John Alden^[1]

1599 - 1687  (88 years)

• Name	John Alden
  Birth	1599	Southhampton, England (VIA MAYFLOWER, 1620)
  Gender	Male
  Death	12 Sep 1687	Duxbury, Plymouth, MA
  Person ID	I67	Simmons/Truax Family Trees
  Last Modified	21 Oct 2017

  
  

  Family	Priscilla Mullins,   b. 1602, Dorkin, Surrey, England d. Duxbury, Plymouth, MA
  Marriage	12 May 1622	Plymouth, Massachusetts
  Children	1. Elizabeth Alden,   b. 1624   d. 31 May 1717, Little Compton, Newport, RI (Age 93 years)   2. Timothy Alden,   b. 1623   3. John Alden,   b. 1626, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA d. 14 May 1707, Boston, MA (Age 81 years)   4. Sarah Alden,   b. 1628, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA d. 13 June 1688 (Age 60 years)   5. Joseph Alden,   b. 1629, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA d. 8 Feb 1696/97 (Age 68 years)   6. James Alden,   b. 1627, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA   7. Jonathon Alden,   b. 1632, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA d. 14 Feb 1696/97 (Age 65 years)   8. Ruth Alden,   b. 1635   d. 12 Oct 1674 (Age 39 years)   9. Mary Alden,   b. 1636, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA d. 24 Oct 1699 (Age 63 years)   10. Zachary Alden,   b. 1637, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA d. 13 Jan 1687/88 (Age 51 years)   11. Priscilla Alden,   b. 1642   12. David Alden   13. Priscilla Alden   14. Lydia Alden   15. James Alden   16. Rebecca Alden,   b. 1638, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA d. 3 Jun 1688 (Age 50 years)
  Family ID	F36	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Jul 2017

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Alden House John & Priscilla Alden's house
  		John Alden Broadside 1 (e.g., obituary).jpg One broadside, or obituary, for the death of John Alden.
  		John Alden Broadside (e.g., obituary) 2.jpg One broadside, or obituary, for the death of John Alden.

  
  

• Notes

  John Alden appears to have originated from an Alden family residing in Harwich, Essex, England, that was related by marriage to the Mayflower's master Christopher Jones. He was about 21 years old when he was hired to be the cooper, or barrel-maker, for the Mayflower's voyage to America. He was given the option to stay in America, or return to England; he decided to stay. At Plymouth, he quickly rose up from his common seaman status to become a prominent member of the Colony. About 1622 or 1623, he married Priscilla Mullins, the orphaned daughter of William and Alice Mullins. They had their first child, Elizabeth, around 1624, and would have nine more children over the next twenty years. John Alden was one of the earliest freemen in the Colony, and was elected as an assistant to the governor and Plymouth Court as early as 1631, and he was regularly re-elected throughout the 1630s. He also became involved in administering the trading activities of the Colony on the Kennebec River. Alden, and several other families, including the Miles Standish family, founded the town of Duxbury, MA, in the 1630s. They took up residence there, with John Alden serving as Duxbury’s deputy to the Plymouth Court throughout the 1640s. Alden also served as colony treasurer in the 1650s, and he built the house that still stands today (see media, below). By the 1660s, Alden was given several land and cash grants by the Plymouth Court to assist him in providing for his wife and 10 children. Throughout the 1670s, Alden began distributing his land holdings to his surviving sons. He died in 1687 at the age of 89, one of the last surviving Mayflower passengers.

  
  

• Sources

  [S9] Alden.org. www.alden.org