Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
After serving an apprenticeship to an Ohio merchant and working as a schoolteacher for several years, John Purdue opened a business selling farm products in Ohio. In 1833 he opened a general store in Adelphi, and the following year he purchased land in Indiana. At that time he already owned substantial land holdings in Ohio, which he paid for through the exchange of products from his store. In 1839 he and his partner, Moses Fowler, sold their holdings in Ohio and relocated to Indiana.
Settling in Lafayette, Fowler and Purdue opened a dry goods business which thrived. In 1844 the partners separated and Purdue moved into other businesses, maintaining his dry goods business, which produced enormous profits during the Civil War, providing needed materials to the Union Army. Purdue developed extensive business contacts in New York during the decade which preceded the war, and these helped him obtain army contracts.
Purdue University was founded following the passage of the Morrill Act, which led Tippecanoe County to bid for the contract for the land grant. Several prominent citizens of the area provided donations including Purdue, who offered $100,000 at first, and when the legislature failed to act, raised his donation to $150,000 and included 100 acres of his land. He also was involved in the negotiations to create a board of trustees to select the site of the school.
In May 1869, the Indiana state legislature established the site of the university, and established its name as Purdue University, in honor of its lead benefactor. Classes at the new university began in 1874, and the school awarded its first degree, a bachelor of science in chemistry, the following year. The school became co-educational in the fall of 1875. Emerson White became the school’s president in 1876, determined to make the school focused on science, technology, and agriculture, in the spirit of the Morrill Act.
John Purdue died in September 1876, on the first day of class for the incoming third class at Purdue University. He died without heirs, causing his estate to be long entangled in probate court. Purdue University grew from a small school with six instructors and 39 students to one which offers more than 200 collegiate majors, with its student body expanding to become the second largest of colleges and universities in the State of Indiana.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“100 Hundred Minds that Made the Market”, by Ken Fisher, 2007
“Lydia Moss Bradley”, Wikipedia.
“Peter Cooper”, by Raymond Rossiter, 1901
“The Wisconsin Pine Lands of Cornell University”, by Paul Wallace Gates, 2011
“The Autobiography of Amos Kendall”, by Amos Kendall, 1872, at Project Guttenberg
“Mover of Men and Mountains”, by R. G. LeTourneau, 1967
“Faith is My Fortune: A Life Story of George Pepperdine”, by George Pepperdine, 1959
“Mr. Jefferson’s University: A History”, by Virginius Dabney, 1981
“The Midas of the Wabash: A Biography of John Purdue”, by Robert C. Kriebel, 2002