John Alden

Signing of the Mayflower Compact

John Alden (1599–September 22, 1687) is said to be the first person from the The Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620.^[1] He was a ship-carpenter by trade and a cooper for The Mayflower, which was usually docked at Southampton.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

Biography

Rogers Group, depicting the courtship of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins: "Why Don't You Speak for Yourself, John?" (1885)

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 religious 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.^[2] 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.^[5] They married on May 12, 1622. The Captain, as it turns out, engaged in a campaign against rivaling Indians who plotted to kill newcomers.^[6] The story is told elaborately in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish.

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.

Final days and legacy

John Alden's House, built ca. 1653, in Duxbury, Massachusetts

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^[7] 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.^[8]

John Alden's House, now a National Historic Landmark, 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.^[3]

Ancestry

There are several theories regarding Alden's ancestry. According to William Bradford’s Of Plimoth 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.

See also

• Cooper (profession)
• Settler

Notes

References

• Alden, Ebenezer. "Memorial of the Descendants of the Hon. John Alden". S.P. Brown, 1867
• Addison, Daniel Dulany. "The Life and Times of Edward Bass, First Bishop of Massachusetts". Houghton, Mifflin, 1897
• National Society of Colonial Dames. "First Record Book of the Society of Colonial Dames", 1897; Ch.75
• Waters, Henry Fitz-Gilbert. "The New England Historical and Genealogical Register". New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1898; p. 435-440
• Longfellow, H.W. "The Courtship of Miles Standish", 1858
• Hawthorne, Julian. "The History of the United States from 1492 to 1910 Volume 1: 1492-1910". BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2007. ISBN 1426485417, 9781426485411.; p. 61-62
• Genealogy of John Alden (1599-1687) -

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Alden, John.

• John Alden from MayflowerHistory.com
• John Alden House & Alden Kindred of America
• John Alden at Find A Grave