His Life and Work BY LAWRENCE FOUSHEE LONDON, Ph.D. Historiographer of the Diocese of North Carolina Chapel Hill THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS 1941 COPYRIGHT, 1941, BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS DESIGNED BY STEFAN SALTER MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE AMERICAN BOOK-STRATFORD PRESS, INC., NEW YORK...

By Edwin A. Penick , Bishop of North Carolina One of the many characteristics for which Bishop Cheshire is remembered by his friends and admirers was his uncompromising adherence to the last letter of truth. An inaccurate or careless remark often brought forth from him a startling correction. His own historical papers were loyal to such facts as patient research could discover. His official documents were models of lucidity and precision. His counsel was penetrating and true and bracing like fre

From my earliest memories I can recall the annual visits of Bishop Cheshire to the home of my parents. As very young boys my brothers and I were fond of looking at him, for with his flowing white beard and rather stocky figure, he appeared a perfect embodiment of Santa Claus. He readily gained our confidence with his frank and open manner and his keen understanding of the sort of things children were interested in. As I grew older he won my complete affection and admiration. With his many relati

It was eleven o'clock one morning in the middle of September, 1869, when Joseph Blount Cheshire stepped into a classroom to teach a course in Latin. Before him sat six boys, several of them older than himself. He was only nineteen years old, and he was about to begin his first job. The school was St. Clement's Hall at Ellicott City, Maryland, and the assignment for that day was one in Sallust. About all young Cheshire could recall of that particular passage was its being one of the most difficul

Ever since he left college Cheshire had been conscious of a growing desire to become a candidate for Holy Orders. Not long after his marriage he spoke to his wife of this aspiration, and told her he had now decided to present himself to the Bishop. He had not come to this decision earlier because he was determined not to go into the ministry until he had made a success of what he was doing at that time. He would not enter the ministry as a failure from another field of work. By the middle of 187

Cheshire entered upon his work in Charlotte with a feeling that here he had an excellent opportunity for extending the influence of his church, particularly in the missionary field. He did not feel any fear or trepidation at the thought of this larger and more difficult work, although he had no great confidence in his own ability. He went to his new parish with the determination to give to it his best, and throughout his rectorate there he never lost sight of that ideal. When some of his friends

Theodore Benedict Lyman was elected assistant bishop of North Carolina in 1873, and upon the death of Bishop Thomas Atkinson in 1881 he assumed the control of the Diocese. In 1891 he celebrated in Christ Church, Raleigh, the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. By this time the Bishop had begun to show signs that the duties of his office were becoming too arduous for his failing strength. It was not until two years later, however, that he felt that he must ask for assistance

When Bishop Cheshire assumed the episcopal oversight of the Diocese of North Carolina, he felt little confidence in his ability to fulfill the duties of the office. He did feel that by sincere and diligent application he could accomplish much for the welfare of the church. When elected assistant bishop he was, in his own words, "constrained to accept the call, not from any sense of fitness in myself, but simply because such a call seems to me to carry with it an imperative obligation to accept,

In addition to his accomplishments as a clergyman, prelate, and scholar, Bishop Cheshire attained considerable skill and reputation as a sportsman. Fishing and hunting were the sports he liked best and the only ones he indulged in. He once remarked that he had been fond of fishing from his boyhood, but he thought his liking for it increased with age. His prowess as a fisherman was well known to his churchmen from the coast to the mountains of North Carolina. During the 1890's, when he was buildi

From his youth Bishop Cheshire had been fond of history, and as he grew older, his interest in it developed into a serious avocation. While practicing law in Tarboro, he saw a good deal of his uncle-in-law, ex-Governor Henry Clark, who had a decided taste for history. He had an excellent library to which he made his nephew welcome. Cheshire spent many happy hours browsing among the old books and manuscripts and listening to the conversation of his uncle. Governor Clark had a thorough acquaintanc

Bishop Cheshire's active interest in the church's work among the Negroes began when he was rector of St. Peter's Church, Charlotte. His organization of the colored mission of St. Michael and All Angels and the part he took in helping to establish the Good Samaritan Hospital have already been related. When he became bishop he continued and greatly enlarged his activities in behalf of the Negro work. In the early part of his episcopate the Bishop made an address to the Conference of Church Workers

In the first decade of his episcopate Bishop Cheshire laid the foundation for almost all of his future work. The remainder of his life was devoted to expansion and improvement. This program demanded all of his thought and energy and, as it progressed, became almost more than one man could administer. The Bishop never complained of being overworked, but when he realized he was no longer physically able to meet the demands of his office, he did not hesitate to ask for assistance. A pleasant and in

[8]    Cheshire, "Some Account of My Life," Carolina Churchman , May, 1935. [9]    Ibid. , April, 1935. [10]    The first child was born in March, 1878, but died only a few days after birth. [11]    Church Messenger , August 4, 1881. [12]    Joseph B. Cheshire, "Autobiography," pp. 229-230, a manuscript work owned by Mr. J. B. Cheshire, Jr. [13]    Ibid. , p. 230. [14]    Ibid. , pp. 231-232. [15]    Ibid. , p. 256....

[16]    Cheshire to his wife, November 23, 1905, Cheshire Manuscripts, owned by Mr. J. B. Cheshire, Jr., Raleigh. [17]    Cheshire, "Autobiography," p. 315. [18]    Ibid. , p. 322. [19]    Ibid. , p. 345. [20]    Cheshire to Bishop Lyman, April 6, 1886, Joseph Blount Cheshire Papers, University of North Carolina Library. [21]    Bishop Lyman to Cheshire, October 17, 1888, Joseph Blount Cheshire Papers, University of North Carolina Library. [22]    A. W. Dodge to Cheshire, July 6, 1891, Bishop Jo

[24]    Cheshire to Nannie C. Hoke, February 16, 1891, Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire Papers, North Carolina Historical Commission. [25]    Rev. Robert B. Owens to L. F. London, July 8, 1938. Mr. Owens was a member of the adjourned convention of 1893. This letter contains a description of the proceedings of that convention. [26]    Dr. Stephen B. Weeks was the friend Cheshire referred to. The wedding took place in Randolph County. [27]    Cheshire to Dr. Joseph B. Cheshire, Sr., June 29, 1893, Bi

[30]    Journal of the Convention of the Diocese of North Carolina (1894), p. 64. [31]    Joseph B. Cheshire, Milnor Jones, Deacon and Missionary , p. 28. [32]    Ibid. , p. 53. [33]    Journal of the Convention of the Missionary Jurisdiction of Asheville (1896), p. 51. [34]    Ibid. , pp. 50-51. [35]    Cheshire to his wife, October 2, 1901, Cheshire Manuscripts, owned by Mr. J. B. Cheshire, Jr., Raleigh. [36]    Joseph B. Cheshire, Fifty Years of Church Life in North Carolina , p. 6. [37]    J

[42]    Carolina Churchman , April, 1931....

[43]    Cheshire, "Some Account of My Life," Carolina Churchman , January, 1935. [44]    Walter Clark to Cheshire, May 24, 1893, Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire Papers, North Carolina Historical Commission. [45]    Cheshire, "Autobiography," p. 360. [46]    Ibid. , pp. 414-418. [47]    For a complete list of the Bishop's published writings, see pp. 131-133. [48]    The Raleigh News and Observer , December 4, 1931....

[49]    Cheshire to his wife, August 25, 1905, Cheshire Manuscripts, owned by Mr. J. B. Cheshire, Jr., Raleigh. [50]    Journal of the Convention of the Diocese of North Carolina (1907), p. 72. [51]    Bishop Cheshire to Bishop Guerry, May 17, 1918, Joseph Blount Cheshire Papers, University of North Carolina Library. [52]    Joseph B. Cheshire, Manuscript Address, Cheshire Manuscripts, owned by Mr. J. B. Cheshire, Jr., Raleigh. [53]    Carolina Churchman , May, 1929....

[54]    Joseph B. Cheshire, "Our Summer, 1908," a journal of his visit to England for the Pan-Anglican Congress and the Lambeth Conference, owned by Mr. J. B. Cheshire, Jr., Raleigh. [55]    Joseph B. Cheshire, "England, 1920," a journal of his trip to England for the Lambeth Conference and of his visit to France and Switzerland, owned by Mr. J. B. Cheshire, Jr., Raleigh. [56]    Sermon on Patriotism and the War, Joseph Blount Cheshire Papers, University of North Carolina Library. [57]    Journa

Address of the Right Rev. Joseph Blount Cheshire, Bishop of North Carolina, on the Occasion of the Dedication of the Memorial Vestibule in Christ Church, Raleigh, to the Glory of God and in the Memory of Richard Henry Lewis, December 18, 1927. Charlottesville, Va., n.d. "Baptism of Virginia Dare," anniversary address, delivered on Roanoke Island by Rt. Rev. Joseph Blount Cheshire, D.D., August 18, 1910, North Carolina Booklet , Vol. X, no. 4. Bishop Atkinson and the Church in the Confederacy. Ra