Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Hyphenation has been rationalised. Small capitals have been replaced by full capitals. Italics are indicated by _underscores_. Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire [_Photograph by Bayard Wootten_ BISHOP JOSEPH BLOUNT CHESHIRE _From a portrait by Mrs. Arthur Nash, in the possession of Miss Sarah Cheshire, Raleigh, North Carolina._] Bishop JOSEPH BLOUNT CHESHIRE 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 _Foreword_ 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 fresh air in a stuffy room. His conversation, particularly when he was describing the very human traits of men and women he had known, was full of delightful surprises because of his breathtaking forthrightness. He even carried in his pocketbook an exact paper pattern of a huge mountain trout he once caught as documentary evidence of his best fish story. This characteristic of Bishop Cheshire must have been in the author's mind when he wrote the following pages. I believe that the good Bishop would approve this biography for its restraint and disciplined faithfulness to the record of a true life. Ravenscroft Raleigh, North Carolina February 10, 1941. _Preface_ 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 relatives and friends throughout North Carolina, I felt particularly honored when he wrote me letters from England during his visit there in 1920. The multiplicity of such personal attentions was one of his characteristics which gained for him the lasting affection of his people.