Local History with James Kences

Join town historian James Kences to learn more about his work at First Parish Cemetery. 

From Mr. Kences: 

“I have recently been voted historian by the cemetery administration, and have begun to design a biographical registry for the men and women who were buried there. This project will be based upon research into a broad array of sources--from town records, newspapers, photographs, diaries, letters, and whatever additional items I might locate. The registry will encompass the cemetery from its inception in the early nineteenth century to the present day, and will emphasize the inter-relationships of the different individuals--friendships, business partnerships, fraternal organizations and institutional memberships, political offices, and so on. . .The objective is simple, to properly honor past lives, and to abolish any sense of the cemetery as an ocean of anonymous marble and granite gravestones. The town of York is fortunate in the rich documentation of community life, and this registry will be able to draw from those materials hundreds of fascinating stories that deserve to be told.”