George Martin Kellogg

KELLOGG, MCMILLAN, JACKSON

Posted By: Connie Swearingen - volunteer (email)
Date: 4/25/2016 at 09:43:05

History of Northwestern Iowa
1804 – 1926

George Martin Kellogg

The standing of any community depends largely upon the character of those who represent it in official capacities, and in this connection George Martin Kellogg has established a remarkable record, serving for many years as chief of the fire department of Sioux City. He was born January 28, 1861, near Dubuque, Iowa and comes of sturdy pioneer stock. His parents were George W. and Sarah Ellen (McMillan) Kellogg, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Iowa. The father drove an ox team across the plains and first located in Sioux City but later took up a claim across the river and for many years resided upon the farm, converting it into a fertile tract of land. He was a progressive agriculturist and also a successful lawyer. He practiced for a considerable period at Elk Point, South Dakota and later opened an office in Sioux City, Iowa, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was regarded as one of the foremost members of the legal fraternity of this city and enjoyed a large and desirable clientele. He was selected for public honors and for three terms was a member of the South Dakota legislature. Yankton was the capitol at that time and he also served as territorial auditor as well as justice of the peace. He responded to death’s summons on July 14, 1911, and had long survived his wife, who passed away in 1873.

Mr. Kellogg attended the rural schools of South Dakota and completed a course in the Elk Point high school. He was reared on the home farm and aided in its operation until he reached the age of eighteen years, when he came to Sioux City. He worked for six years for a grain and implement firm and during three years of that period as foreman. For a year he operated the Peavy Grain Elevator at Luverne, Minnesota, and then returned to Sioux City. He traveled for three years, buying fur and hides, and was next in the employ of the Standard Oil Company, filling the positions of shipping clerk and bookkeeper. On May 18, 1889, he became chief of the fire department at Sioux City and for five years was connected with this branch of municipal activity. He engaged in other work for a year and then returned to the fire department, with which he has since been identified. Merit won him promotion to the office of chief and under his able administration the department has been maintained at a high standard of efficiency. He is a strict disciplinarian but at all times just and considerate in his attitude toward his subordinates and has secured their cooperation and good will. He is devoted to the interests in his charge and has performed his duties in such a manner as to earn the high encomiums of his fellow citizens.

In January, 1885, Mr. Kellogg married Miss Mary Jackson, and on December 26, 1921, their union was severed by her death. She was the mother of one child, George Martin., Jr., who was born July 7, 1890, and is now a well known attorney of Chicago. Mr. Kellogg owns the home farm, which he rents, and has also invested in city real estate, having valuable holdings. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Noble of Abu-Bekr Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He has passed through all the chairs in the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a past grand patriarch of Iowa. He is a past exalted ruler and a life member of the local lodge of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, has attained high standing in these fraternal organizations and is also a Rotarian. He casts his ballot for the candidates of the Democratic Party and is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Kellogg has devoted the best efforts of his life to the up-building of Sioux City’s fire department, with which he has been connected for a period of thirty-five years and the reputation that results from duty well and faithfully performed in his just reward.