When Dr. Kemp Plummer Battle, President of the University of North Carolina, heard that Cheshire was studying for the ministry, he asked Bishop Atkinson to send him to Chapel Hill. Dr. Battle was a native of Edgecombe County and had known Cheshire and his family for many years. Since the revival of the University in 1875, Rev. Robert B. Sutton, of Pittsboro, had from time to time held services in the Chapel of the Cross. The Chapel Hill churchmen, however, felt that the parish needed a regular and resident minister. The Bishop complied with Dr. Battle's request and informed Cheshire that he was to serve his diaconate in Chapel Hill under the direction of Dr. Sutton. This was a disappointment to Cheshire, for he had hoped he would be able to remain in Edgecombe County and strengthen the church's position there. The Bishop also directed him to hold a regular appointment in the rapidly growing town of Durham, where as yet there was not even an established mission. This was a difficult assignment for a young deacon just beginning his ministry. In Chapel Hill he had to revive an old parish which had fallen somewhat into decay during the hard years of the reconstruction period, while in Durham he had to build from the ground up, commencing with only a handful of church people. Cheshire came to Chapel Hill in May, and on the nineteenth of that month held his first service in the Chapel of the Cross. President Battle invited him to make his home at his house until he could find a suitable place. Cheshire accepted this generous offer and spent several weeks with the Battles. In consequence of a long illness, contracted soon after his arrival, he did not hold another service in Chapel Hill until the last Sunday in June. The next Sunday he was able to keep his first appointment in Durham, but following this service, he had a serious relapse and was unable to continue his work until early fall. For a few weeks that fall Cheshire boarded at the hotel, while his wife visited her family in Hillsboro. This gave him an excellent opportunity to come into close contact with the students, many of whom took their meals at the hotel. In this way he came to know a number of students who were not members of his church. Throughout his rectorship in Chapel Hill he made it a point to know all the students who were in any way connected with the Episcopal Church. In a comparatively short time he was on friendly terms with most of the small student body.