John Alden

  General Notes:

Occupation of cooper. One of the Pilgrims who emigrated to America in 1620 on the Mayflower and founded the Plymouth Colony. He was one of the first settlers of Duxburrough or Duxborough, known today as Duxbury, where he lived for most of his life. 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. He is remembered chiefly because of a popular legend, put into verse in 1858 as The Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, concerning his courtship of Priscilla Mullins, whom he married in 1623 after having wooed her first on behalf of his friend, Miles Standish. Sadly, there is no known historic basis to the legend. 4 sons and 6 dtrs.

John married Priscilla Mullins, daughter of William Mullins and Alice, in 1623 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. (Priscilla Mullins was born circa 1600-1605 in Dorking, Surrey Co., England, died after 1650 and was buried in Duxbury, Essex, Massachusetts, American Colonies.)