Tarboro in Edgecombe County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Joseph Blount Cheshire, Jr.

1850 - 1932

Joseph Blount Chesire, Jr. Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, 2011

1. Joseph Blount Chesire, Jr. Marker

Inscription. Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of N.C., 1893-1932; lawyer & writer. Birthplace is one block W.; grave 100 yards S.

Erected 1987 by North Carolina Office of Archives & History. (Marker Number E-96.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Notable Places. In addition, it is included in the North Carolina Division of Archives and History series list.

Location. 35° 53.987′ N, 77° 31.9′ W. Marker is in Tarboro, North Carolina, in Edgecombe County. Marker is on East Church Street near St. David Street, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Tarboro NC 27886, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Garrett Bldg. (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Civil War Cemeteries (about 400 feet away); U.S.S. Maine Memorial (approx. 0.2 miles away); John C. Dancy (approx. 0.2 miles away); W.D. Pender (approx. ¼ mile away); Henry T. Clark (approx. ¼ mile away); W.L. Saunders (approx. ¼ mile away); St. Paul A.M.E. Zion Church (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Tarboro.

Regarding Joseph Blount Cheshire, Jr.. “I was born and brought up in Tarborough, Edgecombe

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County, North Carolina in a house built by my maternal grandfather, Theophilus Parker, in the year 1810.” So begins the opening sketch in Nonnulla, a collection of reminiscences by Joseph Blount Cheshire Jr. (1850-1932). Cheshire’s father was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1841. He moved to Tarboro and married Elizabeth Parker two years later. The elder Cheshire played a part in healing the breach between branches of the church in the North and South after the Civil War.

The younger Cheshire was educated at Tarboro Male Academy and Trinity College in Connecticut. He taught in Maryland for two years, then returned to North Carolina to study law. Licensed in 1872, he practiced in Baltimore and Tarboro but forsook the profession to study theology. In 1878 he was ordained deacon by Bishop Thomas Atkinson and assigned to Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill. Two years later he was ordained into the priesthood and became rector of St. Peter’s Church in Charlotte, where he remained for twelve years. In June 1893 he was elected assistant bishop for the Diocese of North Carolina, and two months later assumed leadership of the diocese upon the death of Bishop Theodore B. Lyman. He thus became the first native of the state to serve in the post.

Bishop Cheshire’s accomplishments were many during his long tenure. He strengthened the Episcopal missionary program

Joseph Blount Chesire, Jr. Marker, looking east on East Church Street image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, July 18, 2011

2. Joseph Blount Chesire, Jr. Marker, looking east on East Church Street

in the mountain region. Upon his recommendation, the diocese acquired St. Mary’s School in Raleigh. He opposed segregation of the races within the church, but acquiesced when he judged that such was the desire of black churchmen. Throughout his life, Bishop Cheshire studied and wrote about the history of the Episcopal Church and of the state of North Carolina. In 1930 he served as president of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. He gained a considerable reputation as a fisherman and hunter, especially of wild turkeys. Numerous honors and tributes were paid to him. Upon his death a writer for the News and Observer claimed that Bishop Cheshire “probably influenced the life of North Carolina as profoundly as anyone who ever lived within its borders.” He is buried in the graveyard at Tarboro’s Calvary Episcopal Church, where his father was rector for almost fifty years.(North Carolina Office of Archives & History)

Additional commentary.
1. Cheshire Jr.,
was a writer and a historian as well as a clergyman. He was elected president of the State Literary and Historical Association in 1930. His most famous historical work, The Church in the Confederate States, was published in 1912. Nonnulla, a book of reminiscences, Cheshire's most popular book, was published in 1930.

Cheshire

Joseph Blount Chesire, Jr. Marker, looking west, at St. David Street intersection image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, July 18, 2011

3. Joseph Blount Chesire, Jr. Marker, looking west, at St. David Street intersection

married Annie Huske Webb of Hillsborough, N.C., in 1874. They had six children: Elizabeth Toole, Sarah, Joseph Blount, Jr., Annie, James Webb, and Godfrey. Cheshire's wife died in 1897, and two years later, he married again. His second wife was Elizabeth Lansdale Mitchell of Beltsville, Md. They had no children.

After 1922, Cheshire gradually began to turn over his episcopal duties to his Bishop Coadjutor, the Reverend Edwin Penick. Joseph Blount Cheshire died 27 December 1932. (UNC University Libraries)

— Submitted August 19, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.

Calvary Episcopal Church Cemetery, as mentioned image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, July 18, 2011

4. Calvary Episcopal Church Cemetery, as mentioned

The Churchyard image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, July 18, 2011

5. The Churchyard

The design of the churchyard and its original plantings are the work of Joseph Blount Cheshire, rector of Calvary from 1842 until 1889, who collected plants from all over the world to create this arboretum. The wall that encloses it was erected in 1926 by David Pender as a memorial to his parents. Among those interred here are Cheshire and his son, Joseph Blount Cheshire, Jr., fifth Bishop of North Carolina; Henry Toole Clark, Governor of North Carolina from 1861 to 1862; and William Dorsey Pender, one of the youngest generals in the Confederate Army.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 29, 2021. It was originally submitted on August 19, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 661 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 19, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. 5. submitted on August 20, 2011, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.