Adelaide Eastman Morey was born in Minneapolis in 1899 and grew up in Wenatchee, Washington, from the age of 10. She entered Reed at sixteen years of age and graduated from Reed College with the Class of 1919, majoring in economics and sociology, reportedly with a “brilliant record”. Besides her academic scholarship, she was interested in music, drama, creative writing, and people.

In 1920, Ms. Morey lived at the Henry Street Settlement in New York City, where she collaborated with Dr. Joseph K. Hart, previously an education professor at Reed College, on a textbook he was writing. She returned to Washington State where she married a high school friend, Carlyle G. Kellogg, a fruit grower. While in Seattle, she served as secretary to the District Representative of War Camp Community Service. She also worked part-time at the University of Washington during the fall quarter in Economics and Sociology. She and her husband ran a sixty acre apple ranch in Orondo, Washington, for the American Fruit Growers, after which they purchased their own 30-acre ranch nearby in 1925.

The Kellogg’s had two daughters, Adelaide Harriett, two years older than Mary Ellen. Adelaide Morey Kellogg died on July 30, 1927, at age 28. The daughters were adopted by an aunt and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Marion Ayres, whose name the daughters took.