Kellogg's Grove Investigation

The first Battle of Kellogg's Grove, or the Battle of Burr Oak Grove, occurred on June 16, 1832. Men from Captain Adam Wilson Snyder's company engaged part of a group of about 80 Kickapoo warriors resulting in three militia deaths and six Kickapoo deaths.

On the night of June 15, 1832, Captain Snyder and his men were in Kellogg's Grove when Native Americans were discovered in the area, during the night a horse was stolen. The next day, June 16, Snyder and his men pursued the Native Americans to the southwest; they came upon four natives and killed them. During the ensuing skirmish, Private William B. Mecomson was fatally wounded. The militia men put the wounded man on a litter and began to carry him back to the Kellogg cabin, along the way Mecomson asked that the group stop to rest. The group stopped and some of the men went for water while the rest waited with Mecomson. As they waited, a large group of Native Americans came upon them; a short battle followed and two more militia members were killed. After the short skirmish, the natives left the area and the militia men returned to the Kellogg cabin and buried their dead the next day.

The Second Battle of Kellogg's Grove occurred on June 25, 1832, after Major John Dement and his men, while camped at Kellogg's Grove on Sunday June 24, learned of a large group of Native Americans nearby. The battle pitted a large band of Native American warriors led by Black Hawk and his war chiefs Neapope and Weesheet against Dement's spy company of militia men. Dement's company had been searching the area for bands of warriors sent out by Black Hawk and their trail had led to Kellogg's Grove.

During the night, three of the militia's horses wandered off; the next day, June 25, three men went in search of the animals while the rest stayed behind. At the cabin, seven Native American braves appeared in the distance. The troops immediately began pursuing the natives, who fled into the woods, instead of reporting the sighting to Dement. The Native American warriors, as had been done other times during the course of the war, set an ambush for the militia men in the forest. The militia pursued the natives into the woods and, as they entered the forest, the natives opened fire; the volley instantly killed two militia men and wounded another. The militia retreated and formed a battle line but the native forces would not relent. The rest of Dement's company attempted to rescue the outmatched militia men but were unable to beat back the native warriors. Black Hawk's band attacked the militia men, again forcing the beleaguered force to fall back to the Kellogg cabin and barn.

As the militia fell back, the three men who had set out in search of their horses returned and they too were killed by the Native American forces. The natives continued to assault the barn and cabin; their attacks did not cease and during the battle about 25 horses were killed. Finally, the native forces withdrew, leaving nine of their own dead behind. The June 25 battle was the last of the Black Hawk War on Illinois soil. Dement's company lost five men with another three were wounded; many horses were killed as well.

That night American reinforcements arrived under the command of General Alexander Posey, who chose not to pursue the attackers and instead reported the situation to Colonel Zachary Taylor. Black Hawk asserted later that had Posey chose to attack him and his warriors that the blow dealt Black Hawk's band would have been decisive and war-ending. In fact, Dement's opinion was that there were more Native Americans at Kellogg's Grove than at any other engagement during the war. The next day more reinforcements arrived when Captain Jacob Early's detachment reached the grove.

Sources vary concerning exactly which side was victorious during the battle. The Battle of Kellogg's Grove, like many of the battles and skirmishes during the Black Hawk War, had no real order or strategy. Early sources indicated that the battle was a complete victory for the state militia, declaring the battle a rout and noting that the Sauk lost 15 while the militia only suffered 5 men killed. Conversely, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the result, essentially, was that the band of approximately 50 Sauk warriors routed the 300 or so ill-disciplined white troops.

The battle site at Kellogg's Grove was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on June 23, 1978. The listing included a 1½ acre public park where a stone monument and memorial cemetery is located. The cemetery holds the interred remains of the militia who died during both battles at Kellogg's Grove. The men were initially buried in other spots around the grove but during the 1880s local farmers banded together to collect the remains of the Black Hawk War dead and inter them in one spot beneath a memorial.

Address: Stephenson County near Kent, Illinois 61044

Hauntings: There are no reported stories or personal encounters of any type of paranormal activity here, however since there was loss of life here it is possible that there could be either some residual or intelligent activity still lingering here.

The GRS investigated Kellogg's Grove on June 19, 2021 and the team included: Kathie Para, Marge Sucha, Greg Kos, Mike Wright, Ronald Lovatt and Dale Kaczmarek with help from Dan Norvell and Larry Eissler from the Dan Norvell Project.

Equipment setup: Hand-held equipment was used including Phasma Box, Paranormal Puck 2b, SB-11 ghost box, Estes Method, digital recorders and camcorders, SB-7, ghost box, cell phones and dowsing rods.

Experiments performed: SB-11 ghost box, Paranormal Puck 2b, Phasma Box and Estes Method sessions were recorded at the Lincoln Statue the site of the former log cabin.

Paranormal experiences:

(See Waddams Grove report)

Greg Kos: GRS team members were Dale Ron Kathie Mike W and Barbara and Greg. The equipment that I used was once again the EDI+ meter SB-7 Spirit Box and A SBOX Spirit Box. Kathie Mike Barbara Marge and Greg were in one group and did both the Lincoln statue and the area where the cabin at one time was located, Mike and I did a Estes Method at the Lincoln Statue with no interesting words coming thru and we did a Estes at the cabin site as well with nothing interesting heard . The EDI+ was picking up random vibrations of which we had no explanation ... Maybe a close by tractor? We had no other activity beside Dale doing his first Estes Method with no results. Practice makes perfect.

Dan Norvell: Larry and I were really the first people to ever investigate here back in January of 2014. We captured one EVP then. I had asked where everyone that could communicate was from and we heard, “Kent.” Kellogg’s Grove is in unincorporated Kent.

The next time Larry and I went there together we caught “fire” on the Ghostbox. We have never caught any questionable photos there or at Waddams Grove. Our best observation of evidence was when we went there with the GRS team.

Kathie Para: GRS members along with Dan Norvell and Larry Eissler visited Blackhawk was sites in Stephenson County, Illinois on June 19, 2021. We spent most of our time at Kellogg’s Grove Memorial site.

We conducted several EVP sessions while there. And while it was an amazing and somber location, I personally didn’t have any paranormal experiences.

Marge Sucha: Kellogg grove was beautiful and peaceful. We again did some EVP sessions with several members participating in the Estes Method. Again we did have some interesting responses but overall it was fairly quiet.

Mike Wright: This was a memorial site that had graves for some of the soldiers killed during the Blackhawk War. There was some renovation going on around one of the structures which limited our accessibility. The area has a dark history among the Sauk, Fox and Kickapoo tribes. I did not know about the history of the area prior to going there was there with Dan and his group, Dale, Greg, Kathie Marge and Ron. I brought my dowsing rods, K-II and Ovilus but did not get responses. Also took part of Estes Method with Greg, Marge and Kathie. When I had the headphones on there was very little that I could understand, when Greg had the headphones on he was picking up more words. I do not usually do outside investigations because it is hard for me to hear anything on the recorders because of the background noises.

Dale Kaczmarek: Very little in the way of communication occurred here during several different EVP sessions employing different types of devices. There was some wind contamination and talking in the background from the others in the group that were conducting a simultaneous Este Method Session or dowsing rods. This should not be done at the same time not only due to cross contamination but confusing the spirits of which area to go to and which device to speak through. Someone else was liking posts on Facebook which were clearly heard on the recordings.

We need to pay more attention to the mission at hand and not be on social media during an investigation.

Evidence collected: None.

Words spoken by the Paranormal Puck 2b: new, opening, soft, cement, B, pushed, talking, self, rake, southern, Japanese, troop, bay.

Conclusions: Windy but beautiful day! Mostly random words came through both the Phasma Box and Paranormal Puck 2b. While broadcasting a Live Facebook, those tuning in thought that they heard a date of 1830 while another said it sounded like 1880. Dean Thompson from Ghost Head Soup said that he heard the name, “Edward” come through.

This was a very cool area and I think we should revisit this site with a smaller group and perhaps in the evening with a camera setup, IR illumination, Nightshot binoculars, laser grids and a lot of other paranormal devices to pick up any EMF readings. With the total lack of any power lines or other naturally-occurring EMF fields near to the site, any readings that we might receive on our devices would prove to be most interesting!