and was graduated with the class of 1894. He then became principal of a high school in Decatur, Illinois, proving himself a capable administrator.

When New York City established the first group of high schools in the city proper, Dr. Sheppard became head of the department of history in one of them, then called the Boy's High School of Manhattan. He continued in this position from 1896 until 1902, obtaining his Doctor's degree from New York University during this period. In 1902 New York City established the first commercial high school in the city, and named it the High School of Commerce. Dr. Sheppard became its first principal, and brought with him from his last school, renamed the DeWitt Clinton High School, all of the boys attending the annex of that school and many from other city high schools who wished to specialize in the commercial fields. He served as principal of this school until he died, March 13, 1914. A plaque is still in the auditorium, erected by the students, to Dr. Sheppard's memory. Dr. Sheppard pioneered in the field of commercial education at the high school level.

Frank was born on the home farm southwest of El Paso, October 24, 1898, the son of George and Lucretia Shuman. He attended El Paso grade and high schools, graduating with the class of 1917, and in 1921 graduated from the University of Illinois with a B. S. Degree in Agriculture. During a five-year period from 1921 to 1926 he taught vocational agriculture in the Atwood and Pekin high schools. From 1926 until January 15, 1930, he was Jersey County, Illinois, farm adviser.

Shuman then moved to Whiteside County where for twenty-three years, until January 15, 1953, his ability as a farm counselor attracted state and national attention. Most of his success was from his homely saying: "People are more important than hogs." This reasoning dovetailed with his program to help people to help themselves. No problem related to agrarian progress was overlooked by Frank Shuman, and farmers depended upon him for sympathetic cooperation. He accepted the challenge of low corn yields, chinch bugs, hog cholera, grasshoppers and sick cattle and gave guidance in all the problems of the modern farm.

He was interested in 4H Club work, soil clinics, improved fertilizers and farmer owned cooperatives.

In June, 1950, Whiteside County dedicated a new Farm Bureau building, one of the finest in the state, said to be the lengthened shadow of one man, Frank H. Shuman. He only enjoyed his new building for a year and a half, when he had a clear duty call in a foreign field. Government officials had pointed at Frank and said, "We want you" to go to Allahabad Technical Institute at Allahabad, India, to work under a Ford Foundation grant to aid the Indian people to grow the food they need to feed themselves properly. Accepting this two-year assignment was a tough decision for Frank, but he sailed in January

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