Background
John was born on October 31, 1802 in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States, in the little village called Germany, where his father had settled on coming from Scotland. He was the son of Charles and Mary (Short) Purdue, the only son in a family of nine children. During his boyhood the family migrated to Ohio, settling first in Adelphi, Ross County, and later at Worthington, near Columbus.
Education
John Purdue studied at different community schools.
Career
At an early age Purdue became a wage earner. While in his twenties he taught for four years in the district schools of Pickaway County, Ohio. Some time about 1830 he acquired land holdings in Marion County and began operations as a commission merchant. On one occasion he made a journey to New York, where he served with marked success as the representative of his neighbors in the marketing of hogs.
Moving westward in search of new opportunities Purdue, in 1837, visited Lafayette, then a flourishing and promising trade center. Two years later he settled there. In the fifties he established, with a partner, a commission house in New York City. This branch of his business flourished, particularly during the Civil War, and yielded a large share of his wealth.
Like many other men of his type in his day, Purdue dabbled in politics and journalism. Unsuccessfully he sought in 1866 an independent nomination for Congress. To further his campaign he purchased a local newspaper - the Lafayette Journal. These ventures made serious inroads on his fortune, which was further diminished by heavy and unprofitable investments in local manufacturing and railway enterprises. He was more than a successful merchant, however.
In consequence of the land-grant college act, passed by Congress in 1862, the Indiana legislature in 1865 gave legal existence to the "Indiana Agricultural College. " To secure the location of this institution in Tippecanoe County, Purdue made a proposition to the legislature in 1869, in which he offered to donate $150, 000 to supplement the $50, 000 and certain lands and buildings already proffered by the citizens of the county, specifying that the institution should bear his name. This proposal was accepted by the state.
By the terms of the founding legislation, Purdue was a life member of the trustees of the new institution. As such he was a dominating influence in its organization and in the erection of its first buildings.
His death occurred quite suddenly in Lafayette, and he was buried, as he had requested, on the campus of the university, with an unmarked stone at the head of his grave.
Personality
Purdue possessed to a marked degree those qualities requisite for material success.