Devello Z. Sheffield

Devello Z. Sheffield
Born	(1841-08-13)August 13, 1841 Gainesville, New York, U.S.
Died	(1913-07-01)July 1, 1913 Tongzhou, China
Alma mater	Auburn Theological Seminary
Occupations	Presbyterian minister Missionary President of the North China College
Organization	American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions

Devello Zelotes Sheffield (August 13, 1841 – July 1, 1913) was an American missionary and educator. After serving with the 7th New York Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War, he began a career in education before becoming a Presbyterian minister. Soon after, he was sent on a mission to Tongzhou, China. Although he found little success with direct evangelization efforts, he recognized the potential value of schooling young locals in theological and secular subjects. He led the school in Tongzhou until it was designated as the North China College in 1893; he then became the president of the college, a position he held until 1909. He returned to teaching in 1910 and continued to do so until his health failed in late 1912; he died the following July.

In addition to his work in education, Sheffield, a skilled speaker and interpreter of Chinese, published numerous Chinese-language textbooks. He also was a member of two committees that aimed to translate the Old and New Testament into Chinese. He used his talent in mechanics to create the first Chinese typewriter,^[1] although it never reached mass production.