John Andrew Shulze was born on July 19, 1775 in the township of Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania. His father, Christopher Emanuel Shulze, a distinguished clergyman of the Lutheran Church, was a native of Saxony, Germany, educated at the University of Halle, who emigrated to America in 1765; and his mother, Eva Elizabeth, was the daughter of Henry Melchior Mühlenberg.
He received a classical and theological education, studying in Lancaster, York, and New York City under the guidance of some of the most eminent educators and divines of the day.
In 1796 he was ordained to the ministry, was admitted to the German Lutheran Synod of Eastern Pennsylvania, and preached in Berks County.
In 1802 he retired from the active ministry on account of serious rheumatism. In 1804 he established himself in the mercantile business in Myerstown, then in Dauphin County, and within a decade had accumulated a moderate fortune.
In 1806 he served in the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania. He was reëlected for the two succeeding years but refused to become a candidate for a fourth term. A stanch advocate of Republican principles in government, he played a very active and influential part in the proceedings of the legislature during his three-year tenure in that body.
In 1813 he was appointed to the office of surveyor-general of the state but declined this position. He was induced, however, to accept the duties of register, recorder, prothonotary, clerk of the orphans' court, and clerk of the sessions court of Lebanon County. After serving eight years in these capacities he was elected again to the House of Representatives in 1821 and the next year was chosen a state senator from Dauphin and Lebanon counties.
In 1823 he received the Republican nomination for governor and was elected by a majority of more than 25, 000. Upon the expiration of his term of three years he was returned to the governorship by the unprecedented majority of approximately 72, 000 votes to about 2, 000 for his opponent.
In dispensing the patronage, grown to enormous proportions by the public works in which the state was then engaged, he proved himself a keen judge of men and a politician of no mean merit. Although questioning at first the wisdom of having the state embark on a program of internal improvements, the chief feature of which was the construction of a canal from Columbia on the Susquehanna River to Pittsburgh with side branches to act as feeders to the main canal, he bowed to the wishes of the people and gave the project his hearty support.
Before the expiration of his second term of office more than $6, 000, 000 had been expended on the canals alone, and a considerable portion of the program had been completed. Especially interested in the extension of the system of public elementary education to all classes throughout the state, he repeatedly appealed to the legislature on the subject. Although the legislation enacted in response to his requests did not measure up to his expectations, something was accomplished; and the publicity given the subject paved the way for the establishment of the system of public education on a sound basis during the decade of the thirties.
After the expiration of his second term in December 1829, he retired from public life and devoted himself to farming, though he continued his interest in politics and public questions in general.
In 1839 he was a delegate to the state convention that assembled in Harrisburg and the following year was chosen a member of the electoral college of the state, of which he was elected president.
In 1846 he removed to Lancaster, where he resided until his death.
He was married to Susan Kimmell, by whom he had at least two children.
