18 Facts About John Purdue

John Purdue was a wealthy American industrialist in Lafayette, Indiana, and the primary original benefactor of Purdue University.

John Purdue was born in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, to Charles and Mary Short Purdue.

Shortly thereafter John Purdue was apprenticed to an Adelphi merchant, and his mother and at least a few of his sisters moved north and settled near Westerville, Ohio.

John Purdue sold the same on August 20,1832, at a profit.

John Purdue derived additional gain from collecting a commission in taking his neighbor's hogs to market.

John Purdue developed a farm products brokerage that covered the Adelphi, Worthington and Columbus area.

On December 9,1834, John Purdue purchased 240 acres of land in Indiana from Jesse Spencer for $850 which he partially paid for in store goods.

John Purdue continued to gain wealth and prestige over the next several years.

In 1847, a group of five merchants, including John Purdue, completed a 600-foot wooden toll bridge across the Wabash.

John Purdue donated $500 in cash to help another collegiate institute in the newly-platted Stockwell, Indiana.

John Purdue profited greatly during the American Civil War mainly because of the increase in demand for dry goods by the Union Army.

John Purdue supported the Union in the war, but some night-time raids by Confederate sympathizers on local businesses were reported.

In 1867, John Purdue invested money in and presided as president of the Lafayette Agricultural Works, a Lafayette implement factory, until the mid-1870s.

John Purdue later supported some questionable business ventures, including backing the Lafayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad, even as lawsuits and debts climbed.

John Purdue backed a silver mining scheme in Colorado, the John Purdue Gold and Silver Mining and Ore Reduction Company, which failed to pay any dividends.

In 1864, John Purdue lost a contentious primary battle to incumbent Godlove Stein Orth for the nomination of the Union Party's candidate for Congress.

In 1866, John Purdue again challenged Orth but this time in the general election as an Independent.

John Purdue died of an apparent stroke on September 12,1876, aged 73, on the first day of classes of the third academic year at the university he had helped found.