William Kellogg

William Kellogg (July 8, 1814 – December 20, 1872) was a U.S. representative from Illinois and chief justice of the Territorial Supreme Court of the Nebraska Territory.

Personal life and early career

William Kellogg was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, on July 8, 1814. After attending local public schools, he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He moved to Canton, Illinois in about 1839 and commenced a law practice in partnership with Asa Lee Davidson, with a specialty in criminal law. Leonard F. Ross, who later served as a brigadier general in the American Civil War, studied law with the firm of Davidson and Kellogg.

On December 21, 1843, William Kellogg married Lucinda Caroline Ross, daughter of Ossian M. Ross and Mary Winans, and sister of General Leonard F. Ross, in Fulton County, Illinois. Lucinda Ross had the distinction of being the first white child born in Fulton County. The couple had five children: William, Jr., and John (both of whom were lawyers), Paulina, and Emma and Lucinda (who were twins). Kellogg was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-fifth, Thirty-sixth, and Thirty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1857–March 3, 1863).

While in congress, Kellogg was an active participant in discussions related to the onset of the American Civil War. On December 4, 1860, Kellogg was appointed to the Committee of Thirty-Three of the U. S. House of Representatives. This committee consisted of one representative from each state and was tasked with drafting a proposal aimed at averting a civil war following Abraham Lincoln's election to the presidency. On February 8, 1861, Kellogg presented an address to the House in which he proposed a substitute for the propositions submitted by the Committee of Thirty-Three. His proposal, which was essentially a modified version of the Crittenden Compromise, was reportedly prepared in a secret consultation with Abraham Lincoln in late January 1861.

During the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses, Kellogg served as a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary. In January 1863, Kellogg submitted a report to this committee in which he supported the authority of the postmaster general to deny the transmittal of certain newspapers through the mails of the United States. In this report, he concurred with the postmaster general's assertion that these newspapers constituted treasonable matter.

In 1864, following his term in Congress, William Kellogg was nominated by President Abraham Lincoln to be Minister to Guatemala, but he refused the appointment.

Death and legacy

William Kellogg died in Peoria, Illinois, on December 20, 1872, and was interred in Springdale Cemetery and Mausoleum in that city.

In 1879, the Kellogg family residence at the corner of Main Street and Flora Avenue in Peoria was sold and converted to the Home for the Friendless, a children's home under the direction of the Women's Christian Home Mission of Peoria. Their daughter Paulina was the wife of Judge Lawrence W. James, who was a prominent Illinois lawyer and judge of the Illinois eighth circuit court.