The role of the Christian church in the morally scarred society of the Old South has long held a special fascination for worshipers and historians alike. Michael McVaugh’s meticulous transcription and commentary on the first parish register of the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, NC traces the tiny congregation’s struggles with slavery, money, personnel, University relations, and the Civil War, and opens an invaluable window on its fraught, divided world. Historians, church members, genealogists, and townspeople will be greatly in debt to Dr. McVaugh’s honest, fair-minded, and loving reconstruction.
Chapel Hill Historical Society, 2024. Hardback, 142 pages.