William Pitt Kellogg

William Pitt Kellogg (December 8, 1830 – August 10, 1918) was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who served as the governor of Louisiana from and twice served as a United States senator during the Reconstruction era. He was one of the most important politicians in Louisiana during and immediately after Reconstruction and was notable for being elected after most other Republican officials had been defeated when Democrats regained control of state politics, though he was also one of the Northern-born politicians who were derided by Southerners as "carpetbaggers" during this period. Kellogg is also notable as one of the few incumbent senators ever to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served one term. He was the last Republican U.S. senator from Louisiana until David Vitter in 2005. Early life and education Kellogg was born in Orwell, Vermont, near the New York border, where he spent his childhood. After completing his education in the common schools, he moved to Peoria, Illinois, at the age of eighteen and was a school teacher for several years. His fifth cousin William Kellogg lived in the area and served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1857 to 1863. Career Kellogg became a lawyer, likely "reading law" and studying with practicing lawyers, as was typical for many then. He moved to Canton, Illinois, and started a law practice. There he joined the U.S. Republican Party and eventually came to know Abraham Lincoln, a fellow lawyer. When Lincoln became president in 1861, he appointed Kellogg as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Nebraska Territory. Kellogg moved to Nebraska.