Son of waterman writes history of Kent Island

Queen Anne's County amateur historian Brent Lewis stood under the large oaks, maples and sycamores that shade Broad Creek-Christ Church Cemetery on Kent Island.

"This spot is the oldest living connection to Kent Island history," Lewis, author of the new book, "Kent Island: Stories from the Chesapeake," said as he looked over the moss-covered graves, where many of the tombstones have crumbled into dust.

Settled in 1631, a good 18 years before Annapolis was founded, the island is four miles wide and 16 miles long, and is the third-oldest permanent English-speaking settlement in North America. Only...