Calhoun County MI Archives Biographies.....Kellogg, John Harvey July 26, 1852 - December 14, 1943
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Robin Ellis -- July 20, 2007, 8:24 pm

Author: Battle Creek Historical Society

John Harvey Kellogg was born on February 26, 1852, in Tyrone, Michigan to John 
Preston Kellogg and Anne Jeanette Stanley. His family moved to the village of 
Battle Creek when he was four years old. He was raised in a devout Seventh-day 
Adventist family and was familiar from an early age with the "healthy living" 
tenants advocated by his church. 

In 1866 church founders, Ellen and James White, had opened a Health Reform 
Institute, where hydrotherapy, or the water cure, was practiced. The Institute 
was moderately successful but needed the firm hand of a full-time medical 
director. The Whites recognized the potential of the teen-ager and helped 
finance John Harvey Kellogg's medical studies at the Bellevue Medical College 
in New York City. Upon graduation in 1875, the young doctor Kellogg returned to 
Battle Creek and became medical superintendent of the Institute. He coined the 
term "Sanitarium" and changed the focus of the Health Reform Institute from 
hydrotherapy to medical and surgical treatment. 

Kellogg continued his life-long dedication to education to improve his medical 
knowledge and surgical skills. He made several trips abroad to study medicine, 
surgery and physiology with leading European medical figures. He was a fellow 
of the leading medical societies, including the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science, American College of Surgeons and the American Medical 
Association. Dr. Kellogg introduced several new techniques, primarily in 
abdominal surgery, and had an extraordinarily low mortality rate in the more 
than 22,000 operations he performed during his 67 year career. 

He took no fees for his work with the Sanitarium or for any of his surgeries. 
His entire personal income was derived from royalties from the nearly 50 books 
and medical treatises which he published during his long career. Dr. Kellogg 
wrote primarily about his principles of "biological living," constantly seeking 
to educate the public, as well as his peers in the medical profession, about 
the virtues of his health reform ideas. 

The Battle Creek Sanitarium became Kellogg's laboratory for developing and 
promulgating his "Battle Creek Idea" ­ that good health and fitness were the 
result of good diet, exercise, correct posture, fresh air and proper rest. 
Through his vigorous efforts to promote and publicize the institution, Kellogg 
raised the Sanitarium to national prominence as a "place where people learn to 
stay well." 

The rich and famous flocked to Battle Creek, often making annual trips of 
several weeks. Here they were pampered in elegant surroundings while their 
bodies were restored to health with healthy diet and scientifically planned 
exercise. 

After only a few years Kellogg had increased the patronage at the Sanitarium so 
much that new buildings were necessary to meet the needs of all the patients. 
By 1888 the dormitory and treatment rooms could accommodate between 600 and 700 
patients. Kellogg also developed a complex of colleges associated with the San, 
where doctors, nurses, physical therapists, dietitians and medical missionaries 
were trained. 

The San continued to prosper until a 1902 fire consumed the entire main 
building, Only 15 months later the new fireproof San was dedicated, ready to 
receive several thousand guests a year. A staff of 800 to 1,000 ­ including 30 
physicians and 200 nurses and bath attendants ­ stood ready to serve their 
patients' needs 

By 1928, further expansion was necessary and a fifteen-story addition was 
built, incorporating the latest in fashion and luxury to accommodate the 
hundreds of patients waiting to take the cure in Battle Creek. Unfortunately, 
the stock market crashed the next year and the rich patrons who had patronized 
the San no longer could afford to come. 

Dr. Kellogg continued to operate the San despite increasing financial 
difficulties. However, by the end of the 1930s it was clear the institution 
could no longer survive at its current size. In 1942 the main building was sold 
to the federal government and Dr. Kellogg moved his treatment center to the 
Fieldstone Annex building up the street. 

The former Sanitarium building was converted into the Percy Jones General and 
Convalescent Hospital, an orthopedic hospital which served the. nation's 
veterans through World War II and the Korean conflict. It was the US Army's 
largest medical installation until 1954 when the building was converted to 
offices for federal civilian and military departments. 

John Harvey Kellogg died on December 14, 1943, at the age of 91, still active 
as a physician and administrator. The doctor was famous for his 15 hour days, 
keeping two secretaries occupied transcribing his dictation. At his death, 
Kellogg held more than 30 patents for food products and processes as well as 
exercise, diagnostic and therapeutic machines. He is credited with developing 
such diverse products as peanut butter, a menthol nasal inhaler and the 
electric blanket.

John Harvey Kellogg is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery (Section A, Lot 1, Rt 5), 
Battle Creek, MI.

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