Will Keith Kellogg | |
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Kellogg, c. 1897
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Born |
Will Keith Kellogg April 7, 1860 Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S. |
Died | October 6, 1951 Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S. |
(aged 91)
Cause of death | Heart failure |
Resting place | Oak Hill Cemetery, Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S. |
Residence |
Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S. Pomona, California, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Education | Parson’s Business College |
Home town | Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S. |
Spouse(s) | Ella Davis (1858–1912), m. 1880 Carrie Staines Kellogg (1867–1948) m. 1918 |
Children | Karl Hugh Kellogg (1881–1955), John Leonard Kellogg (1880–1950), Will Keith Kellogg II (1885–1889), Elizabeth Ann Kellogg (1888–1966), Irvin Hadley Kellogg (1894–1895) |
Parent(s) | John Preston Kellogg (1807–1881) and Ann Janette Stanley Kellogg (1824–1893) |
Relatives | John Harvey Kellogg – brother |
Will Keith Kellogg, generally referred to as W.K. Kellogg (April 7, 1860 – October 6, 1951), was an American industrialist in food manufacturing, best known as the founder of the Kellogg Company, which to this day produces a wide variety of popular breakfast cereals. He was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and practiced vegetarianism as a dietary principle taught by his church. Later, he founded the Kellogg Arabian Ranch and made it into a renowned establishment for the breeding of Arabian horses. Kellogg started the Kellogg Foundation in 1934 with $66 million in Kellogg company stock and investments, a donation that would be worth over a billion dollars in today's economy. Kellogg continued to be a major philanthropist throughout his life.
As a young businessman, Kellogg started out selling brooms, before moving to Battle Creek, Michigan, to help his brother John Harvey Kellogg run the Battle Creek Sanitarium. The Sanitarium, originally the Western Health Reform Institute, was part of a pioneering effort based on the health principles advocated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Kellogg described the Sanitarium system as "a composite physiologic method comprising hydrotherapy, phototherapy, thermotherapy, electrotherapy, mechanotherapy, dietetics, physical culture, cold-air cure, and health training". The Kelloggs pioneered the process of making flaked cereal. Because of the commercial potential of the discovery, Will wanted it kept a secret. John, however, allowed anyone in the sanitarium to observe the flaking process and one sanitarium guest, C. W. Post, copied the process to start his own company. The company became Post Cereals and later General Foods, the source of Post's first million dollars. This upset Will to the extent that he left the sanitarium to create his own company.