, etc. should be introduced. Such links illuminate the roles of our family in history; however, this is not Wikipedia, so an extensive collection of links to events and/or places will only clutter the page and distract the reader. A rule of thumb might be that if a Kellogg is mentioned on an external site as an important player, or research shows that Kellogg made a major, but uncredited contribution, then it is certainly worth a link. However, do not link to Ancestry, FamilySearch, and the like, or to other personal sites. Whatever useful information there, including interesting pictures or documents, etc., should be copied or retrieved and deposited within this site, for consistency.
Filenames for images and related In general, pack as much real information into the filename as possible. That way, if it gets misplaced, it will be easier to locate. For brevity, the unique identifiers for a member of the tree can be shortened in filenames: my identifier <1.2b.3a.4f.5c.6j.7a.8d.9e.10c.11f.12f.13b.14a.15a> can be abbreviated as 1bafcjadecffbaa. Do not use blanks/spaces in any filename! Blanks can cause problems in the operating system of the server: use the underline character "_" instead. All such image files should be saved in the "pics" subdirectory that is under that Kellogg's subdirectory in the tree; for Kelloggs without their own pages, e.g., they did not have children, use the pics subdirectory for their father or mother. Gravestones. The find-a-grave collection is a fabulous resource for genealogy and it can have information that is not available elsewhere. I have also found, however, that much is missing and that searches within the same cemetery for other graves with the same surname can be very useful for finding spouses and children even if they are not listed on an individual's find-a-grave page. The filename convention for the gravestone of an individual is as follows: FullName_identifier_gravestone_inLocation.typ, e.g., OrlandoKellogg_1bafjaddabd_gravestone_inElizabethtownNY.jpg. His or her spouse is indicated by an h (husband) or w (wife) preceding the identifier, set off by parentheses, e.g., Orlando's wife is HelenAnneSimondsKellogg_(w1bafjaddabd)_gravestone_inElizabethtownNY.jpg. Subsequent spouses are indicated by h(2), w(2), etc. In some cases, gravestones for children that do not have unique identifiers have been collected; these are indicated by c(n) preceding their parent's idenfifier, where n=1 for the first child, n=2 for the second, etc. Lastly, gravestones that memorialize more than one person, such as a husband and wife, or several members of a family, can be named by concatenating the individual's names and identifiers, e.g., ZacharyTaylorKellogg_1bafcjabdaeb_AletheiaWilsonKellogg_(w1bafcjabdaeb)_gravestone_inForestHillMD.jpg. In some cases, the husband and wife have separate gravestones in the same cemetery, in which case compositing them into a single image might make sense if it generates a new image with a reasonable aspect ratio. Also, some gravestones only include given names and not surnames because they are associated with a family monument. These should definitely all be composited together. However, do not composite ancestors if they are buried in different cemeteries. Gravestone photos for a Kellogg, spouse and their children that do not have pages of their own will be collected in a file called graves.html positioned in the directory for that person. It is formatted as an html table with the gravestone on the left, biograohical information in the middle column and the burial location in the right. (See Ashley Tupper Kellogg.) Photographs. Again, use very explicit filenames that encode as much information as reasonable, such as dates and locations when available. In particular, it is important for indexing and other purposes to include the abbreviated identifier for each person in the photograph. The collection of photos should be collected and displayed in an "album", a file named photoalbum.html, such as the one I have completed for Gordon Henry Kellogg. I am working on computer programs to facilitate the creation of graves.html and photoalbum.html. Badge case. The thought here was that many individuals are associated with organizations, events and locations that in a sense define them with symbols. My father, Gordon Henry, served as a member of the 94th Infantry division in World War II, was wounded and received a purple heart and bronze star, graduated from Syracuse University, was an early member and staunch supporter of the Conservative (political) Party of New York State, moved to New Mexico in 1972, and involved in various organizations there. His badge case will include symbols that honor his life, and each symbol (badge) will be linked to (in general) a wikipedia page for the associated organization, etc. Other.