William P. Kellogg (December 8, 1830 August 10, 1918) was an American politician. Kellogg was born in Orwell, Vermont where he spent his childhood. He moved to Peoria, Illinois at the age of 18, and taught school for several years. He then became a lawyer and moved to Canton, Illinois where he practiced law. There he joined the United States Republican Party and eventually came to know Abraham Lincoln a fellow Illinois lawyer. When Lincoln became President in 1861, he appointed Kellogg to be the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Nebraska territory. Kellogg accepted this position but soon resigned and joined the seventh Illinois cavalry. By 1862 he had risen to the rank of colonel and played an important role at a small battle near Sikeston, Missouri. Later in the war Kellogg resigned due to ill health.
In 1865, at the end of the civil war, Lincoln appointed Kellogg to be the collector of the port of New Orleans, Louisiana, beginning his 20-year political career in Louisiana for which he is most notable. He remained in his position as collector of New Orleans until 1868, when he was appointed to the United States Senate as Louisiana was allowed back into the union. Kellogg resigned from the Senate in 1872 as he was elected governor of Louisiana. He served as governor from 1873 to 1877. Despite the intense backlash against the Republican Party in the south, he was able to return to the United States Senate in 1876. He served in the Senate until 1883, and declined to run for reelection as the Republican Party in Louisiana, as in most southern states, was at this time very weak and he almost certainly would have lost. He was the chairman of the Senate committee on railroads from 1881 to 1883.
Kellogg was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1882 and served in the House from 1883 to 1885. He then continued to live in Washington, D.C. but retired from political life. He died in Washington, D.C. and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Kellogg was one of the most important politicians in Louisiana during and immediately after the Reconstruction period, and was able to maintain power for much longer than most other carpetbagger Republicans who moved to the southern states after the civil war. He is also notable as one of the few senators to be elected to the House of Representatives immediately after leaving the Senate.
Preceded by: John McEnery Governor of Louisiana 1873-1877 Succeeded by: Francis T. Nicholls Governors of Louisiana Claiborne • Villeré • Robertson • Thibodaux • H. Johnson • Derbigny • Beauvais • Dupre • Roman • White • Roman • Mouton • I. Johnson • Walker • Hebert • Wickliffe • Moore • Warmouth • Pinchback • J. McEnery • Kellogg • Nicholls • Wiltz • S. McEnery • Nicholls • Foster • Heard • Blanchard • Sanders • Hall • Pleasant • Parker • Fuqua • Simpson • H. Long • King • O. Allen • Noe • Leche • E. Long • Jones • Davis • E. Long • Kennon • E. Long • Davis • McKeithen • Edwards • Treen • Edwards • Roemer • Edwards • Foster Jr. • Blanco
