After careful consideration of the St. Mary's Alumnae memorial, the convention adopted a resolution providing for the appointment of a committee of six, to include the Bishop, with the authority to buy suitable buildings for a girls' school or to purchase land and erect new buildings. In direct reply to the memorialists, Bishop Cheshire offered a resolution, which the convention adopted, assuring the alumnae that the church in North Carolina "will do all in its power to place St. Mary's School upon a permanent foundation as an institution under the charge and patronage of the Church throughout the entire State...." At the convention of 1897 the special committee on a diocesan school for girls reported that it had procured a charter of incorporation for the Board of Trustees of St. Mary's School from the state legislature, and had turned over to this corporation all further negotiations. The newly constituted Board of Trustees, of which Bishop Cheshire was chairman, then made its report. It recommended that not less than one hundred thousand dollars be raised for the purchase of a location, the erection of buildings, and an endowment of St. Mary's School. The Board announced that it had contracted to purchase for fifty thousand dollars a site known as the St. Mary's Tract. The convention adopted the report as it was made. During the past year, at the request of the Trustees, Bishop Cheshire had spent a month visiting many towns throughout the state in an attempt to interest the people of the church in the needs and potentialities of St. Mary's School. His efforts met with gratifying success. He appealed to the women of the state, and especially to the alumnae of St. Mary's, to raise fifty thousand dollars for an endowment which should be known as "The St. Mary's Alumnae Association Fund." To stimulate the interest and increase the activity of the women in this plan, Bishop Cheshire organized the "Order of the Patrons and Daughters of St. Mary's." He proposed to find fifty women who would give five hundred dollars each towards the endowment, and two hundred and fifty others who would each contribute one hundred dollars. He reported to the convention of 1897 that he had raised a substantial amount in this way. Thus, St. Mary's was established as the official school of the Episcopal Church in North Carolina. The Diocese of East Carolina and the Jurisdiction of Asheville had agreed to contribute to the maintenance of the school and were given representation on the Board of Trustees. Dr. Bennett Smedes was retained as rector of the school and continued in this position until his death in 1899. The first year the school was under the control of the church the number of boarding students increased fifty per cent. To a great extent the enlarged enrollment was due to the renewed interest which Bishop Cheshire had aroused.