Preface

The genesis of this Genealogy may be found in the publication by Hon. Day Otis Kellogg, in 1858 and 1860, of his articles in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, and reprinted in pamphlet form. These, with an article in Volume 46 of the Register, by Mr. J. H. Perrin; a pamphlet by Mr. Abraham Lincoln Kellogg, both in the line of Samuel of Hatfield; some notes by Rev. Justin Perkins Kellogg, in the line of Stephen, and the Clarke-Kellogg-Nash Genealogy, published by Albert Clark in 1877, in the line of Daniel of Norwalk, comprise the bibliography of the subject, and frequent mention of the name is also found in many genealogies.

In 1866 Hon. Day Otis Kellogg transferred his MSS. to Mr. William Wallace Kellogg, of Lynn, now of Newtonville, Mass., who added to it, and in 1873 gave, in turn, his data to Mr. Rufus Bela Kellogg, then of Oakland, Cal., and afterward of Green Bay, Wis., who made the first effort to collect the records of the family as a whole, and he devoted years of conscientious toil to the gathering of valuable and extensive records. Mr. Kellogg died suddenly in 1891, leaving his work incomplete, and shortly afterward these records came into my hands and have been of incalculable assistance to me. The family owes Mr. Kellogg a debt of gratitude for his painstaking and faithful labor, and the work would have been published by him years ago had he survived. It is perhaps a fitting coincidence, since Mr. Kellogg commenced his genealogical activity in California, that the finished work should, after many years, first see the light of publicity on the shores of the Golden Gate.

My presentation of the subject carries with it no claim to special qualification for the task undertaken. I have, as indicated in the title, simply attempted to give an account of the Kellogg family in America, in all of its branches, and to trace it to its transatlantic home.

A family history has been aptly described as "a special type of narrative which lies between general history, which deals with public events, and an individual biography, which gives a complete picture of a single conspicuous life." Although no effort has been spared to make this Genealogy complete, an endeavor has been made to keep within this limitation of the subject, but at best it is only an inadequate record of a sturdy race of men and women who underwent the trials and privations of the pioneer days of our country, and who have taken an intelligent interest in its welfare.

When a child in New England, I was blessed with the loving care of two elderly maiden Kellogg great aunts, the very "salt of the earth," who told me many tales concerning the family history; and when I reached man's estate, dominated perhaps by some subtle psychological influence connected with my childhood, none but a Kellogg descendant would suit me as a helpmate through life. This accounts for my gathering for preservation the records of the family, but I am free to confess that, had I had any conception of the magnitude of the task, I should have faltered.

It is an established principle that, to interest others, one must himself be interested, and this is true as far as my labor has been concerned, for the compilation of a genealogy is fascinating, as all who have been engaged in it will testify.

A few years ago I had an old man bore a well for me who would have made an excellent genealogist. He had toiled at his business for nearly fifty years, but was as much interested in each auger full of soil brought from below as if it had been his first, for, as he told me, he "never knew just what would be found in the next spoonful of borings." The simile may be a poor one, but the spirit of expectancy is the same in both pursuits.

Nevertheless, mere enthusiasm on the part of the compiler will not produce a genealogy. He needs the assistance and encouragement of the family whose record he tabulates. I have had this support, and I desire to place on record my thanks to the members of the Kellogg family, individually and collectively, for the courtesies extended to me by them in the preparation of this work.

I have essayed to give all obtainable details in the earlier generations and to condense as far as possible in the later ones, in the belief that, in the face of the imperative need of keeping the Genealogy within reasonable bounds, the living generations of the family would prefer to hear less of themselves and more of their ancestors.

There is enough in the volumes, however, to furnish ample opportunities for conversation to those of the Kellogg kin who may be good talkers on a variety of subjects, but who never really become enthusiastic until they talk of their family and their connections. Their discourse, too, may include many parts of the world for the family is widespread, and there has seemingly been a tendency to keep abreast with movements of emigration.

This migratory habit has added to the labor of compilation, and has made it difficult and. sometimes impossible to secure data concerning some of the families, although I had supposed until the Genealogy was nearly finished that all Kelloggs in America were of the same stock and were descendants of the three sons of Martin of Braintree. While this holds true for most of the name, I find that the past fifty years has brought other Kelloggs from the Old World, whose ancestry is untraced, and in some instances the name has been assumed. I have placed the incomplete "sections'' at the end of the work, in the hope that some descendant, more fortunate than I have been, will be able to supply the links which will connect them with their proper lines of descent.

I have often been asked as to the heraldic rights of the Kelloggs. Not all ancient highways lead to moated castles, with coats of arms emblazoned over their drawbridges, or to palaces rich in historical association. The same is doubly true of lines of genealogical descent, and it is said that only seven families in all of Great Britain can, with certainty, trace their descent back in a direct line to the time of William the Conqueror.

As far as I can ascertain, the Kelloggs have no coat of arms, for, though theirs has been a. well-beaten path, nearly four centuries in length, it has seemingly avoided the more pretentious thoroughfares, and sought the quieter course through green fields, and by the river side, to the door of the farmer's vine-clad cottage. Honorable as they are, heraldic devices are not the only marks of family worth, and the Kelloggs may well be proud of at least two of the family's strong characteristics which entitle it to distinction-its patriotism and its remarkable freedom from crime. There has never been a war of our country, from its infancy to the present day, in which Kelloggs have not borne an honorable part. With its men self-reliant, self-respecting and law-abiding, and its women conspicuous for all the womanly virtues, can we fail to be proud of our connection with the family?

I must congratulate the family upon the discovery of the will of Martin Kellogg of Braintree, which proved the transatlantic line of descent. This connection had been vainly sought for many years previous to 1899, when Mr. Francis Henry Fuller, of Boston, Mass., visited England to continue the search. Through Mr. Fuller's assiduity and good fortune, the matter has been definitely settled, and we are enabled to follow the family tree until "its roots disappear in the depths of past centuries."

The Genealogy contains the records of nearly five thousand families with more than twenty-two thousand descendants. Persistent effort has been made to collect the facts set forth in their history. Town and church records, histories, genealogies and other sources of information have been freely consulted, and every Kellogg whose address was known, or could be obtained, was written to unless the record had already been secured. Errors will unavoidably creep into a work of this kind, but it is my hope that the Genealogy, as a whole, may favorably commend itself to the Kellogg family.

Timothy Hopkins
San Francisco, January, 1903