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COMPANY 100 YEARS

Kellogg book

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Page 1: Kellogg book

COMPANY 100 YEARS

Page 2: Kellogg book

BATT LE CREEK ':;ANITARIUM fOO D CO. THE ORI61NAL AND GE.NU I NE BATTlE CREEK fOOD J~~~I~_

Page 3: Kellogg book

EMERGING FROM THE SHADOWS

I f eel kind ofblue . Am afra id that I will always hea poor ma n tbe way things look now.

-Will Keith Kellogg , diary entry from September 27 , 1884'

B In 1849, John Preston and Ann 's two­EST KNOWN FOR its panorama of year-old daughter died from a cereal food s, Kellogg Company is misdiagnosed case of lung inflammation. one of the few successful food That tragedy, coupled with previousbusinesses in the world that can trace its unfortunate encounters with traditionalorigin back to a philosophy that urged frontier doctors, opened the way for the people to improve their health. More than

100 years ago, two brothers, WLlJ Keith Kelloggs to seek comfort and guidance Kellogg and Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, who through alternative medical treatments followed the dietary and health-related tenets of the American Seventh-day Adventist faith, helped set the foundation of the giant cereal company in Battle Creek, Michigan.

In the early part of the 19th century, living conditions were filled with health-related hardships. Both the rich and poor were helpless to prevent or combat fatal diseases that took away many in their families . Doctors often prescribed cures as frightening as the afflictions themselves, and child mortality rates were high. It was during this time that the Kellogg family was plagued by misfortune, when John Preston Kellogg, Will Keith 's and John Harvey's father, lost his first wife and four of his 16 children to illness .

In 1834, John Preston-a Massachusetts native-had settled 60 miles northwest of Detroit with his first wife , Mary Ann,who had blessed him with five children. Unfortunately,she had contracted tuberculosis and passed away in September 1841 , leaving her husband to take care of the family. Six months later, John Preston married Ann Janette Stanley, and by the end of the year, the Kellogg family moved westward to a farm in Tyrone Township in Michigan 's livingston County.

promoted by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.' TIle church's philosophy of preventive heaJthcare, induding sitz baths; steam baths;hot and cold "vertical rain douches" (showers); cold wet sheet pa cks ; and cataract douches.' John Preston and his wife soon converted to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, embracing its practices of abstaining from profanity, caffeine, meat, tobacco, and alcohol, whil e promoting hard work, self-denial , and diligence to achieve success.

Shortly after their conversion, Ann's fifth child and john Preston's tenth, was born on February 26, 1852,

ABOVE: Wearing a p1ug-style top hat , Will Keith Kellogg, also known

as W. K., is pictured here at age 16 or 17 in Kalamazoo,

Michigan. (Photo courtesy of Kellogg Company Archives.)

OPPOSITE: This cartoon by James T. McCutcheon originally

appeared in the Chicago Tribune and captured the atmosphere of

the 1900-1905 "cereal boom," wtlen dozens of companies

competed to manufacture the best cereal. (Illustrat ion cour tesy of

Kellogg Company Archives.)

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14 KELLOGG COMPANY: THE FIRST 100 YEARS

and named John Harvey Kellogg . In 1856, the growing Kellogg family moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, where the Adventist church had established its headquarters. John Preston opened a broom factory and named it I.P Kellogg & Son . The family also joined the Underground Railroad movement to help escaped slaves reach freedom in Canada.

On April 7, 1860, john Preston's 14th child and the seventh son in the family-Willie Keith Kellogg-was born in Battle Creek. He changed his first name to "Will" at 38 years of age and became known as "W K:' TIle 5­foot-7Y,-inch W K.grew an affinity for the number seven and preferred hotel rooms on th e seventh floor with room numbers that ended in h is favorite digit '

Swept Along the Path of Faith and Health

The "frontier" had been pushed farther westward by the 1850s, and life in the Midwest meant long days filled wi th hard work for both adults and children. In fact, W K. reported that he "never leamed to play.'" However, even his biographer, Horace B. Powell, surmised that the cereal company's founder overdramatized his parents' sternness. When he became successful, his perceived lack of childhood fun motivated W K.to promote children's programs.

W K. attended both public schools and the Adventists' "select" programs , but he received only minimal formal education . His teachers thought he was "dim-w itted;' but

ABOVE: The parents of John Harvey and Will Keith-John Preston

Kellogg and his second wife, Ann Janette-became members of

the Seventh-day Adventist Church and followed the denomination's

strict tenet s.

BELOW: In 1860, W. K. Kellogg was born in th is homestead at

West Michigan and Cass streets in the small community of Battle

Creek. He later built a hotel on the property called "The Inn."

(Photos courtesy of KelloggCompany Archives.)

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CHAPTER ONE : EMERGING FROM THE SHAD OWS 15

at the age of 20, an eye exam discovered a possible reason for his academic troubles. He was nearsighted .

W. K.'s dedication to hard work began as a child . At age seven, he started working in his father's broom factory and on the family farm . At 14, he became a traveling broom salesman and traveled to Dallas in 1878 to oversee the Texas broom factory owned by Adventist Elder James White . White and his wife , Ellen, had served as two of the foun ders of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. Sister White was the prophetess of her church, claiming to have had upwards of 2,000 divine visions ."

In 1863, White had a vision that showed her th e elements of a proper diet-two meals a day without meat. She had visited the Dansville, New York, health spa of Dr.Jam es Caleb Jackson , who had treated several ailing Adventists. In 1866, the Adventists decided to

create th eir own health spa in Battle Creek called th e Western Health Reform Institute to promote "hydrotherapy"-an alternative form of medicine that treated illnesses through therapeutic baths and th e consumption of large amounts of water.

John Preston Kellogg soo n became the largest shareho lde r of the charitable inst itution and was

ABOVE: In 1866, the Seventh-day Adventists created their own

health spa called the Western Health Reform Institute on the

outskirts of Battle Creek to promote their principles. The

institute later became the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

LEFT : James and Ellen White founded the Seventh-day Adventist

denomination in the mid-1800s-a religion whose dieta ry

tenets were closely followed by the Kellogg family. (Photos

courtesy of Kellogg Company Archives .)

appointed treasurer. His IOyear-old son, John Harvey, helped him work on the accounts and became the "prin ter' s devil"-an apprenti ce in a print shop-for the Whites' publication, The Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald. In a prelude to his later prolific writings, the young KelJogg join ed the publication's edit orial dep artment and was editing the entire journal by age 16.

Although the Western Health Reform Inst itute had a promising start-it had add ed several two-story cottages to its original farmhouse building-it fell on hard times in 1872 , when few paying customers remained. With hopes of expanding the institute, James and Ellen White agreed to sponsor 21-year-Qld John Harvey's medical training.

John Harvey enrolled at Universityof MichiganMedical School and completed his training at BelJevue Hospital Medical College in NewYork City, where he published his first health guide, The Proper Dietfor Man, in 1874.

Page 6: Kellogg book

16 KELLOGG COMPANY: THE FIRST 100 YEARS

LOOKING AT EARLY BATTLE CREEK

T E CITY OF Battle Creek received its glorious sounding name from a

relatively minor skirmish that occurred on March 14, 1826, along the banks of a yet-to-be-named river that branched off the Kalamazoo River in the Michigan Territory.

Under the command of Colonel John Mullett, a group of five surveyors had set up camp along the river where it erossed Michigan 's base line-the imaginary east-west line through Michigan's lower peninsula from which townships were to be measured, creating maps that resembled huge checkerboards.

On a cold winter day,Mullett took two of his men northward, leaving the others at the base camp. The remaining two surveyors soon encountered two Native American men who instructed them to cease destroying local foliage and leave the area . After a skirmish erupted

between the two groups, and the surveyors eaptured the two Native Amerieans, the minor event led to the waterway's distinctive name of "Batt le Creek River," though the "battle's" surrounding area was previously known as Milton Township.

In the first two decades after the War of 1812 , the Michigan Territory had been bypassed as settlers followed the Ohio River into southern Ohio, Indiana, and llIinois, allowing those territories to achieve statehood in 1803,1816, and 1818 , respectively. Most of Michigan's carIy population was concentrated near the French-founded village of Detroit near the southeast comer of the Lower Peninsula, while other settlements were scattered along the shoreline of the Great Lakes.

Initial impediments to settlement of the state's southwest region were the lack of roads and

inaccurate descriptions that claimed the land contained mostly low wetlands with numerous swamps, lakes , and poor soil that would not be fruitful for farming .

Michigan's opportunity to grow arrived with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 .which created an all­water route from the Great Lakes to NewYork City, and the valiant efforts of Territorial Governor Lewis Cass to sell Michigan to the people back E.1St. Intensive surveys of the state began in 1825 ,when Congress granted the Michigan Territory rights to build roads. As these roads were constructed,"Michigan Fever"gripped the nation as numerous settlers poured into the territory. An enticing song, which included the lyrics,"Witll little prudence any man, can soon get rich in Mich-i-gan"was composed to attract would-be settlers.I

Michigan became the 26tll state in 1837. and the next year the

.,

Page 7: Kellogg book

17 CHAPTER ONE: EMERGING FROM THE SHADOWS

OPPOSITE: From its humblebeginnings as a small lumbertOIMl andfarmingcommunity,

BattleCreek grewinto a small citybythe time of this circa 1931 photoof Michigan

Avenue,the main thoroughfare.

RIGHT: This circa1910 photowas taken

from the roofof the PostTavem. the hotel

that Charles Post built as a monument to

his success. The roofof the Presbyterian

church is on the right, and BattleCreek

Central High School is in the b~nd.

BELOW:A 1915 view of Battle Creek's

federal government sent the remaining Pottawattomie Indians to reservations we st of the Mississippi River. Meanwhile, by 1842, the population of Milton Township grew to 1,000 people with 10 stores, three mills, one factory, and one machine shop. Seven years later, the township's name was changed to Battle Creek, and the village of

Battle Creek was incorporated the following year.

Battle Creek also became a vital stop on the Underground Railroad,a covert effort to help fugitive slaves escape to freedom. The escape route ran through Battle Creek and paralleled the Michigan Central Railroad,which was a real railway run by John Biddle , an aboliti onist .

But the movement was forced to operate covertly sinee many Battle Creek residents opposed the abolition of slavery.

Many settlers in Battle Creek were Quakers , Congregationalists , and followers of other Protestant denominations who came to Battle Creek from New England, including New York state 's so-called "burn ed over district " known for its numerous religious revivals. Erastus Hussey,a Quaker settler from upper New York, became involved in the antislavery movement and operated an Underground Railroad "station" in Battle Creek. He later became one of the 16 conunitteemen chosen to draft the platform for the Republican Party during a mass meeting in Jackson,Michigan, in July 1854.

Sojourner Truth, a former slave-tumed-abolitionist leader who settled in BattIe Creek in 1'856, became famous for speaking out against slavery. The 6-foot-tall, pipe­smoking woman traveled throughout the East and Midwest sharing her brutal expe riences with slavery. Three books ab out he r life were published befo re her death in 1883 at age 86.