system of shorthand writing and hiring a fellow student to read to him. Sometime during the 1820s, Shipherd's father became an enthusiastic follower of the great New York evangelist, Charles Grandison Finney. The younger Shipherd also came under Finney's influence and looked to him for guidance and leadership. Ministerial background Shipherd was first called to be a pastor at the church in Shelburne, Vermont, holding that position for about a year. From 1828 to 1830, Shipherd served as General Agent of the Vermont Sabbath School Union. While headquartered in Middlebury, he edited a Sunday school paper and traveled throughout Vermont organizing Sunday schools. In 1830, he received an honorary degree from Middlebury College in recognition of his work. About that time, the Congregational and Presbyterian churches of the East had begun an effort to extend Christian influence among the new settlers in the West. Absolom Peters' Home Missionary and Pastor's Journal, that began in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1828, was the official organ of the movement. Shipherd was persuaded that he had a call to go to the area west of the Appalachian Mountains, known then as the "Valley of the Mississippi". In 1830, Shipherd accepted a commission from the American Home Mission Society. Around this time he met Rev. Daniel W. Lathrop, who was about to exit as pastor of the church in Elyria, Ohio due to voice problems. Shipherd was called to that church in October 1830. He stopped in Rochester, New York, on the way, to visit Finney — Finney tried to get Shipherd to stay in Rochester as his assistant, and Shipherd tried to get Finney to come to Ohio, which he did four years later. Shipherd was installed as pastor in Elyria in February 1831. During his two years there, Shipherd was intensely occupied in revivals in his own parish and in the surrounding region. His congregation was deeply divided by factional controversies, which included Shipherd's strong support for prohibition, and his health suffered. Educational administration Oberlin College During the summer of 1832, Philo P. Stewart, Shipherd's friend from his Pawlet Academy days and an Indian missionary, visited Rev. Shipherd in Elyria. While there, Stewart began his divinity training with Shipherd. Together, they formed a plan to establish a colony and educational institute in northern Ohio, based on idealistic Christian beliefs. In October 1832, Shipherd resigned as pastor. According to legend, Shipherd and Stewart rode southwest