Uncle

In the most comprehensive biographical study of John Purdue (c. 1802-1876) to date, Purdue's great-great-grandniece describes her travels to the diverse places where Purdue had lived in order to learn about the mysterious relative known in her family as <QUOTE>Uncle.<QUOTE><QUOTE> Using fresh, unpublished source materials-including Purdue's personal correspondence, business ledgers, and the family oral histories-the author examines Purdue's beginning among illiterate, immigrant, Pennsylvania mountain-hollow folks. Uncle challenges a commonly held belief that Purdue was a cold-hearted business mogul. Instead the author shows Purdue as a human being and as a generous family man with a visionary nature.