Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1891
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 471
THEODORE P. KELLOGG

Theodore P. KELLOGG, found his way to Harrison County in April, 1858, settling on sections 10 and 11, of Harrison Township, where he pre-empted eighty acres of land---forty acres on section 10 and forty acres on section 11. After his pre-emption had been made he found a man had filed a land warrant on the same tract, so he waived his right, and bought the man out. He remained there four or five years, and then bought another place on section 21, near the village of OLSTEAD, improving the same, and remaining there for five years, when he sold his Harrison Township land and purchased his present place, consisting of one hundred and sixty three acres, all of which is under a good state of cultivation.

Mr. KELLOGG was born in Hamden County, Mass., January 5, 1827, and when thirteen years of age his parents removed to Tolland County, Conn., where he remained until he was of age, at which time he had mastered the carpenter's trade, and went to New Jersey, working at the same for about three years, when he returned to Tolland County, built a house for his father, in the village of Rockville, and remained there for two years. He then went to Lake County, Ohio, and worked at his trade for two years, and then went to Columbus, where he worked on the State Capitol for about six months. He then went to Chicago, where he followed his trade for two years, at the end of which time he came to Harrison County. He came by railway as far as Iowa City, which was as far as any railroad, was found in the United States, at that time. From that point he drove through.

He was married to Miss Pamelia BISSELL, in Rockville, Conn. March 21,1853. By this union five children have been born, George E., Theodore P., Walter E., Clarence W., and Grace U. Theodore died in Chicago, August 6, 1857.

Mrs. KELLOGG was born in Schoharie County, N. y., November 4, 1828, and with her parents moved to Tolland County, Conn., where she remained from the time she was a small child until the date of her marriage.

George KELLOGG, eldest son of our subject, married Miss Lena MARQUISON in Sioux City, January 1, 1888, and they still reside in that place. Walter was married to Miss May MUSGRAVE in Harrison County, March 3, 1886.

January1, 1863, Mr. KELLOGG, the subject of this sketch, enlisted as a member of Company C, Twenty-ninth Iowa Regiment, infantry, responding to the call of President Lincoln, for "three hundred thousand men." He participated in the battles of TURNER Creek, Duane Prairie, Battle of CAMDEN, JENKINS' Ferry, Siege of Mobile, and then went to Texas, and from there was sent to new Orleans, at which point he was discharged, in August, 1865. He then returned home to his family in Harrison Township.

As Harrison County was made up largely of able bodied men, large numbers of volunteers offered their services in defense of the Stars and Stripes, which necessarily left few men at home to provide for the "War Widows." Our subject's wife saw many of the hardships co-incident with that terrible conflict, and made sacrifices which should here be recorded as a memorial to her unalloyed loyalty. Upon one occasion a man was owing Mrs. KELLOGG a trifling amount, and agreed to haul her a load of wood but did not, and finally she sent her nine year old boy through the drifted snows, for about five miles on foot, to get the man to haul the wood, which he finally consented to do, but the quality of the wood was not of the kind that would keep the "war widow" and her little family warm without a great amount of faith, as it was green willow!

When our subject came to Harrison Township only one family lived in his neighborhood, the settlement at Twelve Mile Grove being the only one of any importance. The first improvement made upon his Douglas Township farm, was the building of a frame house, 14x24 feet, with an addition, 14x20, the same standing on a brick basement. On his first place he built a house by digging in the hillside, boarding it up, and then throwing dirt against it for protection. This rude domicile was afterward used by the people of Dunlap for their small-pox patients.

Upon coming to the county, the chief trading point was Council Bluffs, and with the passing years, our subject has noticed the decline of a wilderness, which has been transformed into a real garden spot, and now surrounded with the comforts of life, our subject and his estimable family, are reaping the reward for their early-day and war-time hardships. Politically, Mr. KELLOGG casts his lot with the Republican Party, believing as he does, that it best subserves the interests of the masses.

Religiously, our subject and his wife are believers in the Protestant faith, believing that Christ is the door, and the "only mediator between God and man."

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