John Andrew Shulze

John Andrew Shulze
6th Governor of Pennsylvania
In office
December 16, 1823 – December 15, 1829
Preceded by Joseph Hiester
Succeeded by George Wolf
Personal details
Born July 19, 1775
Tulpehocken Township, Pennsylvania
Died November 18, 1852 (aged 77)
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Political party Democratic-Republican Party
Religion Lutheran

John Andrew Shulze (July 19, 1775 – November 18, 1852) was a Pennsylvania political leader and the sixth Governor of Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Muhlenberg family political dynasty.

Early life and education

Shulze was born in Tulpehocken Township, Berks (now Lebanon) County, Pennsylvania, the son of Rev. Christopher Emmanuel Shulze and Eve Elizabeth Muhlenberg. Shulze was the grandson of Henry Muhlenberg and the nephew of brothers Peter Muhlenberg and Frederick Muhlenberg, who were leading politicians. Shulze grew up in the Pennsylvania Dutch community speaking their German dialect, and for his entire life would speak English with a noticeable accent.

Shulze studied at Franklin College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and was ordained a minister in the Lutheran church in 1796. He left the ministry due to poor health in 1802 and became a merchant in Myerstown, Pennsylvania. Shulze married Susan Kimmell and they had five children together.

Political career

Shulze was elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1806 and served three terms. From 1813 to 1821, he served in several low offices in Lebanon County. He returned to the General Assembly in 1821 and was elected to the State Senate in 1822.

In 1823, he was elected Governor of Pennsylvania defeating former U.S. Senator Andrew Gregg. He was reelected in 1826 over John Sergeant in one of the most lopsided victories in Pennsylvania political history.

Together with Mayor Joseph Watson of Philadelphia, in the mid-1820s Schultze worked to recover young free blacks of a group of about 20 who had been kidnapped from Philadelphia in 1825 and sold into slavery in Mississippi, as well as to prosecute members of the Cannon-Johnson gang of Maryland/Delaware for the crimes. In 1826 he issued extradition notices related to them to the states of Virginia, Alabama and Mississippi. None of the white members were convicted. John Purnell, a mulatto member of the gang, was tried in Philadelphia County Court in 1826, convicted of two counts of kidnapping and sentenced to a fine and 42 years in prison. He died five years later in prison. Patty Cannon, considered the leader of the gang, evaded capture. She was indicted on four counts of murder in 1829 after remains of four blacks were found buried on her land, but she died in jail before being tried, likely a suicide.[1]

Shulze pushed to establish free compulsory education in Pennsylvania. Although it failed to pass during his administration, he laid the groundwork for its adoption and funding under his successor, George Wolf. He also oversaw major canal and road building projects in the state.

Later life and legacy

Shulze declined to run for a third term and retired to Montoursville, Pennsylvania. He returned to public life briefly to become a delegate to the first national convention of the Whig Party in 1839. In 1840, he served as President of Pennsylvania's Electoral College which elected William Henry Harrison as the ninth President of the United States.

He died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and was buried in Woodward Hill Cemetery.

Shulze Hall, located on the campus of Penn State University, is named in his honor.

References

  1. ↑ John Henderson, Joseph Watson, Job Brown, Thomas Bradford Junr., R. L. Kennon, Joshua Boucher, H. V. Somerville and Eric Ledell Smith, "Rescuing African American Kidnapping Victims in Philadelphia as Documented in the Joseph Watson Papers", Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 129 (2008), pp. 326-328, accessed 16 April 2015 (subscription required)

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Joseph Hiester		 Governor of Pennsylvania
December 16, 1823 – December 15, 1829 		Succeeded by
George Wolf