He graduated in 1858 with distinction from
Emory and Henry College, later received a master's degree from the same school, and then served on the faculty.[1]
After the
American Civil War began, he moved to Dalton, Georgia, where his wife had family. Dalton became an important post with an army supply depot,[1] and Shumate became a "clerk and assistant in the subsistence department" under General
Joseph E. Johnston.[3]
After the end of the war, Shumate practiced law[1][3] and was elected to the Georgia House in 1868 as a Democrat.[1][4] His work in the House was respected enough that one writer called him "perhaps its most brilliant member".[5] Cherokee Circuit Court adjourned early on the day of his memorial service, and the court accepted a report on the service.[2]