- John Alden was born in England about 1599 and died 12 September 1687 at the age of 88 or 89 Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts.. He was a cooper by trade and hired on as a "Mayflower" crew member in that capacity at Southampton. The conditions of employment permitted him to either remain in America or return as a crew member to England. He chose to remain in the New World. He was one of the forty one signers of the Mayflower Compact.
About 1623, John Alden married Priscilla Mullins. Her parents had died in the general sickness of that first winter at Plymouth. About 1632 they moved to nearby Duxbury. In 1653 they moved into a second house which is still standing (105 Alden Street) and maintained by the Alden Kindred of America, Inc. An excavation in 1960 revealed the location of the original house, about 300 yards away. John Alden served in many public service capacities over the years, including assistant to he Governor and twice as Deputy Governor.
John and Priscilla had 10 children. There is some speculation that there was an 11th child, but only 10 have been verified through the extensive research of land records, wills and probates. Descendants from John Alden has been proven through eight of them: Elizabeth, John, Joseph, Rebecca, Ruth, Sarah, Jonathan, and David. Little is known about the other children, Priscilla, and Mary.
It is not known when Priscilla died, but perhaps she was still living as of 1685. John died on 12 September, 1687, the last survivor of those who signed the historic Mayflower Compact.
John Alden (1599 - 1687) is said to be the first passenger of the Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620. He was a ship-carpenter by trade and a cooper for the Mayflower, that was usually docked at Southampton. He was also one of the founders of the Plymouth Colony and the seventh signer of the Mayflower Compact. Distinguished for practical wisdom, integrity and decision, he acquired and retained a commanding influence over his associates. Employed in public business he became the Governor's Assistant, the Duxbury Deputy to the General Court of Plymouth, a member under arms of Capt. Miles Standish's Duxbury Company, a member of Council of War, Treasurer of Plymouth Colony, and Commissioner to Yarmouth.
John Alden had settled with the Pilgrims in the Plymouth Colony, though not a pilgrim himself. He was hired to repair "The Mayflower" while she lay at Southampton, England. Without any religous motives, John decided to journey when she set sail, perhaps with the hope of being prosperous in the New World, or because he wished to follow Priscilla Mullens.[5] John wasn't the only man who had fallen for Priscilla. John's friend, military Captain Miles Standish had come to love the Maiden throughout the long voyage of 1620. A love triangle ensued with the result of John ultimately winning Priscilla's heart.[6] They married on May 12, 1622. The Captain, as it turns out, engaged in a campaign against rivaling Indians who plotted to kill newcomers.From 1633 until 1675 he was assistant to the governor of the colony, frequently serving as acting governor and also sat on many juries, including one of the two witch trials in the Plymouth Colony.
In 1634 Alden was jailed, in Boston, for a fight at Kenebeck in Maine between members of the Plymouth Colony and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. While Alden did not take part in the fight (which left one person dead) he was the highest ranking member the Massachusetts Bay colonists could get their hands on, and it was only through the intervention of Bradford that he was eventually released.
In later years Alden became known for his intense dislike of the Quakers and Baptists, who were trying to settle on Cape Cod. A letter survives complaining that Alden was too strict when it came to dealing with them.
John Alden was the last male survivor of the signers of the Mayflower Compact of 1620, and with the exception of Mary Allerton, he was the last survivor of the Mayflower's company. He died at Duxbury on September 12, 1687. Both he and his wife Priscilla lie buried in the Miles Standish Burial Ground.
The Alden residence is also in Duxbury, on the north side of the village, on a farm which is still in possession of their descendants of the seventh generation. He made no will, having distributed the greater part of his estate among his children during his life time.
John Alden's House was built in 1653 and is open to the public as a museum. It is run by the Alden Kindred of America, an organization which provides historical information about him and his home, including genealogical records of his descendants. John and Priscilla had the following children who survived to adulthood: Elizabeth, John (accused during the Salem witch trials), Joseph, Priscilla, Jonathan, Sarah, Ruth, Mary, Rebecca, and David. They have the most descendants today of all the pilgrim families.
There are several theories regarding Alden's ancestry. According to William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, he was hired as a cooper in Southampton, England just before the voyage to America. In The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers, Charles Edward Banks suggested that John was the son of George and Jane Alden and grandson of Richard and Avys Alden of Southampton. However, there are no further occurrences of the names George, Richard, and Avys in his family which would have been unusual in the seventeenth century.
Another theory is that John Alden came from Harwich, England where there are records of an Alden family who were related by marriage to Christopher Jones, the Mayflower's captain. In this case, he may have been the son of John Alden and Elizabeth Daye.
Notable descendants include: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Ichabod Alden, Orson Welles, Dan Quayle, Raquel Welch, Frank Nelson Doubleday, Samuel Eliot Morison, Gamaliel Bradford, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Herbert Henry Dow, Martha Graham, Adlai Stevenson III, Jan Garrigue Masaryk, Dick Van Dyke, Julia Child, William Cullen Bryant, John Trumbull, Ned Lamont, Matt Hasselbeck and Marilyn Monroe.
--
Passengers of the Mayflower by Caleb Johnson
From findagrave
Birth: 1598 Harwich, England Death: Sep. 12, 1687 South Duxbury Plymouth County Massachusetts, USA American Colonial Figure. One of the charter members of the Plymouth Colony in America, he arrived on the first voyage of the "Mayflower". At the time of the sailing of the vessel in 1620 for America, he was about twenty-one years old. William Bradford, second governor of the colony, wrote that John Alden was "hired for a cooper, at South Hampton (England), where the ship victualed (brought on food for the voyage); and being a hopeful young man, was much desired, but left to his own liking to go or stay when he came here; but he stayed and married here." His trade of cooper (barrel maker) was one of the vital trades needed by the colonists. John married fellow Mayflower pilgrim Priscilla Mullins, about 1623, but the exact date has been lost to history. He became one of the Purchasers and Undertakers for the colony, serving also as Assistant in the Colony government, Deputy Governor, Colony Treasurer, and a member of the committee in charge of revising laws. He was one of the founders of Duxbury, Massachusetts, and owned several pieces of property. Although he died without a will, an inventory of his property at the time of his death was taken in November 1687. A legend of a rivalry between himself and pilgrim Miles Standish for Priscilla Mullins arose, and was first published in the book, "Collection of American Epitaphs and Inscriptions" in 1814, by Timothy Alden. The story was popularized by the poem, "The Courtship of Miles Standish" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1858, however, there is no documentation of such a rivalry to have existed in any of the records of the Plymouth Colony. (bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson) Family links: Spouse: Priscilla Mullins Alden (1602 - 1685) Children: Priscilla Alden* Elisabeth Alden Pabodie (1624 - 1717)* John Alden (1626 - 1702)* Sarah Alden Standish (1627 - 1688)* Joseph Alden (1627 - 1697)* Jonathan Alden (1632 - 1697)* Ruth Alden Bass (1637 - 1674)* Mary Alden (1638 - 1688)* David Alden (1646 - 1719)* Rebecca Alden Delano (1649 - 1688)* Zakaria* Calculated relationship Burial: Myles Standish Burying Ground Duxbury Plymouth County Massachusetts, USA
Family Members
To bad no one bothers to list all 11 children..
American Colonial Figure. One of the charter members of the Plymouth Colony in America, he arrived on the first voyage of the "Mayflower". At the time of the sailing of the vessel in 1620 for America, he was about twenty-one years old. William Bradford, second governor of the colony, wrote that John Alden was "hired for a cooper, at South Hampton (England), where the ship victualed (brought on food for the voyage); and being a hopeful young man, was much desired, but left to his own liking to go or stay when he came here; but he stayed and married here." His
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
page 12
Alden, John, cooper, hired at Southampton, came in the May-flower, signed the Compact. Frm. and councilor 1633. A partner in the Trading Co. [B]. He m. Priscilla, dau of Wiliam Mullins.
Children: (Birth order uncertain)
1. Elizabeth, married William Pabodie 26 Dec 1644, named at
the division of cattle in 1627;
2. John, married Elizabeth (Phillips) Everill in 1660, named at
the division of cattle in 1627;
3. Joseph, married Mary Simmons about 1659
4. David, married Mary Southworth, before 1674
5. Jonathan, married Abigail Hallett, about 1672
6. Sarah, married Alexander Standish, about 1660
7. Ruth, married John Bass, about 1657
8. Rebecca, married Thomas Delano, about 1667
9. Mary, unmarried
10. Priscilla, unmarried
|