October 1, 1910

We decided not to go to church this Sunday, as we didn’t need the extra fuss of trying to find our different churches and still get back and pack. I’m sure the Lord will excuse us on this occasion, but we must find a church in Salt Lake City so that we cannot use the same excuse next Sunday.

At 11, we checked out of our lovely hotel and took a taxi to the Denver and Rio Grande train depot. We showed our tickets and got on board the coach, the Nomad. It is a three car train consisting of the rear car, which has a glassed in observation car, the middle car which is mainly berths, two upper and two lower, and a lavatory and the first car holds the kitchen and bunks for the crew. There is a vestibule at each end, with comfortable chairs for sitting out.

We took photos of the train for our intended write-up of our adventure. Before we left, I went to the photo company to see if our photos had been developed. Luckily they were, and we were able to have them with us. Otherwise, I would have had to ask them to forward us to the Peery Hotel. But as we have nearly used up all the shots in our current cameras - I took the opportunity to buy us two more.

The train started out on time, and we were a very select group on board. There were only another ten passengers, and the crew of six.

To pass time, I asked the porter to tell us a bit about the history of the train.

“Well Ma’am,” he said, “Colorado railroad pioneer General William Jackson Palmer, in a letter dated January 17, 1870 to his fiancée, Queen Mellen, described his vision for building 'a little railroad a few hundred miles in length, all under one's control with one's friends,' and 'I would have a nice house-car made, just convenient for you and me - to travel up and down when business demanded, and this car would contain every convenience of living while in motion.' He and his bride had exclusive use of it for the first three years.”

We did indeed find the train luxurious. It is decorated throughout in mahogany and silver, which gives it a very rich feel. The velvet upholstery is burgundy, and matches the outside color of the train. It was steam-heated, which although the weather in Denver was still very pleasant today, we were sure we would value when we went through the higher mountain passes.

Later when the same porter came through again, he said, “I forgot to tell you ladies that this train has been used by Presidents of the United States. Both U.S. Grant and Teddy Roosevelt have sat in those same seats that you are sitting in now. And we’ve had European royalty and quite a few millionaires.”

It seems that Teddy Roosevelt's name comes to haunt us wherever we go. He also had stayed at the Brown Palace Hotel.

When dinner time came, we were served on heavy silver service, with cut glass, and finest china. But the best part of the trip were the views. We managed to take quite a few extraordinary pictures as we rode by.

The next day, all the news in the papers is about the Los Angeles bombing by dynamite of the Los Angeles Times building which apparently happened yesterday. The explosion started a fire which killed 21 newspaper employees and injured 100 more. I am glad our searches did not take us to Los Angeles.

 
Chapter 20

As we sat on the train, we discussed what our strategy would be for trying to look for Cora Sue in Salt Lake City.

“There will be no possibility of checking for her phone number unless she is still going by her maiden name - but I doubt that. If she has a child, and is living with a man, she will go by his name.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to check for Cora Kellogg’s just in case things  didn’t work out with him and she is still single.”

“I think our main clue to his identity is in the fact that he is a jeweler. We can go and ask at all the jewelery stores.”

“There might be hundreds.”

“Yes, but they will know each other. If we ask if they know of any of the other jewelers have a wife called Cora - it might get us nearer our goal sooner.”

“I just thought of something. You are a Catholic, so Cora Sue must be too. She might be known at a church. We could contact all the Catholic churches in the area to see if she is a member.”

“If she has a child which is illegitimate, or is living with a married man, I doubt if she would even go to church. She would know that they would say that she was living in sin and that she would have to give up the man if she wanted to be a communicant in the church.”

“Well, it is worth trying. His wife might have died, and she might have married him when he was available. We just don’t know.”

“I think the fact that he made silver jewelery and was living in a place where silver is mined is important. He might not be a jeweler as such, but a silversmith - someone who makes objects including jewelery out of silver.”

“Yes, we can certainly see if there are any of those around. They would be less in number than ordinary jewelers.”

“Can you think of any other possibilities? What sort of hobbies did she have?”

“She didn’t really have many hobbies. She sang quite well, but wasn’t really good enough or confident enough to want to sing professionally.”

“We could check to see if a baby born somewhere in mid summer 1900 has a mother called Kellogg. I think they ask for the mother’s maiden name on the birth forms.”

“Will they tell you that?”

“I am not sure, but I think it is probably a public record. It would be in some sort of record office in the town hall or someplace like that.”

“There might have been hundreds of babies born at that time, so that is really not a very good option, but we will keep it in mind. Do you think if she was pregnant, she might have tried to get rid of the baby?”

“No, I really don’t think she would. Even if the father didn’t marry her and she had to do it on her own, I think she would keep the baby as best she could.”

“Of course, the baby was only a speculation about why she might have left in a hurry. She might not have been pregnant at all - or if she was, she might have miscarried.”

“If she was married, I think she would have wanted to have children.”

“But if he already had children, maybe he would not want any more.”

“Well, when we are settled in our hotel, I think we will first check to see if there are any listed silversmiths - and if that does ‘t work out, we will try the jewelers next.”

So on we traveled, enjoying the magnificent scenery - going through very tight mountain passes. This really was a feat of great engineering - putting a railway line right through the mountains. 

And what a wonderful view we had when we reached our destination. This city has magnificent mountains, the Wasatch Range, for a backdrop, and a huge lake in front.
We arrived more or less on time, and asked our taxi to take us to the Peery Hotel at 110 West Broadway.

Again, I shall quote from the literature about the hotel to say what it was like.

The beautiful Grand Lobby replicates the gracious charm of a Victorian parlor. Wingback chairs cozy up to reading lamps and side tables. An enormous chandelier hangs above the entry table on the marble walkway that leads to the grand staircase. Guest rooms and suites offer half-canopy beds and antique-style furnishings. There are Parlor-style lounges on each floor. Peery Hotel impresses guests from the moment they walk through the cut glass double doors into the stately lobby.

The lobby is delightful, with old-style pigeonholes for letters and a grand staircase to the upper floors. Each unique, handsomely appointed room contains period furnishings and pedestal sinks with antique brass fixtures.

Having checked in, we went down to have a cup of tea (water for me) to unwind and just get our bearings. We asked the waitress in the tea shop about the history of this hotel, which had only just opened this year.

“It was built by the two brothers, David and Joseph Perry, mainly for businessmen and their families. The architect is quite a famous man - maybe you have heard of him - Charles Onderdunk.”

“No, I haven’t, but, he certainly did a good job.”

“Are you Mormons?” she asked.

“No, we aren’t. Is that what most of your visitors are?”

“It is a bit late in the season for ordinary tourists. Things get a bit colder around here before long, you will find.”

“We are interested in finding someone who makes beautiful silver jewelery who lives in this town. Do you know of any shops where they might sell that sort of thing?”

“Oh, this place is full of silver. Almost every shop will try to sell you something made of silver. They mine it all over the place around here.”

“Does the name Cora Kellogg mean anything to you?”

“No, sorry. I think there are some Kelloggs in town though. I remember because I heard about that new cereal, corn flakes, made by somebody called Kellogg.”

“Oh, that’s a different family completely,” I said. “Thank you for your help,” and she went to get our order.

Later when she returned with our food, she said, “You ladies want to watch it a bit in this town. You know that this place has got a reputation for allowing women of the night to do what they want.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, a couple years ago, when they were trying to spruce up the town and remove vice from the downtown area, they came up with what they thought was a really good plan. They decided to allow a Madam to run a house called Belle London and do her stuff legally in just one small area. But, let me tell you, it didn’t work. There are lots of men hanging around looking for a good time, so make sure you are always together when you go out.”

“Thank you for your advice. We will bear that in mind,” said Kate.

Afterwards she thought that the idea that some man would mistake one of us for a Madam of the night was both flattering and insulting, and we both had a good laugh over it.

Having had such success using the telephone exchange in Denver, we tried to do the same thing here. It was an easy enough building to find, Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Company.

I went up to the woman at the desk and asked if I could have the phone number of the Kelloggs in Salt Lake City.
“What first name is it?”

“Cora Sue.”

“I’m afraid that we don’t have any Cora Sue listed. We do have a Roy Kellogg and a George Kellogg. Do you want their numbers?”

“Yes, please, as they might know where Cora Sue is.”

So she happily wrote down the two numbers for us.
George was 225 and Roy was 340.

“Are you ladies new in Salt Lake City?” she asked in a friendly fashion.

“Yes, we are just visiting for a few weeks. I am hoping to catch up with my sister, who moved here about ten years ago.”

“Oh, well, you had better talk to Mr. Riter. That is him over there,” she said pointing to an elderly man sitting by a desk on the far side. “He used to be the only pharmacist in town but now they have branches all over the place, called Riter Brothers' Drug Stores. If your sister ever went into his drug store, he might remember.”

So we thanked her and approached the man.

“Excuse me, but that lady over there said you might be able to help us. We are looking for my sister who moved here about ten years ago but now we don’t know where she is living.”

“And what is your sister’s name?”

“Cora Sue Kellogg. She is a bit older than me, but she would have been about 40 in 1900. We think she was living with a jeweler or anyway a man who made silver jewelery who lived here, but we don’t know his name.”

“What did she look like?”

“Well quite a bit like me, but with lighter hair and  shorter and plumper.”

“I can’t say the name or description rings a bell for me,” then he laughed as he considered that quite a funny joke, coming from the telephone office.

“You ladies sound as if you come from the East.”

“Yes we live in Massachusetts just outside Boston.”

“My son, Franklin, just graduated from Colombia University in New York. He’s a lawyer. I am very proud of him even though I was hoping he would take over my drug stores. I have five of them now, you know.”

“That is very good - him being a lawyer. We just might need one of those while we are here, so we will keep him in mind,” said Kate.

“My son, who has just started medical school in Albany, New York, is called Franklin too, but we call him Frankie to distinguish him from his father.”

“What a coincidence,” said Mr. Riter. “My name is Franklin too, but in reality it is Benjamin Franklin, as is my son’s, but for some reason I prefer to go by my initials, B.F. and my son prefers just the Franklin.”

We all laughed. Imagine parents giving you such a name, but, of course, Mr. Riter had landed his son with the very name that he himself didn’t want to use in its entirety.

“Why don’t I take you two nice ladies out for a cup of coffee and I can tell you a bit about our fair town. Have you been here before?”

“No,” we both said together, “but it is a very beautiful city and we are very pleased to be here,” added Kate.

I couldn’t help thinking that Kate and Mr. Riter had a sort of spark going between them, and since he knew all that there was to know about what happened in Salt Lake City over the last ten years, it was a good connection to make. So we agreed, and the three of us went out the door and to Mr. Riter’s favorite restaurant, between Main and State Street, Martine.

We walked up the steps and into the cute little brownstone building but were quickly impressed with the immense oak and beveled glass doors, high ceilings, and we settled into a deep cozy booth. The bar was backed by an old bank vault. The waitresses were dressed in crisp white aprons over their black outfits and it reminded me of the hotel in Chicago that Cora Sue and I stayed in back in 1883.

Having ordered, we settled down and let Mr. Riter tell us about his town.

“You probably know about our origins, with the Mormons coming here. Well, it is true that at the turn of the century, when your sister arrived here, nearly 9 out of 10 of our citizens were Latter-day Saints. Apart from approximately 3,000 Indians, mostly on reservations, the 571 blacks and 768 Chinese counted in the 1895 territorial census were the largest racial minorities.

"Perhaps 2,000 of our total of 50,000 were polygamous families and there were a considerable number of single men in the mining communities.

“We were pretty well set up even then. A maze of power and telephone lines in the downtown area; a university and eight academies; a limited distribution of natural and manufactured gas; 68 miles of street railway; three daily newspapers; three theaters and two businessmen's clubs; a just-finished gravity sewage system with seven miles of mains; and a three-year-old fun spot, the Saltair resort, perched on piles in Great Salt Lake were further evidences of the march of progress.”

“That sounds like someplace we must visit - Saltair.”

Rather annoyed at being interrupted in mid flow, B.F. continued, “Farming and mining were the main businesses of the state, and neither was doing well. The Panic of 1893 had added mining distress to agricultural depression. Approximately one-third of Utah's total employed population was engaged in agriculture.

“So the farmers tried out some other crops to try to help them survive. 40,000 pounds of cotton and almost 3,000 gallons of wine produced in the Virgin River country in a year in 1895 and 10,000 pounds of silk cocoons reported a year later. We also started growing sugar beets, and processed some 40,000 tons a year.

“At approximately 65¢ per ounce, Utah's mines had produced only $4,800 in silver in 1895, and that largely from a few spectacular enterprises like the Centennial-Eureka and Bullion-Beck in the Tintic District and the Silver King and almost exhausted Ontario at Park City. The total value of nonferrous metal production was down almost $4 million from 1890.

“Most of the agriculture was owned exclusively by the Mormons. The mines and the railway were not - but, for the town to survive, the two groups had to work together, rather than keeping strictly apart as they had done for that period earlier. With cooperation, the town again began to increase in wealth and confidence.”

“So you are saying that the Mormons had to give up some control that their church had in the state for it to go forward.”

“Yes, that is exactly it. Up til then, the Mormon-owned shops had been Co-ops, and some still are, but once the non church people came in, they come up with the idea for getting customers in by having a sale.

“'All Our Underwear at One-Third Off' drew crowds to Siegel Clothing Company, where the finest full length union suits in 'Switz Conde' cost $2.75 but 'natural mixtures' could be had for 60 cents. Auerbach's was clearing ladies' tailor-made suits at $3.85, foot warmers at $.50 a pair, children's shoes at $1.00 a pair, and ostrich feather boas from $1.75 to $10.00. Lipman, Nadel and Son offered "Your choice of any suit or overcoat in the store for $10.00. The corner grocers usually relied on handbills rather than newspapers to call attention to their 10¢ beefsteak, 15¢ butter, and assorted penny candy.

“It should be remembered, however, that those were the days when $2.00 was a good day's wages, and the youngsters in a workingman's family did not always have pennies to spend on luxuries.

“A public school system came in, and unlike their parents, children could go to school without tuition fees. The Mormon academies were, on the other hand, vigorously expanding in secondary education and the normal course training of teachers.

“The Mormon churches were giving up some of their economic and political activities and transferring many of their educational functions to the state. And most of the major Christian communions were represented in churches and hospitals.

“So you are telling us that when Cora Sue moved here, she would have had a better chance of getting a job and being accepted, as a non-Mormon, than she would have done a few years before that.”

“Exactly my point. Sorry if I seem to go on, but I do like to share my knowledge of the history of my state.”

“We found it very interesting. But say that this young woman with her silver jewelery producing boyfriend came into the city about that time, where do you think it useful for us to go to look for them?”

“If he had anything to do with silver mining, you should go to the establishments that deal with miners - the Alta Club.”

“And is that easy to find?”

“Certainly. I can give you the address, and if you give me your address, I will take it upon myself to make some inquiries myself and let you know what I find.”

“Thank you so much BF,” said Kate. “You have been more than helpful. We will follow up on your suggestion tomorrow, and do certainly contact us at the Peery Hotel if you can find anything else that might help us in our search.”

So with that, we took our leave of our new friend, with a much more positive take on our possible task ahead.

When we reentered the hotel, I asked to use the telephone, which was located in the ladies lounge, as it had been in Denver. I checked out the two telephone numbers. Mr. Roy Kellogg was of no assistance at all. Mr. George Kellogg, who mentioned that he had a wife, Mary and two children, had no knowledge of Cora Sue, but he did tell me he was from Wisconsin, so we had a good chat about his childhood in Font du Lac.