Margaret Frances Case Cook Papers, ca. 1901-1960

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Summary

Creators:
Cook (Margaret Frances Case)
Extent:
.2 linear feet (1 half-size box)
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

Family correspondence, financial papers, passport, and photographs (mainly b/w family and cruise snapshots) of Santa Barbara resident Margaret Frances Case Cook. Also, a journal inscribed to Mrs. E. E. Kellogg, wife of John Harvey Kellogg, from her adopted daughter Helena, ca. 1901-1902. The journal, written in various hands, mostly relates the antics of three boys staying with the many Kellogg children at Gull Lake in Michigan. Helena is mentioned as "one of the older girls." Ella Eaton Kellogg was the superintendent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium School of Cooking, a dietician, magazine editor, and author of the books Science in the Kitchen (1893) and Studies in Character Building: A Book for Parents (1905).

Biographical / historical:

Margaret Frances Case was born November 2, 1915 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She spent her teenage years in Cooperstown, NY at the Knox School for Girls, and maintained a regular correspondence with her father, Dr. James T. Case (1882-1960), a staff physician at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, which was run by the health food pioneer John Harvey Kellogg (1852-1943).

Kellogg, perhaps best known as the inventor of Corn Flakes and other "healthful" foods such as peanut butter and granola, also held a number of unorthodox ideas, such as advocating the benefits of yogurt enemas. He also was opposed to all forms of sexual activity, even with his wife, Ella Eaton Kellogg (1853-1920). As a result, the Kelloggs adopted over 40 children, including Helena Margaret Sargent (1883-1959), who had been born on the Isle of Wight in England. Helena grew up to become a medical doctor herself, and eventually married Dr. James T. Case in 1908.

The letters from Dr. Case to his daughter are full of fatherly affection, as well as concern for Margaret's academic progress and his wife's chronic ill health. After moving to Chicago, he also encourages his daughter to join a secret religious group called "the Forum," which was led by Dr. William S. Sadler, and would later produce The Urantia Book.

In the 1950s, Dr. Case and his wife moved to Santa Barbara, and were soon joined by Margaret and her son Geoffrey. Following the deaths of her parents, Margaret received a letter from Dr. Sadler offering his regrets that he could tell her nothing "about your antecedents before your adoption." It would seem that, like Helena before her, Margaret also was not raised by her biological parents, although her father's letters give no indication of it. She died September 20, 1984 in Santa Barbara.

Acquisition information:
Undetermined.

Access and use

Location of this collection:
UC Santa Barbara Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
Contact:
(805) 893-3062
special@library.ucsb.edu
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