Lawrence B. Sheppard

Hanover Shoe Farms Still in his twenties and serving as a junior partner in the Hanover Shoe Company, L. B. Sheppard took the lead in turning Hanover Shoe Stables into Hanover Shoe Farms. He began upgrading the stable's bloodstock in 1922, acquiring some of the era's most notable racehorses, including Baron Worthy and Peter Manning. In 1926, Sheppard took another major step with the purchase of 69 horses from the estate of A. B. Coxe.

When the William Penn Circuit was formed in November 1927, Sheppard was appointed its president. In 1928, he established the Hanover Driving Club as part of the circuit, becoming its inaugural president. He drove his first professional race in 1930 at Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, scoring a victory with two-year-old trotter Effie Hanover. He later set a world record with Dean Hanover in 1937 for the fastest three-heat performance in a race, recording times of 2:00¼, 2:00¾, and 2:00¾. He was also appointed to its board of directors.

Outside of harness racing, he was also active in local civic affairs in Hanover, Pennsylvania. He was elected president of the Hanover School Board in late 1934. He served as president until 1939 with Guy R. Goodfellow succeeding him. That year, he was elected president of the board of directors of the Hanover General Hospital, succeeding C. N. Myers.

In 1940, Sheppard succeeded his father as president of the Hanover Shoe Company, which he had founded. known as the Hall of Fame of the Trotter and now the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame. After serving as general manager for 25 years, he stepped down from the position due to his duties as president of the United States Trotting Association. He gained national attention in 1956, when as trotting association president he became engaged in a controversy with George P. Monaghan, New York state harness trotting commissioner, over charges of racketeer influence at New York tracks. L. B. Sheppard spent many years as a publisher of the Evening Sun. He also served as president of The Evening Sun Co. until it was sold in 1958 to Brush-Moore Newspapers. He controlled the Sun with five other shareholders. He served in his role as chairman of the commission until 1963 with Governor William W. Scranton accepting his resignation.

He stepped down from the post of president of the Hanover Shoe Company Inc. on April 2, 1962. He was succeeded as president by E. S. Fitzgibbons. He was reelected chairman of the board and chairman and president of the board of Sheppard & Myers, Inc., the company's retailing corporation.

He served as vice chairman of the board of the National Bank and Trust Co. of Central Pennsylvania following the December 1964 merger of the First National Bank and Trust Co. of Hanover and National Central. He was elected head chairman of the board on January 26, 1967. He was posthumously inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1968.