John Alden
John Alden (1599 – September 12, 1687) is said to be the first person from the Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620.[1] He was a ship-carpenter by trade and a cooper for Mayflower, which was usually docked at Southampton.[2] He was also one of the founders of 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 Plimoth Colony, and Commissioner to Yarmouth.[4]
Biography
Final days and legacy
John Alden was the last male survivor of the signers of the Mayflower Compact, and with the exception of Mary Allerton, he was the last survivor of the Mayflower's company. He died at Duxbury[5] on September 12, 1687. Both he and his wife Priscilla Mullins 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 lifetime.[6]
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, Robert, 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.
Descendants
Of all the marriages that were a product of Mayflower couples, John and Priscilla Alden have the most descendants, for they had ten children. They include Presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, actress Jodie Foster, and many other well known figures in American history.
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
- John Alden from MayflowerHistory.com
- John Alden House & Alden Kindred of America
- John Alden at Find A Grave