Kellogg, Giles Pease

GILES PEASE KELLOGG was born November 15, 1823, in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, and he died May 28, 1892, in Salinas, Monterey County, California. He immigrated to California in 1849.

Sonoma County Journal, January 19, 1856, p. 3

Giles Pease Kellogg was the first photographer to work in Petaluma. On January 10, 1856, he established “Kellogg’s Daguerrean Gallery” (aka “Petaluma Daguerrean Rooms”) on Petaluma’s Main Street, “adjoining Dr. Brown’s Drug Store”. In his early advertisements, he is proclaimed to be a “Daguerrean Artist,” and his daguerreotypes are described as “PERFECT LIKENESSES.” His gallery is described as a splendid suite of rooms, “furnished with a Mammoth Sky-Light, arranged on the most scientific plan, which, with the latest improvements in cameras, apparatus and chemicals enables Mr. Kellogg to produce pictures of the ‘human face divine’ in a style of excellence not to be surpassed.”

By May 1856, Kellogg was offering his clients a new type of portrait, the ambrotype, which he described as a “new and most perfect method” especially appropriate “for taking true and correct pictures of children and infants”. Late in 1857, Kellogg advertised that he was producing images with “colors beautifully blended.” In April 1860, Kellogg moved his studio to Petaluma’s Phoenix Block and advertised it as an ambrotype gallery where he was “…prepared to furnish shadows true to life, at a very low figure.” At this time, he also advertised, “Ambrotypes of deceased persons taken on the shortest notice.” In November 1861, Kellogg advertised his intension to sell his studio and sold it in January 1862, to Edward Payson Butler.

Kellogg married Melinda (Millie) Dyer Laird (1837-1863) in Petaluma. The date of their marriage is uncertain, but on September 3, 1861, the Petaluma Argus published this charming report on the status of Kellogg’s love life:

Petaluma Argus, September 3, 1861, P.2

Portrait of Giles Pease Kellogg by Petaluma photographer, Bryan R. Johnson, December 1862 -1867 Portrait courtesy of the Society of California Pioneers, object ID (C017930)

The inscription on this carte de visite portrait of Kellogg is a marriage proposal to Millie. It was taken by Kellogg’s fellow Petaluman, Brian R. Johnson, who worked as a photographer in Petaluma between December 1862 and October 1866. The inscription on the front reads, “Will you be my wife,” and the inscription on the back reads, “Here I am. Em will you have me.” Although not the most sophisticated marriage proposal, the portrait depicts Kellogg in a very polished and romantic fashion. With a tender look in his eyes, Kellogg gazes off to his right, and his image is softly encircled by an oval vignette. Unfortunately, Millie and Giles’s love story ended sadly. On June 21, 1863, Millie gave birth to a son, and two weeks later she died at the age of 26 on July 6, 1863. She was buried in Petaluma’s Cypress Hill Memorial Park.

It appears Kellogg abandoned his career as a photographer when he sold his studio to Butler in 1862, and by 1867, he was living in Salinas, California. He retained close ties to Petaluma and proceeded to engage in several business ventures with members of his wife’s family who owned a ranch at Point Reyes. Beginning in 1867, “Kellogg & Laird” rented ranches in Salinas Valley and advertised in the Petaluma Weekly Argus. By 1869, Kellogg and Charles Laird had established a 400-cow dairy farm near Watsonville, California, and in 1875, Kellogg and Stuart Laird were listed as trustees of the Cinnabar Mining District in Sonoma County. The Petaluma Weekly Argus often included references to Kellogg’s business dealings, and on April 2, 1875, reported that surveying work had been completed for the construction of a new town named in honor of Kellogg. The unincorporated community was originally designed as a summer resort and located at the foot of Mount Saint Helena in Sonoma County.

Kellogg died in 1892 and was buried in the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Salinas, California.

Petaluma Photographic Studio: “Kellogg’s Daguerrean Gallery” aka “Petaluma Daguerrean Rooms,” Main Street, Petaluma, January 1856 - April 1860. “Kellogg’s Ambrotype Galleries,” Phoenix Block, Second Floor, April 1860 - January 1862.

Active in Petaluma: January 1856 to January 1862

Bibliography: The Californian (Salinas City, CA), May 29, 1892, p. 1 (obituary). Petaluma Argus, Sept. 3, 1861, p.2; Nov. 19, 1861, p.2; June 17, 1863, p. 2; Petaluma Daily Morning Courier, May 2, 1904, p.3. Petaluma Weekly Argus, October 24, 1867, p. 2; November 6, 1869, p.1; November 20, 1874, p.2; April 2, 1875, p.3; April 23, 1875, p. 3. September 29, 1883, p.3. Sacramento Bee, April 28, 1860, p.3; September 2, 1860, June 29, 1863, p.3; July 6, 1863, p.3. Sonoma County Journal, January 19, 1856, p. 3; Feb. 9, 1856, p.2; May 3, 1856, p.2; Aug. 29, 1856, p.3; Jan. 2, 1857, p.2; Ja. 9, 1857, p.3; Dec. 9, 1859, p.5; Feb. 10, 1860, p.2; April 13, 1860, p.4; July 20, 1860, p.4; Jan. 17, 1862, p.2. Sonoma Democrat, December 6, 1862, p. 4, column 5. Carl Mautz, Biographies of Western Photographers, A Reference Guide to Photographers Working in the 19th Century American West, Expanded and Revised Edition, 2018, p. 142; Peter E. Palmquist and Thomas R. Kailbourn, Pioneer Photographers of the Far West, Stanford University Press, 2000, p. 345. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellogg,_California. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55580624/millie-kellogg. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11645606/giles-peace-kellogg.

Unfortunately, the PHL&M owns no portraits that can be definitively attributed to this important, early photographer; however, there are several early boxed portraits of Petaluma pioneers without an identified photographer that may have been created by him. You can find these portraits by typing “Kellogg” in the search bar above. Additionally, the Sonoma County Library owns cased portraits of early Petaluma pioneers that may have been taken by Kellogg, see https://digital.sonomalibrary.org/documents?adv_all=petaluma|AND&searchtypes=Full%20text|Metadata&dateFrom=18400000&dateTo=19300000&filter_149=portraits&applyState=true.