He claimed to be born in Old Kingston, Maine.  He claimed to be a veteran of the Boston Tea Party and the Revolutionary War.  After the war, he moved to Danville, Vermont.   He claimed to be a veteran of the War 1812. He arrived in Chicago in the 1840’s.  He live there until 1851.  He was honored with a hero’s funeral and was interred in Chicago in the Lincoln Park Area.  If he was to be believed, he worked as 111 when died.  However research seems to poke holes in his story.

   The Con

     When David Kennison arrived in Chicago, he claimed to be 111.  Although bedridden, he boasted that he could walk 20 miles per day.  He insisted among other things that he was the last surviving member of the Boston Tea Party, that he was present at the battles of Bunker Hill, Lexington, Brandywine, that he was at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered.  Although in his 70’s, he alleges he participated in the battles of the War 1812.  He served at Fort Dearborn.

     The museum is the third largest holocaust museum in the world.  It is located at 9603 Woods Drive Skokie, Illinois. 

     Chicago land Holocaust survivors banded together to form Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois.  The group purchased  a Skokie storefront and made it available to the public focusing on combating hate with education.

     The Holocaust Museum was was opened in 2009.  It is 65,000 square feet.  It was the culmination of 30 years of hard work and activism by the survivor community.

     The museum honors the memory of millions of members of the  Jewish community who were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.  It also pays tribute to the survivors.

     This building is located at 200 W. 11th Street, Lockport, Illinois.   It was built by Hiram Norton. Construction was between 1848 and 1855.    The building walls are yellow limestone quarried from the adjacent Illinois Michigan Canal. 

     The structure is massive measuring 100 feet by 100 feet. It is 3 and one half stories.

     The building was constructed to store, process, package,  and distribute barrels of grain to Midwest and Western populations.  There was also a nautical store, offices.  It also provided sleeping quarters for young boys who worked on the canal.

    Norton, Inc was sold to American Grains in 1897. It subsequently was acquired by Quaker Oats. Grain operations ceased in 1950’s.  In 1989, the Norton Building was acquired by Norton Building Company.  They conducted an extensive renovation.  The building is now used as residential lofts, offices, commercial spaces and the Illinois State Museum’s Lockport Facility.

     The Illinois State Museum, Lockport occupies the first floor Norton Building.  There are three galleries.  There are high ceilings and hardware floors.  The museum was closed during the Covid pandemic but is currently open.