Business Activities (PDF)

In 1833, Purdue opened a general merchandise store in Adelphi, Ohio with James Fowler. Purdue was doing well enough to buy a farm for his mothers and sisters in Ohio, as well as land in Warren County, Illinois, and 240 acres in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.

Sometime around 1834, Purdue left his Adelphi store and moved to Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue quickly became involved in several civic activities: he served on the first board of directors for the Lafayette branch of the State Bank of Indiana, and became a member of the Northwestern Freedmen's Aid Commission. Throughout his long stay in Lafayette, Purdue would donate generously to churches, libraries, schools, and other local organizations.

In 1839, Purdue convinced his old apprentice, Moses Fowler, to join him in Lafayette and start another Purdue and Fowler general merchandise store. Purdue purchased Lot 1 (the first lot in the first plat of Lafayette) from Eliza and James McCormick, original settlers of the area. Joining this lot to other surrounding lots as he bought them, Purdue established the "Purdue Block," an area that would eventually become known as the largest business district outside of New York City's Wall Street. In 1844, Purdue and Fowler parted ways. However, they would occasionally collaborate on business dealings, although for the most part they would remain major business rivals.

In 1846, Indiana Governor James Whitcomb appointed Purdue to a panel of commissioners to sell stock for Lafayette's first railroad, the Lafayette & Indianapolis. Purdue was elected to serve on the board of directors, and he also contributed toward a second railroad, the New Albany & Salem. By this time, Purdue had appointed another young business associate, William Stacy, to partner with him in his general merchandise business. Purdue opened a commission house for the sale of "western" products in New York (Purdue, Ward & Company), and had another office in Chicago.

In 1852, Purdue was appointed as a trustee to Lafayette's first public school, and helped select sites for three new schools. While the Indiana Supreme Court debated for a year over the legality of taxation and local schools went without funding, Purdue donated his own money to keep the schools running.

In the 1858, Purdue bought Walnut Grove Farm in Warren County, Indiana, and employed several family members to help run it, including William and Lucinda Clark, John and Eunice Prosser and their three children, and John McCammon.

When the Civil War broke out, Purdue donated money to the Union cause and became the main pork supplier for the Union Army. When Confederate sympathizers in Lafayette starting vandalizing local businesses, Purdue financed and armed a volunteer militia, called the Purdue Rifles.

In 1867, Purdue and a group of other men salvaged a factory that made mechanical reapers and other farm machinery, renaming it the Lafayette Agricultural Works. When another group of businessmen started Lafayette Savings Bank, Purdue served as the bank's first president. In 1869, he helped form the Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington (LM&B) Railroad. Disputes over the use of the tracks by other railroads began almost immediately. A long and bitter court battle ensued over track ownership, upkeep and usage. When the LM&B finally opened in 1874, Purdue had actually paid for a portion of the track to be built himself, and had secured over $600,000 in personal bank loans to keep the LM&B afloat.

The LM&B was not Purdue's only legal and financial worry during this time. In 1870 he invested money in a silver mine near Georgetown, Colorado and established the Purdue Gold and Silver Mining and Ore Reduction Company. Laborers from a nearby mine had been smuggling the silver out on Sundays to avoid detection, and by the time they were discovered and legal proceedings had run their course, much of the mine's profits were lost, or had gone to pay lawyers.

1874 was a year filled with trouble for John Purdue. In addition to his ongoing clashes with University trustees, his other business ventures were rapidly depleting his fortune, especially the ongoing legal headaches connected with the LM&B railroad and the Colorado mine. His finances became so drained that he had to mortgage most of his beloved Walnut Grove Farm in August 1876 to ensure the final payment of the pledge that gave birth to Purdue University in the first place.