_Election to the Episcopate_
Theodore Benedict Lyman was elected assistant bishop of North Carolina
in 1873, and upon the death of Bishop Thomas Atkinson in 1881 he assumed
the control of the Diocese. In 1891 he celebrated in Christ Church,
Raleigh, the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.
By this time the Bishop had begun to show signs that the duties of his
office were becoming too arduous for his failing strength. It was not
until two years later, however, that he felt that he must ask for
assistance in his Episcopal duties. When the diocesan convention met in
Christ Church, Raleigh, on May 17, 1893, Bishop Lyman brought to the
attention of the body his failing health and the necessity of conserving
his strength. He stated he would welcome any suggestions on the subject
the convention saw fit to make. The subject of assisting the Bishop was
taken under consideration immediately, and a committee was appointed to
study how best this might be accomplished.
The following day this committee recommended, in the form of several
resolutions, that Bishop Lyman should be relieved of a part of his
official work by the election of an assistant bishop; that when the
convention completed its present session it should adjourn to meet again
in Raleigh on June 27 to elect an assistant bishop; and that the present
convention should take steps towards determining a salary for the new
office. The resolutions were adopted in their entirety.
Before taking up the proceedings of the adjourned convention, it is
interesting to consider here some views Cheshire once expressed on the
Episcopate in North Carolina. In 1891 a friend wrote him asking who he
thought would make a good successor to Bishop Lyman. In reply to this
query, Cheshire remarked that he did not approve of anyone's expressing
an arbitrary opinion as to the choice of a bishop for this Diocese, but
since that was what his friend desired, he would offer some suggestions.
He declared that Dr. Francis J. Murdoch, Rector of St. Luke's,
Salisbury, was his first choice, and characterized him as a learned,
noble, and lovable man. His second and third choices were the Rev.
Robert S. Barrett, of Atlanta, and the Rev. Mr. Winchester, of
Nashville. Above everything, said Cheshire, "We want a plain man—one who
can come down to the plain people of our country." He did not suggest
anyone above the age of fifty, since he thought it was better to choose
a clergyman "rather under than above his prime." Speaking in general of
the election of bishops, Cheshire observed: "I really, and in all
seriousness, think that there is something providential in the choice of
a man to the office of Bishop. The best men are so often those who were
hardly thought of beforehand—sometimes hardly heard of."[24] To
illustrate his point, he cited the elections of Bishops Ravenscroft, of
North Carolina, Whipple, of Minnesota, and Jackson, of Alabama. These
observations are particularly interesting, coming as they did only two
years before the proposed election of an assistant bishop.
When the adjourned convention convened in Christ Church on June 27,
Bishop Lyman gave his canonical consent to the election of an assistant
bishop. The convention then provided that the new office should carry
with it an annual salary of twenty-five hundred dollars.
At the afternoon session the doors of the convention were closed, and
nominations for an assistant bishop by the clergy were in order. The
clergymen nominated were Rev. Nathaniel H. Harding, Dr. Joseph Blount
Cheshire, Jr., Rev. T. M. N. George, Dr. Francis J. Murdoch, Dr.
Matthias M. Marshall, and Rev. Robert S. Barrett. It is significant that
all of these candidates, with the exception of R. S. Barrett, of
Atlanta, were clergymen resident in North Carolina. It is also of
interest that Murdoch and Cheshire, who were to be the two most
important candidates, nominated each other. In his nomination speech Dr.
Murdoch said: "The good shepherd knows his sheep. This is pre-eminently
true of Dr. Cheshire. He knows the people of North Carolina, their
history, their relationships, better perhaps than any other person
living."[25]
Under the rules of the convention the clergy elects a bishop by a
two-thirds vote of their number. Their choice is then submitted to the
laity, who either ratify or reject it. In this convention twenty-nine
votes was the necessary majority for election.
On the first three ballots, although all candidates received some votes,
Cheshire led each time. But after the third ballot, the contest was
narrowed down to Cheshire, Barrett, and Murdoch. Cheshire remained ahead
through the sixth ballot; Murdoch then took the lead, which he held,
with the exception of five ballots, through the twenty-fourth. During
this balloting, Barrett led all candidates twice and tied with Murdoch
for the highest number three times. After the twenty-fourth ballot
Cheshire asked to be excused from further attendance. He explained that
he had expected the convention to last only one day and had accordingly
promised to marry a friend on the twenty-eighth.[26] He was excused, and
without further balloting the convention adjourned at eleven-thirty in
the evening.
The following morning balloting was resumed, with Murdoch continuing to
hold his lead. On the twenty-ninth ballot the Rev. Arthur S. Lloyd, of
Norfolk, Virginia, was nominated and remained in the contest until the
end. From the thirty-second through the thirty-fifth ballots Cheshire
did not receive a single vote; while from the thirty-sixth through the
thirty-eighth he received only one vote on each. Before the
thirty-seventh was taken, Rev. W. S. Barrows moved that if no one was
elected within the next two ballots, the clergy should retire from the
convention for a conference. His motion was carried. Since no election
took place, the clergy repaired to Christ Church chapel for prayer and
conference.
There was a small minority in the convention, numbering ten or twelve
clergymen, who were opposed to electing anyone from the Diocese of North
Carolina. This minority held the balance between the stronger candidates
and thus prevented an election. All attempts to compromise with the
minority on some candidate other than Murdoch or Cheshire failed.
Thereupon, when the clergy met in the chapel, it was agreed that they
should arrive at a choice by the process of elimination. After several
votes were taken, the selection lay between Cheshire and Murdoch. The
supporters of both men then agreed to vote in the convention for the one
who received the highest vote in this conference. When the votes were
counted, it was found that Cheshire led by a majority of one. The clergy
then re-entered the church and took the thirty-ninth ballot, which
resulted in twenty-nine votes for Cheshire, seven for Lloyd, and five
scattered. The laity quickly confirmed the choice of the clergy by a
vote of twenty-four to seven; whereupon the Bishop declared Rev. Joseph
Blount Cheshire, Jr., elected assistant bishop of the Diocese and
appointed a committee to notify him of his election.
After performing the promised marriage ceremony, Cheshire went to High
Point to spend the night. When he arrived, he found several telegrams
from friends congratulating him upon his election. Describing his
reaction to the news, he said that he "could not comprehend what they
meant, and thought there must be some mistake. I was more deeply
agitated than I could have anticipated." The following day he wrote his
father: "The one thing in the election at Raleigh which gives me unmixed
satisfaction is the knowledge that it would be a happiness to you and to
mother. In every other respect my feelings are of so confused a kind
that I hardly know myself what to do or say.... I feel that this
election has its human cause and origin in your life-long labor for the
church, and in the name and good will of our people which I have derived
from you and not made for myself."[27] This sincere statement of his
thoughts about his election was characteristic of Cheshire. He felt
profoundly the great responsibility which had been placed upon him, and
wrote a friend that he could never have undertaken it had he not felt
that he had the "sympathy, co-operation, and prayer"[28] of his people.
The month following his election Cheshire received more than two hundred
letters and telegrams of congratulation. They came from clergymen and
laymen in and outside of North Carolina, and a great many were from
persons who were not members of the Episcopal Church. One of the most
common sentiments found in these letters was the pleasure and
gratification expressed at the election of a North Carolinian as
assistant bishop. It is a noteworthy fact that Cheshire was the first
native clergyman of the state to be elected to the Episcopate of the
Diocese of North Carolina.
Dr. Francis J. Murdoch, as well as many of his adherents, sent their
sincere congratulations. In a circular letter to his supporters,
thanking them for their efforts in his behalf, Dr. Murdoch said of
Cheshire: "The election has ended as I wished. Other men may tremble as
to the outcome. I have not one misgiving. Neither love for Dr. Cheshire
nor prejudice against any man can warp my judgment in this matter. I say
now (as I said when I nominated him) that we have made no mistake."[29]
This warm praise from a man of Dr. Murdoch's high character and ability
must have been very encouraging to Cheshire.
An amusing and interesting tribute to Cheshire's election as assistant
bishop were some verses by Rev. John E. C. Smedes. Dr. Smedes, a former
clergyman of the Diocese, had been one of Cheshire's examiners for
deacon's orders and had presented him for ordination as priest. His
lines are as follows:
CONGRATULATIONS TO A BISHOP-ELECT
News sweeter and fresher
I ask not, Joe Cheshire:
You are bishop assistant
Elect; though too distant
For love's fondest issue,
Alas! or I'd kiss you.
'Twas my joy to examine you
And find no mean sham in you;
For deep did they ram in you,
At Berkeley and Trinity,
A full charge of divinity.
'Twas my joy, mine eye feasted,
To see duly priested
The youth I presented.
And now I'm contented:
They will make you a bishop.
I send a meek wish up
To the Shepherd above,
That in wisdom and love
You may long feed His sheep,
While the Faith you still keep,
And then, crosier laid down,
May at last wear a crown.
Shortly after his election Cheshire received an invitation from the
vestry of Calvary Church, Tarboro, to have his consecration service held
there. He accepted the invitation and selected October 15 as the date.
It was indeed fitting that he should be consecrated in the church which
his father had served for a half century and in which he himself had
been brought up and ordained to the diaconate.
On the day of Cheshire's consecration the little town of Tarboro was
taxed almost to its capacity to take care of the out-of-town people who
had come for the service. About thirty clergymen from the dioceses of
North Carolina and East Carolina were present. The service began at
eleven in the morning. The ecclesiastical procession, headed by seven
bishops and the bishop-elect, entered the church singing the hymn "The
Church's One Foundation." Rt. Rev. T. U. Dudley, Bishop of Kentucky,
preached the sermon. Bishop Lyman was the consecrator, assisted by
Bishops Watson, of East Carolina, and Capers, of South Carolina.
Cheshire was presented by Bishop Weed, of Florida, and Bishop Sessums,
of Louisiana. The venerable Bishop Quintard, of Tennessee, also took
part in the service. All of the bishops joined in the laying on of
hands. During the service the choir sang the anthem "How Beautiful upon
the Mountains are the Feet of Them that Publish Good Tidings," composed
by Rev. Dr. M. A. Curtis. It is interesting to note that this anthem was
sung at the ordination of Dr. J. B. Cheshire, Sr., in 1840 and at the
ordination of Rev. J. B. Cheshire, Jr., in 1880. The service closed with
the singing of the recessional "Holy, Holy, Holy." It was a beautiful
and impressive ceremony, but its beauty was marred for Cheshire by the
absence of his father, who was not well enough to attend.
Bishop Cheshire's first episcopal act was to hold an evening service in
Tarboro, the night of his consecration, at St. Luke's Chapel for
Negroes. He did not lose any time in assuming the duties of his new
office. While in Tarboro he made several visitations in Edgecombe and
Halifax counties. On October 23 he and his family returned to Charlotte,
but he did not tarry long. A few days later he set out for the mountains
of North Carolina, where he spent a month visiting the scattered
churches and missions in that section. Returning from the mountains, he
continued his visitations until he was suddenly called to Raleigh on
December 13 by the death of Bishop Lyman, who had been in greatly
enfeebled health for the past few months.
The death of Bishop Lyman placed the Assistant Bishop in full charge of
the Diocese of North Carolina. The few weeks of work Bishop Cheshire had
had under the direction and advice of the senior bishop stood him in
good stead now that he had the sole responsibility for episcopal
guidance of the Diocese.