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.

In 1883, in the course of collecting materials for Colonel Saunders, Cheshire visited Philadelphia. While there he examined the records of the Pennsylvania Quakers for information concerning the early Quaker settlements in North Carolina. From his examination of these records he found sufficient evidence to disprove the long-held thesis that the early settlers of North Carolina were religious refugees from New England and Virginia. His conclusion was that the first settlers of the Albemarle section came there primarily for economic reasons and not for religious freedom. He embodied his findings in a pamphlet called "The First Settlers of North Carolina Not Religious Refugees." After reading the monograph, Colonel Saunders wrote Cheshire: "You have not only proved your proposition; You have demonstrated it."[45] Saunders adopted the same interpretation in his preface to the first volume of the Colonial Records. Cheshire's original thesis was further expanded and substantiated by future historians of the state.

In 1882 Cheshire edited and published the documents relating to the four conventions, held between 1790 and 1794, which had made the abortive attempt to set up a diocesan organization in North Carolina. The documents of three of these conventions had never been published before. They threw much light upon an important phase of the early history of the Episcopal Church in North Carolina.

The Diocese recognized Cheshire's ability as an historian by electing him historiographer at the convention of 1884. The convention of 1876 had created this office, and had elected Dr. M. M. Marshall, Rector of Christ Church, Raleigh, the first historiographer. It had also passed a resolution requiring each clergyman to compile a history of his parish. When Cheshire became historiographer eight years later, only a few of the clergy had complied with the resolution. After examining the histories which had been written, he found that, with a few exceptions, they were of no value. Several months after his election, in an article for the Church Messenger, he stressed the importance of preserving local church history. He announced that he was making a collection of old documents and pamphlets on church history for the Diocese, and he requested anyone possessing these materials to send them to him. One of Cheshire's chief contributions as historiographer was the interest he aroused among the churchmen in the history of the church and of their respective parishes.

The publication of the Colonial Records of North Carolina further stimulated his interest in historical research. He planned and began to write the "Annals of the Church in the Province of North Carolina." He worked upon this history whenever he found an opportunity, but after his election as bishop his duties were so pressing that he had to abandon the project. He had made considerable progress, however, before laying it aside. His research was not done in vain, for he was able to use much of it in one of the papers he presented before the centennial convention of the dioceses of East Carolina and North Carolina in 1890.

Probably Cheshire's most productive act as historiographer of the Diocese was to initiate and successfully direct the celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the convention of 1790. This convention, held in Tarboro, had made the first, although unsuccessful, attempt to form a diocese in North Carolina. As the centennial of the event drew near, Cheshire thought that it should be commemorated in some appropriate manner. Accordingly, at the diocesan convention of 1889 he introduced a series of resolutions calling for a joint convention of the dioceses of North Carolina and East Carolina to be held at Tarboro the following year. The resolutions were adopted and a committee on arrangements appointed, with Dr. Jarvis Buxton as chairman. Commenting on the proceedings, Cheshire frankly remarked: "I took care, however, to get myself elected Secretary of the Committee; and the Committee cheerfully allowed me to do all the work."[46]

The Committee on Arrangements decided that the most fitting and profitable manner of celebrating the occasion would be to present a series of papers on the history of the Episcopal Church in North Carolina. Cheshire organized the program, selecting the writers and the subjects of the papers.

The joint convention met in Tarboro May 16-18, 1890, and was well attended by churchmen from both dioceses. The papers covered the history of the church in the colony, its decay following the Revolution, and its revival after 1817. Cheshire read a paper on "The Church in the Province of North Carolina." At the close of the proceedings, the convention resolved that the addresses should be published in book form under Cheshire's editorial direction. Upon the motion of the Rev. Robert Strange, it was also resolved: "That the thanks of the joint Convention of North and East Carolina be extended to the Rev. J. B. Cheshire, Jr., for conceiving and carrying to so successful an issue the reunion which has been so delightful and edifying to us all."

Since there was not sufficient time, all of the addresses prepared for the joint convention were not delivered. In addition to the paper Cheshire read, he also wrote two others—"Decay and Revival, 1800-1830" and "White Haven Church and the Rev. Robert Johnston Miller." These papers, as well as all the others written for the centennial celebration, were published in a volume entitled Sketches of Church History in North Carolina. Besides the three papers and his editorial work, Cheshire wrote the introduction to this book. The volume is a distinct contribution to the history of the Episcopal Church in North Carolina. Prior to this time little of any value had been written on the subject. Cheshire's articles are probably more scholarly than any of the others, and they definitely reveal more research in original sources.

In recognition of Cheshire's achievements as a clergyman and his contributions as a historian, the University of North Carolina at its commencement of 1890 conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Four years later the University of the South bestowed upon him the same honor, and in 1916 his alma mater, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, also gave him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was not one to seek honors, but when they were conferred upon him he appreciated them, particularly the thought which motivated the bestowal. Bishop Cheshire became an honorary member of the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati in 1897 and a few years later an hereditary member. He served for a time as chaplain of the North Carolina Society and later of the national organization.

Although his diocesan work occupied most of his time, the Bishop found the opportunity now and again throughout his episcopate to write articles for ecclesiastical and historical publications. The subject matter of most of his writings was drawn chiefly from North Carolina history. One of his most interesting departures from this practice was the editing of George Herbert's A Priest to the Temple or, the Country Parson, His Character and Rule of Holy Life. This work, first published in 1652, had attracted his attention when he was a young lawyer in Baltimore. He was greatly impressed at the time with its earnestness and its spiritual character. When in 1905 Professor Palmer, of Harvard University, edited the complete works of Herbert, the Country Parson was again brought to the Bishop's attention. He decided to bring out a special edition of the Country Parson in order to make it available to all of the clergy. The work appeared in 1908 and was dedicated to his father, whose sixty years in the ministry splendidly illustrated Herbert's ideal of a country parson. In his introduction to the book Bishop Cheshire commented: "It is not too much to say of it that for beauty and truth to nature, for its combination of the ideal and the practical, for its presentation of an almost heavenly perfection in terms of human experience, it has not its equal in the religious literature of our language." Whenever sending out a young clergyman as a country parson, he always tried to supply him with a copy of this work, believing that it would be of great value to him and his parishioners.

At the request of the editor of the Carolina Churchman Bishop Cheshire wrote, in 1910-1911, a sketch of the life of each of his predecessors, Bishops Ravenscroft, Ives, Atkinson, and Lyman. He did not make the sketches serious biographical studies, but tried to present intimate pictures of the four bishops, including a few amusing anecdotes. The sketch of Bishop Ravenscroft is probably the best and the most interesting.

In the course of 1910 and 1911, at the invitation of the Episcopal seminaries at Sewanee, Alexandria, New York, Philadelphia, Cambridge, and Middletown, Bishop Cheshire delivered a series of lectures on the history of the Episcopal Church in the Confederate States. The lectures were well received, and upon their conclusion the Bishop was urged to put them in permanent form. Realizing that the interest in the subject was fairly widespread, he decided to arrange the lectures for publication. In 1912 Longmans, Green, and Company published them under the title, The Church in the Confederate States.

In this work the Bishop describes the organization of the Episcopal Church in the Confederacy, the church's work among the soldiers, its attitude towards the Negroes, its trials and burdens, its publications, and, finally, the reunion of the northern and southern branches of the church. Following the last chapter he included a brief study of the life of Thomas Atkinson, Bishop of North Carolina, 1853-1881, who had been one of the most important exponents of the reunion of the church in 1865.

In general, the critics praised the Bishop's work as a significant contribution. Of it the Outlook remarked: "His account of the attitude of the Church in its political relations throughout those sad and trying times is free from any tinge of bitterness. Its narrative of the work of bishops and councils, and of the ministries of the church to the soldiers and to the slaves, deserves to be widely read for the little-known facts it records." The Churchman, of New York, declared: "The temper of Bishop Cheshire's narrative is admirable, his account of perplexing constitutional questions that arose from the relations of the Church to the Confederacy and to the Union is clear, his analysis of the issues is penetrating and acute, his conclusions will be generally accepted." The church periodicals, North and South, were unanimous in their praise of the Bishop's work. They felt he had done the American Episcopal Church a great service in preserving this phase of her history. The Church Times, of London, thought that while the book was interesting and informative, it was not fair to the northern church. Many of the reviewers considered the last chapter of the work, which discussed the reunion of the church in 1865, the most interesting and significant. The Bishop was able to write of this particular subject with intimacy, since his father had taken an active part in the reunion.

The Church in the Confederate States is Bishop Cheshire's most important historical contribution. In it his style is direct, simple, and restrained. It describes and interprets a phase of Civil War history which had never before been adequately treated, and since its publication no work on the subject has superseded it. For his information Bishop Cheshire relied almost entirely upon original sources. Some of the more personal incidents, however, were gained from actual participants in that stormy period.

On one of his visitations to Milnor Jones' missions in Watauga County, Bishop Cheshire told Jones that if he should outlive him he would see that some recognition was made of Jones' work. Many years later the Bishop fulfilled his promise by writing the volume, Milnor Jones, Deacon and Missionary. The greater part of this biography is devoted to the years 1894-1897, which Jones spent in the mountains of North Carolina. It is an interesting picture of that most unique character, and a good description of both the difficult and sometimes amusing sides of missionary work in the mountains. Although the Bishop liked and admired Jones, he did not fail to bring out his faults as well as his many virtues.

Bishop Cheshire's last important literary work[47] was his reminiscences of personalities and incidents in North Carolina history. He gave these memories the title Nonnulla, meaning "Not Nothings." The Bishop began this book on his seventy-fifth birthday, and completed it five years later. He included in it stories and anecdotes about people and places not customarily found in the serious histories, but which are not entirely without significance "as illustrating, in an informal and familiar way, the life of our State and our people." Nonnulla is replete with human interest to North Carolinians, and contributes much to their understanding of some of the characters who helped to build their state.

In recognition of Bishop Cheshire's contributions to North Carolina history, the State Literary and Historical Association elected him its president for 1931. In his presidential address the Bishop discussed the religious provisions of the Fundamental Constitutions prepared by John Locke for the Lords Proprietors of Carolina. Although Locke's document was never put into effect, its provisions for religious freedom, in the Bishop's opinion, "perhaps found lodgment in the life of the people and attained a better development in their subsequent history."[48] While the Church of England was made the established church of the colony, liberty of conscience was permitted to all except atheists. Elaborating upon the theme of religious freedom, he demonstrated that the colonial government did not practice religious intolerance even though laws were enacted for the support of an established church.

With his presidential address to the State Literary and Historical Association, Bishop Cheshire concluded his work as an historian. It was a fitting close to this phase of his life. Although history had been to him a pleasant avocation, no professional historian ever took his work more seriously or had a higher ideal of historical accuracy. In the words of Dr. A. R. Newsome, of the University of North Carolina, "Native ability, industry and self-discipline enabled him to achieve a degree of historical scholarship seldom encountered among laymen." The Episcopal Church in North Carolina owes him a debt of lasting gratitude for his pioneer work in its history.