Hines, H. K. "An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon." Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co. 1893. p. 1037. CAPTAIN JOSEPH KELLOGG A venerable citizen, of Portland, Oregon, well known as a steamboat and transportation man, is ranked with the early settlers of this State, he having made his appearance here as early as 1848. The following facts in regard to his life and ancestry have been gleaned, and it is with pleasure we present them on the pages of this volume. The first of the Kellogg's arrived in America in 1640. Captain Kellogg's grandfather, Joseph Kellogg, was born in Vermont, and at St. Albans, that State, September 4, 1792, Orrin Kellogg, the Captain's father, was born. The latter was married, November 19, 1811, to Miss Margaret Miller, a native of Canada, and a descendant of English ancestors, who came to this country in the ship, Vulcan, in 1630. Some of her forefathers participated in the Revolutionary war. Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg were detained in Canada during the war of 1812, and there, June 24, 1812, the subject of our sketch was born. By an act of Congress, he, with other children similarly circumstanced, were declared citizens of the United States. After the war they moved back across the border and settled near where Lockport, New York, now stands, but soon moved to Ohio and established their home near the Maumee river, where they reared their children. Of their family of twelve, only four are now living; all in Oregon. In 1847 the Kellogg family crossed the plains to Oregon. Included in the family at that time were two married sisters and their husbands, Daniel and Sylvester Hathaway, besides our subject and his wife and two sons, Orrin and Charles H., he having married, September 23, 1818, Miss Estella Bushnell, who was born at Litchfield, New York, February 22, 1818. They left Wood county, Ohio, November 24, 1847, with horse teams. At Cincinnati they shipped by steamer to St. Louis, and from there drove to St. Joseph, where they wintered. In May a company of thirty wagons started on the long and perilous journey across the plains. They had covered wagons and were provided with tin stoves and all the arms and provisions needed for such a journey. The Indians were very troublesome that year. The emigrants had exchanged their horses for oxen, which they brought safely through, excepting one ox, which escaped from them in the Cascade mountains. They had in their team a yoke of cows which did good service, providing them, in addition, with milk. After our emigrant friends left civilization, they found the journey they had undertaken a most hazardous one, as they were in constant danger, both night and day, of surprise and capture by the Indians, and the fact that their wives and children were in such imminent danger caused these brave men to exercise their greatest courage and fortitude. They made nearly twenty-five miles a day, and arrived at Milwaukee, Oregon, September 8, 1848. Upon their arrival in Oregon, the heads of the families took up donation claims of 640 acres each, all adjoining, on which they erected cabins, and began pioneer life in the wilds of what is now the beautiful State of Oregon, with a population to-day of 325,000. The subject of our sketch being a millwright by trade, erected the first merchant flouring mill ever built in the State. He also built several of the first sawmills of that time, thus being one of the most valuable pioneers in the founding and developing of the State. His lands joined that of Lot Whitcom, at Milwaukee, with whom and William Torrence, he laid out the town site of what they hoped would be the metropolis of the State. The Captain built a sawmill there and also a schooner. The latter the firm loaded with provisions from the adjoining farms, took it to California, and there sold both vessel and cargo, and with the proceeds they bought the brig, Forest, which they used in the lumber trade between Oregon and California. Lumber in Sacramento was at that time worth $200 a 1,000 feet. The firm soon made money enough to purchase the bark, Louisiana, which was fitted with engines and boilers and the complete outfit of a steamer. In the spring of 1850 they began to construct the steamer Lot Whitcom, which was the first large steam craft ever built in Oregon. They launched this boat on Christmas day of that year, Captain Kellogg being one of the owners of the boat, as well as of the site of the new city of Milwaukee. They ran the boat between Milwaukee and Astoria for several years, after which they sold it in San Francisco. Later Captain Kellogg withdrew from the firm, forming a partnership with Bradbury and Eddy, together erecting the Standard Flour Mills, which for years were the most extensive in the State. In 1863 the steamer, Senator, was built by Captain Kellogg, and was afterward sold by him to the People's Transportation Company, with which company he became connected in 1864. He superintended the building of the basin above the falls, in 1867, which proved of great value in facilitating the navigation of the river. He was also connected with Captain Pease in the first navigation of the Tualitin river with the little steamer, Onward, and they also constructed the canal between that river and Sucker Lake, making it possible to bring freight to Oswego and thence to the Willamette river. Captain Kellogg also laid out the town of Oswego. In 1870 the People's Transportation Company sold out to Ben Holladay, and soon afterward the Willamette Transportation Company was formed, of which Captain Kellogg became vice-president and director. His company built the steamers, Governor Grover and Beaver, the construction of which was superintended by the subject of our sketch. It was soon after this that he sold out his interest in the Willamette Transportation Company and the boats, and formed a new transportation company with his brother, Jason, and his two sons. He then built the beautiful steamers, Joseph Kellogg and Toledo, and placed his boats on the Columbia, on the line to Washougal and the Cowlitz river. His two sons, Captains Orrin and Charles H., were put in command of these boats, and they navigated the Cowlitz river far up into the heart of Washington, it becoming one of the most popular and paying lines on the Columbia river. This firm is incorporated as the Joseph Kellogg Transportation Company, the members being himself and his son, Orrin. Of the Captain's children, we record that he had one other child, Harvey, who died in infancy. Charles H., when quite young became a captain and pilot, and as such was both capable and popular. Near the close of his life he was associated with his father and brother in the company above referred to, and was commander of the Joseph Kellogg at the time of his death, which occurred August 7, 1889. The other son, Orrin, is one of the most capable pilots and captains on the Oregon rivers, not even excepting his father, who has had no superior. Captain Orrin Kellogg has been a prominent factor in the improvement of the Cowlitz river. His company has done much by facilitating navigation of the rivers, toward inducing the settlement of that part of the country, and the building of several towns in that section. Captain Orrin Kellogg is married and has three children. He owns a beautiful home, situated by the side of his father's, at No. 408 Second street, his father's being 206. The senior captain has had a long and successful career here. He began to run boats on the river long before there was a pilot commissioned, being one of the first to receive a pilot's license, now holding the unique position of the oldest river pilot here. The wife of his youth who crossed the plains with him in 1848, and who has shared his joys and sorrows for the past forty-eight years, is still spared to cheer his declining years. Captain Kellogg is a respected member of the Pioneer Society of the State, and also of the Veteran Society. As a member of the Masonic fraternity he has gained distinction in the West. An in this connection, we clip from a leading newspaper the following fraternal tribute, penned by Edwin A. Sherman, at Oakland, California, July 1: "I learn with pleasure that Hon. Joseph Kellogg has been appointed Vice-President for Oregon, of that eminent body of distinguished Mason, the Masonic Veteran Association, to succeed the late and lamented Christopher Taylor, who had continually held that office for nearly twelve years, up to the time of his death, and who was the first to receive the degrees of Masonry on the Pacific coast, and in Multnomah Lodge, No. 1, at Oregon City, formerly No. 84, under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Missouri. Hon. Joseph Kellogg, with his father, the late Orrin Kellogg, received the charter of that lodge from Pierre B. Cornwall, at Fort Hall, while crossing the plains in the summer of 1848, and safely delivered it to the Worshipful Master, Joseph Hull, September 11, of that year, at Oregon City, who, with the assistance of the Kelloggs, father and son, and others, opened the lodge on that day in due form, being the first lodge established west of the Missouri river and the Rocky mountains. Christopher Taylor was the first to receive the degrees under its charter. "It was a fitting close of a well-spent life, full of civic and Masonic honors, that Brother Taylor should, on St. John the Baptist's day, as the sun was sinking beneath the wrinkled bosom of the broad Pacific, enter into his eternal rest. An it was a remarkable coincidence that it should also be the birthday of Brother Joseph Kellogg, who attained to the age of four score years on June 24, 1892, and whose appointment as successor of Brother Taylor is directed to bear date to commemorate both these events. We all congratulate Brother Kellogg on his appointment as a just recognition of his eminent service rendered to Freemasonry forty-four years ago, and which have been continued from that time to the present. Long may he live to wear and enjoy his honors." Transcriber's additional notes: 1880, June 5; Multnomah Co, OR; Portland, p 284; 410 2nd st. Orrin Kellogg, 34, OH, CAN, NY, captain steamboat M. Ellen, wife, 30, IA, OH, MO Sellar May, dau, 9, OR, OH, IA Joseph, father, 65, CAN, VT, ENG, captain steamboat Estella, mother, 61, NY, CT, MA 1900, June 2; Multnomah Co, OR; Portland Pct 25, p 210; 406 2nd st. Joseph Kellogg, 87, June 1812, mar 55 yrs, CAN, VT, MA, steamboat captain, owns home free Stella, wife, 81, Feb 1819, mar 55 yrs, 3 children, 2 living, NY, CT, MA Maria Franklin, domestic, 52, Nov 1847, ENG, ENG, ENG, Wd, 0 children, to US 1880 Portland Death Index: http://genealogy.state .or.us/start.lasso?location=search Joseph Kellogg, age 91, died November 30, 1903 Estella Kellogg, age 83, died January 15, 1902 ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in December 2005 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.