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 acquaintance with the early history of North Carolina, particularly that of his own section. In later years Bishop Cheshire said of his uncle: "I have often felt that he had a greater influence than any other person in developing my tastes and inclinations in the direction of historical inquiry."[43] For his first serious historical composition Cheshire chose a subject with which he was intimately acquainted, the history of the church in Edgecombe County. In a series of articles, under the title, "An Historical Sketch of the Church in Edgecombe County, North Carolina," which appeared in the _Church Messenger_ from August 17 through September 21, 1880, he traced the history of this parish from the colonial period through the rectorate of his father. The sketch is superior to the usual parish history in that it concerned itself with the growth and development of the church in Edgecombe rather than with the genealogy of the families in that county. When Colonel William L. Saunders was in the process of compiling the _Colonial Records of North Carolina_, he asked Cheshire to make a collection of documents relating to the colonial Episcopal Church. Cheshire secured from Bishop Perry of Iowa, Historiographer of the Episcopal Church, a large body of material, which he had copied under his personal supervision. Colonel Saunders found the material so interesting and valuable that he incorporated it in its entirety in the several volumes of the _Colonial Records_. In appreciation of his contribution Cheshire was given a full set of this work. In 1893 Judge Walter Clark, when he began to edit the _State Records of North Carolina_, wrote Bishop Cheshire: "I beg that you will aid me with your advice, suggestions and information as to what should be published and the best means of procuring materials."[44] This statement well illustrates the high regard in which the Bishop's historical acumen was generally held.