July 2, 1862 Purdue History President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act, which turned public lands over to any state that agreed to use the land sale proceeds to maintain a college teaching agriculture and the "mechanic arts." 1865 The Indiana General Assembly voted to participate in the plan and took steps to establish such an institution. May 6, 1869 The Indiana General Assembly chose the Lafayette area for the new institution and accepted a $150,000 gift from John Purdue