~177~ CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
The Strange Myth of
Wilfred Custer Kellogg
S ince
publication of the Revelation in 1955 a strange myth floated through
the community of those who accepted
The Urantia Papers.
Many believed the Papers were channeled,
and that Wilfred Custer Kellogg was the
channeler.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The Urantia
Papers
were not channeled,
and Wilfred Kellogg had nothing to do with the method of
transmission of the Papers.
This strange myth was promoted by Martin Gardner
in his book,
Urantia, The Great
Cult Mystery.
He too proposed that
The Urantia Papers
were
channeled and spent a chapter showing his
reasons why he thought Wilfred was the channeler.
Gardner’s thesis was merely the easiest road he
could find to explain the origin of the
Revelation, based on the common but erroneous theory of Wilfred.
Gardner had picked up this idea from
Urantians and, since he was unwilling to dig into the
actual facts of the history of Sadler and
The Urantia Papers,
went off on this nonsense. Gardner had
considerable information at his disposal to show that
Wilfred was not the Sleeping Subject but, in his desire to
denigrate the Revelation, consciously
rejected and censored important data. I shall briefly review the
facts.
Who was Wilfred Custer Kellogg? How was he
connected with William Sadler and
The Urantia
Papers?
Wilfred was a half first
cousin to Lena Kellogg Sadler. He married Lena’s full
sister Anna Bell. Refer to the Kellogg genealogy.
John Harvey Kellogg, of Battle Creek Sanitarium
fame, was a full brother to William Keith
Kellogg, of breakfast cereal fame. A half brother, Smith Moses
Kellogg, was the father of Lena and Anna Bell Kellogg. Emma,
a full sister to John Harvey and William
Keith, married Charles Leonidas Sobeski Kellogg, a
Kellogg from another side of the family. Wilfred Custer
Kellogg was their son.
Emma and Charles were fourth cousins; the
grandfathers of Ezekiel Kellogg and Josiah
Kellogg were brothers. Wilfred’s father,
Charles Leonidas Sobeski Kellogg, served in the Civil War
one year with the Vermont Volunteer Heavy Artillery, was an
eye witness to Sheridan’s ride from
Winchester to Cedar Creek, and was present at the battles of Cedar
Creek and Appomattox. After honorable discharge he became a
traveling salesman and later a minister in
the SDA in Battle Creek.
![](../Images-PR/A-Bar-BirthOfADivineRevelation-02.gif)
~178~
The Birth of a Divine Revelation
KELLOGG FAMILY GENEALOGY
|
Ezekiel Kellogg
|
Moses Eastman
|
Josiah Kellogg
|
Josiah Call
|
son
|
daughter |
son |
daughter |
Edward
b. New Salem, MA
Dec.12, 1802 |
Betsy Wheeler
b. Bethlehem, NH
March 11,1808 |
John Preston
b. Hadley, MA
Feb.14, 1803
|
Mary Ann
b.
Springfield, MA
Jan.10,1811
|
Children
|
Children
|
Persis Parker
|
Merritt Gardn er b. March 2 8, 1 833
|
Smith Moses b. March 16, 1834
|
Betsy Berkeley
|
Albert b. April 7, 18 36
|
Juliett
|
Julia Elvira b. Feb. 3, 183 8
|
Elizabeth
|
Martha Preston b. Feb. 18,
184 0
|
Abbina Frances
|
John Preston
|
Ann Janette
Stanley
b.
March 20,18 24
|
Edward Burg e
|
Emma Leora
|
Susan Mary
|
Charles Leonidas
Sobeski b.
Richmond, VT J un e 14
, 1847 |
Moses Eastman |
|
Children
|
Mary A. b. March 31 , 1843
|
Laura Evelyn b. Aug. 2 9, 1845
|
|
Emma Frances b. Sept. 13 , 18 47
d. Au g. 29, 1849
|
Emma b. Feb. 7, 18 50
|
|
John Harvey b. Feb. 26, 18 52
|
Preston b. Feb. 24 ,18 54
|
|
William Keith b. April 7, 186 0
|
|
Clara Belle b. Sept. 1 1, 186 3
|
|
Hester Ann b. No v. 6 , 1866
|
Charles
Leonidas Sobeski
Kellogg
|
Emma Kellogg
|
Smith Moses
Kellogg
|
Maria Susan
Dickinson
|
Children
|
Children
|
Wilfred Custer b. Oct 3, 1 87
6
|
Arthu r Edwin b. May 23 , 18 67
|
Claude Eastman b. May 2,1 87
8
|
Walter Eugene b. March 13, 187 0
|
Claire Lewis b. Sept. 7 ,
1882
|
Charles Presto n b. Dec. 21, 187 1
|
Sumner Lavern e b. J an 16 ,
18 92
|
Lena Celestia b. J une 1 0,1 87 5
|
Ray Stanley b. June 6, 18 94
|
Anna Bell b. June 3, 18 77
|
Ruth Kellogg
daughter of Wilfred Custer and Anna Bell Kellogg
|
13
- A Strange Myth
~179~
The Kelloggs were thick into
the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Moses
Eastman Kellogg, Wilfred’s uncle, was born in
Salem, Massachusetts in 1802.
Moses Eastman was named after his maternal
grandfather. He was the son of
Rev. Edward Kellogg who joined the New
Hampshire and Vermont conference of
the Methodist Evangelical
Church in May 1832 and was ordained. He and his
wife, Betsy Wheeler Eastman, embraced the
doctrines of the Seventh Day
Adventists in 1856 and remained in that faith
until their death. Moses Eastman
was born in East Richford, Vermont in 1850.
He married Orebal Regina Austin in
Berkshire, Vermont in 1874, and thereafter
moved to Battle Creek. He was ordained
into the SDA and wrote a book entitled,
The Supremacy of Peter.
He was an editor and
editorial writer for SDA publications from 1891 to
1897.
On the other side of the family
John Preston married twice. His first wife, Mary Ann
Call died September 27, 1841, whereupon he
married Ann Janette Stanley on March 29,
1842. Ann Stanley had served as a maid and
help to the John Preston Kellogg household;
she was twenty years junior to John Preston,
but they had a kind and compassionate
relationship which resulted in nine children.
The last, Hester Ann, was born in 1866
when John Preston was sixty-three years old.
He was a broom manufacturer who resided
in Tyrone, Flint, Jackson and later Battle
Creek, Michigan. He was also a Seventh Day
Adventist and belonged to the Republican
political party. He was father to the famous
Kelloggs. He died in Battle Creek on May 10,
1881.
The above facts are listed in
The Kelloggs In the Old World
and the New
by
Timothy Hopkins, Sunset Press, San Francisco, 1903.
I traced entries in the Battle
Creek City Directory from 1883, the year William
Sadler first went to Battle Creek, until
1916, when interest in that city, for our
search, became unnecessary. Thirteen Kelloggs
are listed in the 1883 Directory;
of those only John Harvey concerns this
investigation. By 1916 the number of
Kellogg entries had increased to more than
forty-five. They were a prolific family,
with many branches. The tradition of certain
family names pervaded all branches.
For example, Moses Eastman Kellogg was an
uncle to Wilfred, Lena and Anna.
But Smith Moses Kellogg was the father of
Lena and Anna descended from another
branch. The Battle Creek City Directory shows
another Moses Smith Kellogg
from still another branch. He moved into
Battle Creek in 1901 where he lived with
a son named Arthur and died there in 1907 at
the age of 87.
Many Kelloggs worked for the SDA
and their publishing enterprises. Moses
Eastman first shows up in 1893 as editor of
the
Review and Herald.
In 1896 he was editor of
the
Youth’s Instructor.
In the City Directory of 1897-1898 he is listed
merely as a journalist, with his home at 348
Van Buren. The 1901-02 entry says
he removed to Cooper Station, New York, but
the 1903-04 directory has him
back again as a travel agent, still at 348
Van Buren. In 1907 he became a driver
for the Sanitarium, and in 1910 he was a
teamster for the Kellogg Food Co. He
continues in the directory until 1916, the
last date I checked.
![](../Images-PR/A-Bar-BirthOfADivineRevelation-02.gif)
~180~
The Birth of a Divine Revelation
We can also follow the career of
William K. Kellogg of breakfast cereal fame, who
first appears as a bookkeeper, residing at
107 Champion. In 1887 he is shown again as a
bookkeeper, but now for the Health Publishing
Co. residing at 349 Champion. Somewhere
between 1889 and 1890 he moved again, but
this time to 246 Champion. In 1891 he
appears as the business manager of the Good
Health Publishing Co. William Sadler
worked with him during this period. In 1895
W. K. Kellogg is shown as the manager of
the Modern Medicine Co. at 65 Washington.
These were all enterprises of John Harvey
Kellogg. William Kellogg continued to rise in
importance on the Battle Creek scene until,
in 1906, he organized the breakfast food
company which bore his name, and became an
important contributor to the region’s
economy.
Lena Kellogg appears in the City
Directory twice, both times as a nurse at the
Sanitarium, first in 1893 and again in 1897.
Her sister Anna first appears in 1897 and
continues until 1904, when she removes to
Paris, Illinois. This may be where the parents
of the girls then lived, for Lena and William
Sadler were married in Paris in 1897 when
Lena was twenty-two years old. Many of the
Kelloggs were highly mobile.
Wilfred first appears in the 1896
City Directory at the age of twenty as a clerk for
the Modern Medicine Publishing Co., residing
in the South Hall of the Sanitarium, and
working for his uncle William K. Kellogg.
Wilfred’s father died in Lancaster, Massachusetts
on May 18, 1896 at the early age of 49.
Wilfred’s mother Emma first appears in 1897.
Apparently Emma and her children moved to
Battle Creek after the death of the husband
and father.
Children were not listed in City
Directories until they came of age. Some
may have married or moved away, and thus
never appear. The table
shows the business positions of Wilfred, his home
address, which continued
for many years to be his mother’s address, together
with his siblings who were
listed. Apparently Wilfred did not move into his own
residence independent of
his mother until 1911, when he was thirty-five years
old. By that time he had
important managerial positions with his uncle,
William Keith. He married
Anna Bell the following year.
The listings suggest that Wilfred
was an ever larger figure on the Battle
Creek scene. He was promoted to increasing
levels of responsibility in commercial
activities. The listings also show that he
was working for both John Harvey
Kellogg and William Keith Kellogg after 1906,
the year William Keith separated
from John Harvey. But appearances can be
deceiving. I have copies of a series of
letters written by Wilfred to his uncle W. K.
Kellogg which clearly show he had
serious personal problems. His letters are in
the files of the W. K. Kellogg foundation
in Battle Creek. The letters first appear
when W. K. Kellogg started his own
operation for breakfast foods in 1906.
Previous letters from Wilfred would have
been in the files of the Sanitarium
operations, now lost, or scattered in various
archives.
September 20, 1906.
W. K. Kellogg
![](../Images-PR/A-Bar-BirthOfADivineRevelation-02.gif)
13
- A Strange Myth
~181~
I have been having two or three
bad days. Dr. Read tells me that I must have a
couple of months of quiet and rest. He says
that I can be in the office a while each day
and that after a year or two of this kind of
thing, I shall be in fairly good shape. Yesterday
he advised an out-of-town vacation but today
has consented to have me live at
Goguac, take some treatment at the
Sanitarium. He tells me that if I will do this there
is no reason why I cannot be in the office a
short time each day; at least an hour.
You know without my telling you
that I am more than sorry to find myself in this
shape. Of course, the only thing for me to do
now is to take care of myself and get out
of the hole as soon as possible. Dr. Read
assures me that with care, I will overcome
this condition.
The work at the office is well
organized so that by making some slight
readjustments, I think
things will go along fairly well for a couple of
months. My suggestion
would be to let Goff take formal charge of things.
By coming every day myself for a
while I can take care of problems that the
rest of the people cannot handle. Covert has
his work well in hand and is doing nicely
with it. Effie is handling payroll to much better
advantage than I supposed she would. Neilson,
of course, can look after his work and
Len is doing first class at the warehouse.
I suggest that Goff be placed in
formal charge of the office as I don’t believe in
leaving so many people without a head. This
arrangement will enable me to keep up
the work I am doing in connection with the
Corn Flake business and look after the
insurance and do some of the necessary things
in connection with the Sanitas and
Food Co. business.
If Spaulding comes, I believe I
could use French to good advantage, provided
you care to spare him.
I have a system of daily reports in operation
at the office that enables me, without
going into the details of the work, to keep
things well in hand. The
matter of compensation is one that I will leave to
your generosity. I shall
go to the office a little while this afternoon.
Wilfred
This letter is informative in a
number of ways:
1. Wilfred must have had a fairly
responsible position. Effie was in charge of
accounting; Len of the warehouse, probably
including shipping and receiving.
Other personnel, including Neilson, Covert,
and Goff, apparently reported to
Wilfred.
2. Wilfred’s problem is mental,
not physical. He is asking for relief from the
pressures of the job. He is a highly nervous
individual. He believes that if he is
given extended period for recovery, after a
year or two, he will be normal again.
He does not fail to mention that Dr. Read
advises an out-of-town vacation.
3. He does not seem to hesitate
in making this unusual request. There is an
attitude, or tone, about the letter which
suggests he is accustomed to such liberty, and
that W. K. Kellogg will not immediately
reject such outrageous request. One possible
psychology is that he was spoiled by his
mother, and perhaps by the Kellogg clan in
general.
4. He is thirty years old, and
should have grown beyond youthful pampering.
![](../Images-PR/A-Bar-BirthOfADivineRevelation-02.gif)
13
- A Strange Myth
~182~
DIRECTORY
DATES
|
BUSINESS POSITION
|
ADDRESS
Always with mother
Emma, except as
noted.
|
SIBLINGS LISTED
|
1896
|
Clerk, Modern Medical
Publishing Co.
|
Boarding, South Hall,
Sanitarium
Mother not yet in BC
|
|
1897-98
|
Clerk, Sanitas
Food
Co.
|
18 Hill St. Mother now
at this address.
|
Claude Eastman,
Packer for Sanitas
Food Co.
|
1899-1902
|
Clerk, Sanitas Nut
Food Co.
|
445 W. Van Buren
|
Claude E.,
Clerk, Sanitas Food
Co.
|
1903-1904
|
Assistant General
Manager, Sanitas Nut
Food Co.
|
445 W. Van Buren
|
Claude E.,
Clerk, Sanitas Food
Co.
|
1905-1906
|
Manager, Sales
Department, BC
Sanitarium Co.
|
26 Hill St.
|
Claude E.
(Now married)
|
1907-09
|
Same as above.
|
Same as above.
|
Claude E. has now
moved to 71
Manchester. Ray
Stanley first
appears as student.
|
1910
|
Sec-Tres. Battle
Creek Optical Co.
Sec. Battle Creek
Sanitarium Co.
|
26 Hill St.
|
Ray S.,
Student.
|
1911
|
Same as above
|
88 Ann Ave.
Mother still at 26 Hill
St.
|
Ray S., Student,
living with mother.
|
1912
|
Same as above plus
Sales Mgr. Battle
Creek Equipment Co.
|
88 Ann Ave. Mother
not listed.
|
Ray S. not listed.
|
1912
|
Same as above plus
Sales Mgr. Battle
Creek Equipment Co.
|
88 Ann Ave. Mother
not listed.
|
Ray S. not listed.
|
1913-1915
|
Sec. Battle Creek
Sanitarium Co.
|
Chicago, IL. Mother at
102 Ann in Battle
Creek.
|
Ray S. boards with
mother.
|
1916
|
Wilfred no longer listed
in Battle Creek CD.
|
![](../Images-PR/A-Bar-BirthOfADivineRevelation-02.gif)
13
- A Strange Myth
~183~
5. He seems to be a good
organizer, apparently a talent that ran in the
Kellogg line.
6. His actual job is not
reflected in the Battle Creek City Directory. He
apparently is responsible
for several executive assignments, including
insurance for the Sanitas
Food Co. and the Battle Creek Sanitarium Co., as
well as other executive duties. He
speaks to W. K. Kellogg as though this were
an acceptable arrangement among the
several business firms in Battle Creek.
Two years later a shorter letter offers
additional insight, with the same psychology.
August 17, ‘08
Mr. W. K. Kellogg
If the matter could be arranged
without serious inconvenience, I would very
much appreciate a leave of absence during
September. I have an invitation from my
friend Dr. Prince to spend some time with
him, perhaps repeating our Moose Head
Lake, Me., trip of some years ago. I haven’t
been feeling at my best for some time, and
on this account am somewhat anxious to make
the trip, feeling sure that it will put me
on my feet as it did before.
Affairs in the office are running
with reasonable smoothness and I believe could
be handled satisfactorily during my absence.
The judge advises me that official matters
can be taken care of by the election of
some other member of the Board as temporary
Secretary and Treasurer.
French is familiar with the details of stock
transfers, etc., and would be able to
handle this without assistance.
I would arrange to be back in
ample time to look after the October dividends.
I shall be grateful for anything you can do
for me along the line of this request.
W.C.K.
1. Here we see a definite
attitude of executive privilege. Wilfred again does
not consider it extraordinary to ask for the
time off.
2. Again, his difficulties are
mental. He has not been feeling at his best for
some little time. Again this letter, with the
previous one, suggests a habit of pampering.
3. He is definitely in an
important position with the corn flakes company. He
is a member of the Board, and is handling
stock issues, transfers, etc. He would
be back in time to handle the October
dividend.
![](../Images-PR/A-Bar-BirthOfADivineRevelation-02.gif)
~184~
The Birth of a Divine Revelation
Letters dated February 3, and
August 12, 1909 show W. K. Kellogg on the road in
El Paso, Texas, enroute from Birmingham,
headed for Los Angeles, and in Stevensville,
Montana. Wilfred is obviously in charge back
home. He reports on plant operations,
Len told me this morning we were going to have a
fine run today, and Len worked all
night on the new dryer.
He reports also on a legal case then in court,
promotions with Sweetheart
pictures and Funny Jungleland responses, shipping
quantities, and bank
balances. In February they received orders for three
cars and 330 cases L.C.L. Shipments
will be seven cars and 225 cases L.C.L., or
3244 cases.
They are behind tonight
about twenty-three cars. Bank balance
tonight, $31,475.63.
Sales for February 1st,
3178 cases.
Output yesterday 3183 cases.
The growth of the cereal business was phenomenal.
In August
Sales for 11th were 2814
cases, making total sales so far this
month 35,516, as against 34,261 same day last
month.
They were then waiting for
orders to arrive from the west Coast and California
on a new Jungleland promotion.
But all is not well; discontent
is stirring within Wilfred. In a letter dated
January 28, 1910 Wilfred
expresses his deep regrets that he cannot agree with
financial policies then
set by W. K. Kellogg, and which vitally affect stock
holders. He tenders his resignation.
He would have informed W. K.
personally, but the latter was in Havana, Cuba. He
also expresses deep
gratitude for taking a green, inexperienced boy
together with all the
favors, both of a personal and business nature.
Here we have an indication of the
high moral standards Wilfred set for himself and
others. He does not like shady business
practices, whatever they may have been. He
does not specify.
We have no evidence of the
reception W. K. Kellogg gave this news. We do
not know if he persuaded Wilfred to continue
with the corn flakes company, or if
Wilfred departed. The City Directory listings
suggest that he continued in Battle
Creek executive positions until 1912 when the
course of his life changed entirely,
although he continued as Secretary of the
Battle Creek Sanitarium until 1915.
In a letter dated June 16, 1912
W. K. Kellogg wrote to his older brother
Merritt, long involved with SDA operations at
the Healdsburg, California sanitarium.
W. C., who married Smith’s
daughter Anna, has sold out his properties here in
Battle Creek, and is going to Chicago to
engage in Sanitarium work with the Sadlers
I think they are now on their way
to California, in Chautauqua work with the Sadlers,
who have some appointments on the Coast.
The following item appeared in the Battle Creek
Daily Moon, on Thursday,
August 29, 1912, pg 7.
Rev. George C. Tenney, Chaplain
of the Sanitarium, officiated at the double wedding
of Wilfred Custer Kellogg of Battle Creek and
Miss Anna Kellogg, and of Sarah
Willmer of La Grange, Ill. and of Edward Van
Bond of Dallas, Texas, which took place
Wednesday evening at the residence of Dr. and
Mrs. Sadler of La Grange. Mrs. Sadler
![](../Images-PR/A-Bar-BirthOfADivineRevelation-02.gif)
13
- A Strange Myth
~185~
being a sister of Miss Kellogg
who has made her home there for some time as has
Miss Willmer, the young ladies being close
friends. Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg will return to
this city to reside and will be at home at 64
Oaklawn Avenue after Nov. 1. Mr. Kellogg
is known extensively in the West End, is
secretary of the Battle Creek Sanitarium Co.,
Ltd., and also secretary-treasurer of the
Battle Creek Optical Co.
A similar notice appeared in the
Battle Creek
Inquirer on the
same day.
Wilfred Custer Kellogg of Battle
Creek was one of the principals of a double
wedding which was solemnized last evening at
La Grange, Indiana (sic), when he was
married to Miss Anna Kellogg. Miss Sarah
Willmer of La Grange and Edward Van
Bond of Dallas, Texas were the other bridal
pair. The two young women have been
close friends for many years, and have made
their home during recent years with Miss
Kellogg’s brother-in-law and sister, Dr. and
Mrs. William Samuel Sadler, of La Grange,
at whose residence the double wedding was
celebrated at 8 o’clock last evening. Miss
Kellogg is the daughter of Smith M. Kellogg
of Pomona, Cal. Mr. Kellogg and his bride
will make their home at 64 Oaklawn avenue
after Nov. 1. He is secretary and treasurer
of the Battle Creek Optical company and
secretary of the Battle Creek Sanitarium
Company, Ltd. He is one of the city’s most
promising young business men, and everyone
will be deeply interested in his marriage
with one of Illinois’ fairest daughters.
Those plans did not mature.
Wilfred decided to live with the Sadlers and he
continued to live with the Sadlers or in
adjacent apartments until he died in 1956.
I searched all records in the
Cook County Courthouse that pertained to the
property at 56 South 6th Avenue in La Grange,
for the period that the Sadlers
lived there. I learned that William Sadler
transferred the property to Wilfred on
June 14, 1913. Lena financed the sale;
Wilfred signed a trust deed to her. Then,
on November 15, Wilfred sold the property to
James F. Slapak, where Slapak’s
wife Wilhelmina set up a doctor’s office.
Refer to the tabulation.
Several questions arise as to the
motivations behind these transactions. If
Wilfred sold his properties in Battle Creek,
why did he need Lena to finance him,
except that he did not have sufficient equity
to purchase the La Grange property
outright, in spite of his positions, which
certainly must have paid well. Why did
Sadler not finance him, or at least Sadler
and Lena? Wilfred does not show in
either the 1912 or 1913 La Grange city
directories, although Anna does as Mrs.
Wilfred C. Kellogg. The Sadler household
moved from La Grange in 1913. If the
property transactions are indicative, Sadler
and Lena must have moved out around
June. Did Wilfred and Anna remain until
November? Since Anna had lived with
her sister from 1904, when the Sadlers
entered medical school, it would seem
that the sisters had a strong attachment to
one another. Anna had become part
of the Chautauqua circuit in 1907, and was
thus a business component of Sadler’s
activities, as well as a family member. Did
Sadler try to get Anna and Wilfred away
from his household, and on their own?
![](../Images-PR/A-Bar-BirthOfADivineRevelation-02.gif)
~186~
The Birth of a Divine Revelation
Not for long. Wilfred shows up in
the Chicago city directory in 1915 as a manager
at 32 N. State Street, Sadler’s clinic
operation, and at 2146 Lincoln Park West, the next
Sadler address. Wilfred continued to be
listed as the manager at 32 N. State St. until
Sadler moved his operations to 533 Diversey
Parkway in 1922, whereupon Wilfred became
manager at that address. Wilfred and Anna
continued to live with the Sadlers until
Lena died in 1939, when they moved to 2756 N.
Hampden Court, an apartment building
directly to the rear of 533.
A curiosity in my search was the
lack of a personal listing for Wilfred in La
Grange and, for many years, in the Chicago
City Directory. He shows as manager
at 32 N. State Street, probably because he
was part of the Sadler business activity,
but does not show in personal listings,
although Anna does. There was a
definite avoidance of the City Directory
listings by Wilfred.
I inquired of several people who
knew Wilfred. What kind of man was he?
When I suggested that he might have been the
spiritual conduit for
The Urantia
Papers
I invariable met with
laughter, not laughter of derision but of amusement.
All
considered it ludicrous that he was anything but a
good office man. Jim
Mills, President of the Urantia Brotherhood for
several years, first met
Wilfred in 1951, when Jim became a strong believer
in The
Urantia Papers,
and a late-comer to the
Forum. In a letter to me dated April 29, 1993 Jim
described Wilfred as a
small man, perhaps five feet, seven inches in
height, slender build,
wearing the conventional business suit of the
period.
My first impression of him
included a certain humility of manner and
expression. He was
definitely not an extrovert. The expression
hard-nosed business man in the
terminology of the time was and is, in my
opinion, totally inapplicable. He was indeed,
a gentleman.
His responsibilities in the early
1950’s included, apparently, the custody and
safe-keeping of the press-proof copies of
The Urantia Papers.
When one wished to read
some papers, they phoned 533 and left their request,
including time of anticipated
arrival and departure. Upon arrival they
often would be met by Mr. Kellogg,
papers in hand, who always said, “If I can be
of any further help, please let me know.”
During the reading process Mr.
Kellogg might be observed occasionally passing
by the door of the reader’s sanctuary, but he
never entered or indulged in frivolous
conversation. His movements were very quiet
and self-effacing. He seemed to be very
conscious of the reader’s concentration,
making every effort to see that neither he nor
others would break into it.
As I came to know him better I
was greatly impressed with his respect for his
fellow human beings and his desire to serve
them, which, in no way detracted anything
from his own sense of self-consciousness. I
felt a good man truly applied to him.
. . . In concluding a few notes
about Wilfred Kellogg, he was definitely an
individual. His devotion
to the papers was all-inclusive. He was humble but
forceful. He had no
patience with the dilettante, especially in
reference to the revelation.
![](../Images-PR/A-Bar-BirthOfADivineRevelation-02.gif)
13 - A Strange Myth
~187~
Several attributes of character
can be deduced from Wilfred’s personal choices. He
did not marry until he was thirty-six years
old. Then he married a first cousin, one year
his junior. He lived with his mother until
age thirty-five, one year before his departure
from Battle Creek, certainly not unheard of,
but definitely a retiring personality who did
not feel a call to strike out on his own. He
never had ambitions to make conquests,
whether in artistic creative fields, in
business, or with the fair sex. Environmental
pressures made him uneasy;
he needed time off to recuperate. By thirty-seven
years of age he did not
have sufficient personal funds to buy a home. He
went to a sister-in-law and
cousin, to help him, not to a bank or
financing office. And even that became an aborted
effort. His real estate ownership in La
Grange did not last more than five months. Perhaps
the family tried to get him to be a man, to
exert some self initiative. If so, they failed.
He never did exhibit self
ambitions, even to the end of his life, more than as
an office manager. Sadler
may have offered him that position as a personal
favor. He lived with the
Sadlers until circumstances forced him out of that
household when he was sixty-four
years old.
Sadler described the Sleeping
Subject as a hard-boiled business man, member
of the board of trade and stock exchange.
Wilfred most definitely was not a
hard-boiled businessman. He declined to join
his uncle in hard-boiled business
decisions. Wilfred was never a member of the
Chicago Board of Trade, nor was
he a stock broker, although he handled the
issue and transfer of stock for his
uncle, an executive position, not a stock
trade position. Wilfred could not have
been the Sleeping Subject on these grounds.
Sadler also described the
Sleeping Subject as approaching middle age. In
1908 Wilfred was thirty-two years old. We do
not apply the descriptive phrase
“middle age” to anyone forty years of age or
less. Usually it is reserved for someone
fifty or older. In 1908 Wilfred was not even
approaching middle age. Therefore
Wilfred could not have been the Sleeping
Subject on those grounds.
Wilfred was busy in Battle Creek
in 1908, the year Sadler first met the
Sleeping Subject. He lived with his mother,
and was manager of the Sales Department
of the Battle Creek Sanitarium Company. He
was not then a stock broker,
or in any other business activity in Chicago
or La Grange, nor did he live in Chicago
or La Grange. Wilfred could not have been the
Sleeping Subject on those
grounds.
For his book Martin Gardner
failed to do the research necessary to demonstrate
these several items which deny Wilfred as the
Sleeping Subject. He based
his conclusions mostly on rumor and speculation, a
pathetic choice for one with
his reputation. Furthermore, Gardner had
other information available which showed
that Wilfred could not have been the Sleeping
Subject.
Gardner has access to the files
of Harold Sherman. Those files, although
closed to the general public until the year
2,000, were opened to him by Martha
Sherman as a personal favor. They contained
many letters which Harry J. Loose
wrote to Sherman. In those letters Loose gave
items of information which should
have convinced Gardner that Wilfred was not
the Sleeping Subject.
![](../Images-PR/A-Bar-BirthOfADivineRevelation-02.gif)
~188~
The Birth of a Divine Revelation
In a letter dated October 21,
1942 Loose states that, at one time, there were
seventeen Contact
Commissioners, those who dealt directly with the
Sleeping Subject in the
early days. They would have included Sadler and his
family, together with the Kelloggs,
medical and psychology consultants, magicians
to test methods by which the Sleeping
Subject might have performed the observed
feats, or others who might shed light on the
strange behavior of the man during the night
vigils. In that letter Loose states about the
wife of the Sleeping Subject:
. . . the phone was direct from
her to Sadler’s home phone and it lay between
Christy and the Kelloggs to go through the
phone lists of the Contact Commissioners
and call them and tell them to hurry to the
home of the instrument.
The wife of the Sleeping Subject
would be awakened by his strange behavior,
whereupon she would call the Sadlers,
regardless of the time of night. William
Sadler and the Sleeping Subject felt the
episodes were so important to understand
his affliction they were willing to pay the
phone company for a direct tie line
to Sadler’s phone.
A group of people numbering more
than four or five certainly must have
been involved in observation of the Sleeping
Subject during these episodes. One
can remember the telephone number of four or
five people out of one’s head. If
Anna and Wilfred Kellogg shared the call
responsibility with Christy, Sadler’s adopted
daughter and stenographer for the night
sessions, the list must have included at
least ten or twelve, or perhaps more, people.
The knowledge that so many people
were willing to arise from their beds in the
middle of the night to attend these
unusual sessions is highly informative. This
was not an ordinary phenomenon.
Furthermore, there was an urgency
about getting to the home of the Sleeping
Subject. The task of making telephone contact
with the many Contact Commissioners
was not left to one person. The job was
shared to save time.
Obviously, Wilfred could not have been the Sleeping
Subject if he were calling
other people to hurry to the home of the Sleeping
Subject. But Gardner chose
to suppress this item of information; he did not
inform his readers about it.
He censored vital information to
avoid exposing his theory.
Furthermore, Sadler said the lease of the Sleeping
Subject expired that fall,
the fall of 1908, and that he moved into an
apartment in the same block. Here
Sadler clearly distinguishes the physical
locations of the Sleeping Subject outside
the household locations of the Sadlers.
Wilfred, when he came to La Grange in
1912, actually lived with the Sadlers, in
their Victorian house, not in an apartment
in the same block. Wilfred could not have
been the Sleeping Subject on those
grounds.
It truly would be ridiculous, and
pathetic, for any one to suppose that Wilfred
Kellogg had anything whatsoever to do with
the delivery of a divine revelation.
13
- A Strange Myth
~189~
56 South 6th Street, La
Grange, Illinois
History of Property
Transactions Involving William S. Sadler
Cook
County
Document
#
|
Transferor
|
Transferee
|
Date of
Transaction
|
Date of
Recording
|
Type of
Transaction
|
4180707
|
Susan A.
Beatty
James T.
Beatty
|
Frank L.
Borwell
|
Mar 30,1908
|
Apr 1,1908
|
Warranty
Deed
|
4184294
|
Susan A.
Beatty
James T.
Beatty
|
William S.
Sadler
|
Apr 4, 1908
|
Apr 9,1908
|
Agreement
|
4720309
|
W. S. Sadler
|
Frank L.
Borwell
|
Mar 1, 1911
|
Mar 20,1911
|
Trust Deed
(Mortgage)
|
4733627
|
Susan A.
Beatty
James T.
Beatty
|
W. S. Sadler
|
Feb 16,
1911
|
Apr 3,
1911
|
Warranty
Deed
|
4733628
|
Frank L.
Borwell
|
W. S. Sadler
|
Mar 1, 1911
|
Apr 3, 1911
|
Release
|
5202535
|
W. S. Sadler
|
Wilfred C.
Kellogg
|
Jun 4, 1913
|
Jun 9, 1913
|
Warranty
Deed
|
5202536
|
Wilfred C.
Kellogg
|
Lena C.
Sadler
|
Jun 5, 1913
|
Jun 9, 1913
|
Trust Deed
|
5307628
|
Wilfred C.
Kellogg
|
James F.
Slapak
|
Nov 15,
1913
|
Nov 19,1913
|
Warranty
Deed
|
|
Notes taken Dec 1-2, 1993
Research notes and assistance by
Harold Wolff, — 12\02\93
Frank L. Borwell lived at 204 S. Spring St.
approximately 1/2 mile from 56 6th St. His
house was built in 1896 designed by an
architect named Howard Shaw. Howard Shaw was
the son of Theodore Shaw who lived on Perry
Ave in Chicago, location of many of the
wealthy of Chicago. Theodore Shaw was an
associate of Frank Borwell as a Commission
Merchant dealing in groceries. Borwell died
in 1914 or 1915.
|
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|