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David Kennison Marker in Lincoln Park, 1903
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David Kennison arrived in Chicago in the 1840s as an old man. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, but became a local celebrity by falsely claiming to be the last survivor of the Boston Tea Party and a veteran of the Revolution. Though historians have established that he was approximately 85 years old when he died in 1852, Chicagoans believed he was 115, and buried him with the pomp they thought was owed to the last survivor of the Tea Party. In 1903 aging Chicagoans who still remembered the 1850s erected a monument to Kennison at his gravesite in Lincoln Park. Even in the age of the Internet the official city Web site has presented Kennison's story as fact.
The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago © 2005 Chicago Historical Society.
The Encyclopedia of Chicago © 2004 The Newberry Library. All Rights Reserved. Portions are copyrighted by other institutions and individuals. Additional information on copyright and permissions.
The Encyclopedia of Chicago © 2004 The Newberry Library. All Rights Reserved. Portions are copyrighted by other institutions and individuals. Additional information on copyright and permissions.