Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Kinnison, David

KINNISON, David, soldier, b. in Old Kingston, near Portsmouth, Me., 17 Nov., 1786; d. in Chicago, Ill., 24 Feb., 1851. He owned a farm in Lebanon, and was one of seventeen who formed a political club and held secret meetings in a tavern. They went to Boston and took part in the destruction of the tea in the harbor. Kinnison was in active service during the Revolutionary war, and afterward settled in Danville, Vt., where he engaged in farming eight years. He then removed to Wells, Me., and resided there until the war of 1812, through which he served, being wounded at Williamsburg. In 1845 he went to Chicago, reduced to extreme poverty, with a pension of $96 a year, and until 1848 earned money by manual labor. At a public anti-slavery meeting in the summer of 1848 he addressed the audience with marked effect. He was the last survivor of the Boston “tea-party.”