Shirleysburg borough, Cromwell township

Purdue's Founder

Did you know? The man Purdue University is named for was born in Huntingdon County, and he had to quit school at twelve.

John Purdue was born October 31, 1802 in Germany Valley, near Shirleysburg. Purdue's own university archives describe the family plainly: his father Charles worked at a nearby iron foundry, and "the family endured extreme poverty." John was the only son among ten children. He started at a local school at eight and dropped out at twelve to work as a hired hand and help support the family.

In the early 1820s the Purdues moved to Adelphi, Ohio. He taught in a one room schoolhouse, then started selling crops and livestock for his neighbors on commission, then opened a store, then moved to Lafayette, Indiana and kept going. Bank director. Newspaper owner. Railroad organizer.

In 1869, when Indiana was looking to establish its land grant college, he put up $150,000. Among his conditions was that the college carry his name.

Classes started in the fall of 1874. The first commencement was June 16, 1875, and there was exactly one graduate, John Bradford Harper. Purdue gave the address. He died September 12, 1876 and is buried on the campus.

A boy who had to leave school at twelve in Germany Valley put his name on a university.

What the fact check changed. BIRTHPLACE HELD UP, but not from where the original got it. Neither Africa 1883 nor the 1897 Juniata Valley encyclopedia nor the 1909 Historic Huntingdon contains the name Purdue at all. Wikipedia gives Huntingdon County with NO citation on that sentence. Africa 1883 independently places Germany Valley in the south part of Huntingdon County, east of the Aughwick, which is what lets Germany Valley and Huntingdon County sit in the same sentence. TWO CLAIMS CUT, both for source conflict. 1. "gave the money AND LAND." Three sources, no agreement on the land. Purdue's official history page says the 100 acres came "from local residents" and only the $150,000 came from Purdue. Purdue's Archives says he gave "one hundred acres of land that he had purchased on the west bank of the Wabash." Wikipedia says the donation was raised to $150,000 and 100 acres. All three agree on the $150,000 and only that. The land is dropped, not averaged, not picked between. 2. "on ONE condition: it had to carry his name." Every source that lists his stipulations lists more than one, and they do not agree on what the other one was. Purdue's Archives: "the college bear his name and that he be awarded a lifelong seat on the board of directors." Wikipedia, citing Kriebel's The Midas of the Wabash: "for the college to be located in Battle Ground, Indiana and for his surname to be associated with it." The name condition is in every account, so it stays. The count "one condition" is wrong and is replaced with "among his conditions." The second condition is dropped because the sources contradict each other on what it was. 3. "made his fortune in dry goods" is narrowed. The Archives biography has him brokering crops and hogs on commission first, then storekeeping, then banking, newspapers, railroads and an agricultural works. Dry goods is one chapter, not the fortune. WHAT THE ORIGINAL MISSED, and it is the whole reason to run this post: the extreme poverty, the iron foundry father, school at eight and out at twelve. Also the one graduate at the first commencement, with Purdue himself giving the address. Straight from the university's own archives.

Sources

Checked 2026-08-01 · County history, independently fact checked

← All stories from Shirleysburg borough