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 difficult he had ever tried to translate. He was faced with the alternative of bluffing his way through or frankly confessing to the boys that he was thoroughly unprepared to teach the assignment. So, boldly facing his class, he declared: "Young gentlemen, it is many years since I last looked into Sallust, and this passage, Caesar's speech, I remember as the most difficult passage in this book. I am not prepared to deal with it today, but I will endeavor to be ready for you tomorrow." This was a rule of life which he followed consistently, to deal frankly and honestly with every situation, no matter what it might cost him personally. Complete fearlessness was one of Bishop Cheshire's most pronounced characteristics. In his announced views on public questions, in the administration of his diocese, and in his historical writings, his courage was often manifested. His was not, however, a character which could be described in a few striking phrases. The man can best be understood by observing his deeds as they developed from early youth until the end of a long life of four score and two years. In the mid-nineteenth century the quiet little town of Tarboro, North Carolina, was like many other small towns to be found in the Old South. It was one of the oldest places in the state, having been founded in the colonial period and given the distinction of a borough town. Tarboro contained a fairly large number of old established families and a few persons of some prominence in the state. Not the least of these was the Rev. Joseph Blount Cheshire, Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church, a man who exemplified in his life and work the best traditions of the Episcopal clergy.