John Purdue as Farmer (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. In 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. 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. By August 1876, Purdue's finances became so drained that he had to mortgage most of his beloved Walnut Grove Farm to ensure the final payment of his pledge to Purdue University.