GA Kellogg

Judge George Albert Kellogg (1828-1902) Nov. 1869-1870

First Mayor of Nevada, Iowa 1877

George Albert Kellogg, son of Chester Curtis Kellogg and Martha Coe, was born November 8, 1828 in Starkey, Yates County, New York where his father owned a small woolen factory and dye house. His family moved to Berlin, Erie County, Ohio where he was educated and studied law. He and his brother, Dr. Nathan Alonzo Kellogg, came to Nevada “with the early settlers” in June 1855. Dr. Kellogg, died shortly after their arrival in Nevada on April 6, 1856.

He was the second attorney admitted to practice law in Story County in May of 1856. In August 1857, George A. Kellogg was elected county judge.

During his tenure as judge, in 1859 a $10,000 bond issue was brought before him in an effort to secure the Agricultural Farm for Story County. He lost his bid for the bench in 1859 being replaced by Judge Evans and he returned the practice of law.

He married Elizabeth E. Smith on January 11, 1860 in Lock Haven, Clinton County, Pennsylvania. Two children were born of this marriage, both of whom died in infancy. Their mother also died in 1862. On October 1, 1863, George Kellogg married Mary Euphous Dieffenbacker, daughter of Frederic Dieffenbacher and Eliza McCormick, in Story County. At the time, the Dieffenbacher family lived north of Nevada, before removing to Kansas.

The village of Nevada was incorporated in November 1869 with the first city council meeting occurring on November 23 of that year. Judge Kellogg served was elected Nevada’s first mayor from November 1869 to 1870.

About 1871, Judge Kellogg moved to Washington state where his elder brother, Dr. John Coe Kellogg, lived. Judge Kellogg and his family returned to Nevada for a few years. Once again he was elected mayor of Nevada and served his term in 1877. He was a well-known lumber merchant at that time but in 1878 he sold his business interests to Rothmer J. Silliman and moved his family west to Gunnison, Colorado eventually settling permanently in the Puget Sound country.

George Albert Kellogg died on September 2, 1902 in Fairhaven (now a part of Bellingham), Whatcom County, Washington. He was survived by his second wife, two daughters and a son.