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John Alden (c. 1599–1687)
Priscilla Mullins (say 1603–aft. 1650), daughter William Mullins
John Alden died was born about 1599. [1] He died on 22 September 1687 in Duxbury. [1] He married Priscilla Mullins before 1624. [1][2, 447]
On Monday, 12 September 1687, Samuel Sewall wrote in his diary, "Mr. John Alden, the ancient Magistrate of Plymouth, died. [3]
John Alden, Esq. deposed that he was about 83 on 6 July 1682. [4]
John married Priscilla, the daughter of William Mullins, and they had 11 children. [2, 445]
Priscilla Mullins was born say 1603. She died after 1650. [1]
John Alden was a passenger on the Mayflower. William Bradford describes him below. [2, 443]
John received [?] acres of land in the 1623 division of land in Plymouth. [5]
The Pilgrims borrowed heavily from English merchant adventurers to come to America. Their money making efforts were unsucessful and in 1627 eight colonists, known as undertakers renegotiated and undertook to repay the debt in return for a monopoly on the fur trade and other considerations. These undertakers were William Bradford, John Howland, Myles Standish, Isaac Allerton, Edward Winslow, William Brewster, John Alden and Thomas Prence. [2, 194–6, ch. 18, fn. 5]
John, Priscilla, Elizabeth and John Alden were in the fourth lot of the division of cattle in 1627 in Plymouth. [6]
John is consistently referred to as "Mr." in the Plymouth court records. He was regularly called upon to view and layout land.
The first recorded meeting of the New Plymouth Colony General Court took place on 1 January 1632/3 (all court dates are old style). John—already a freeman—was chosen one of the seven Assistants (council or cabinet members) to the Governor. He held this position for six years, and was elected again in June 1650 and June 1651. [7][8]
All governments need revenue and one of the courts' first acts on 1 January 1632/3 was to order the collection of taxes. John, as an Assistant, was one of the raters. The taxes, collexted in corn, ranged from nine shillings for most of the households to three pounds and 11 shillings for Isaac Allerton. John—relatively affluent—was assessed one pound and four shillings. [7]
By an order of 2 January 1631/2, John was chosen to be on a committee to set rates. He paid a relatively high tax of one pound, four shillings. [7] By an order of 2 January 1633/4 he again paid one pound four shillings. [7]
John was chosen for the council at the 1 January 1632 court. [7] He was chosen an Assistant on 1 January 1633/4, 1 January 1634/5, 1 March 1635/6, 3 January 1636/7, 6 March 1637/8 and 5 March 1638/9. [7]
John was on a 1633 list of freeman in Plymouth in 1633. [7] John Alden, gentleman, is on a 7 March 1636/7 list of freemen. [7]
On 1 March 1635/6 Mr. Alden was on a committee to view the land on the north side of the South River and decide whether to allocate it to Scituate. [7]
In the 14 March 1635/6 allocation of mowing, Mr. Alden was to have the land he previously mowed, as much as he needed. [7] In the 7 March 1636/7 allocation, he was given what he had before. [7]
On 6 March 1637/8 the Court of Assistants agreed that Captain Standish and Mr. John Alden were to go to Sandwich to set out the bounds. [7] On 2 April 1637/8 they were to set out land for Mr. Vassell to keep a ferry. [7]
On 16 April 1640 Thomas Prence and John Alden, gentlemen, were commissioned to hear differences about land division in Sandwich and to set down some orders for dividing the meadow lands. [9]
On 5 February1637/8 Mr. John Alden was granted lands at Green's Harbor. [7] On 3 September 1638 he was granted a little parcel of land lying at the southerly side of his lot. [7]
On 16 April 1640 Thomas Prence and John Alden, gentelmen, were directed to call the townsmen of Sandwich to a meeting and hear their differences. [7]
Mr. John Alden was appointed to the committee for the town of Duxbury on 1 June 1641, 7 June 1642, 10 October 16143, 5 June 1644, 20 August 1644, 3 March 1645/6, 7 July 1646, 1 June 1647, 7 June 1648, Hybe 1649. [8]
On 27 September 1642 John Alden was a representative from Duxbury for a special court called to consider an Indian threat. [8] He was chosen a member of the Council of War on 2 June 1646. [8]
John was appointed to a committee to consider ways of raising tax revenue on 2 June 1646. [8]
John was appointed to a committee to take acount of the Treasurer on 1 June 1647. [8]
Mr. Alden and Mr. Howland were to be added to the Treasurer to take account of the Kennebec trade. [8]
John died intestate. On 31 October 1687 inventory was taken by his son Jonathan; on 8 November the court granted administration to Lieutenant Jonathan Alden and he made oath to the inventory. No real estate is listed; it appears that John distributed it during his lifetime. On 13 June 1688 the heirs of John Alden, Sr. of Duxbury, Esq. signed a statement that they had received their shares. They were Alexander Standish, in right of his wife Sarah, deceased; John Bass, in right of his wife Ruth, deceased; Mary Alden; Thomas Delano; John, Joseph, David and Priscilla Alden; William Paybody. [10]
Children of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins: Order not certain
i. Elizabeth Alden was born about 1624. She died on 31 May 1717 in Little Compton. She married William Paybody.
ii. Captain John Alden was born about 1626. [11] He died on 14 March 1701/2. [11] He married as her second husband Elizabeth (Phillips) Everill [12] on 1 April 1660 (probably 1659) in Boston. [11] Elizabeth was the daughter of William Phillips. [11][12] She married first Abiel Averill on 6 July 1655 in Boston. [11]
He is probably the John Alden made a freeman on 7 June 1648. [8]
Captain John Alden sold the land his father left him and became a seaman. [12] He sailed as a private owner and in the crown's service, including an expedition to Canada in 1690. [12]
John was a arrested as a witch during the Salem witch mania. He escaped when he was transferred to a jail in Boston, where he had friends. [12]
William Phillips gave his son-in-law John a thousand acres in Maine. [12]
John and Elizabeth had 14 children, but only five survived to adulthood. They were the ancestors of President John Adams. [12]
iii. Joseph Alden was born about 1627. [11] He was alive on 12 June 1688. He married by about 1660 Mary Simonson. [11] He married second Sarah ___. [11]
His father left Joseph land in Bridgewater. [12]
iv. Priscilla Alden was born say 1630. [11] She was alive and unmarried on 12 June 1688.
v. Lieutenant Jonathan Alden was born about 1632. [11] He died on 14 February 1696/7. [11] He married Abigail Hallet on 10 Decemer 1672 in Duxbury. [11]
His father left Jonathan his homestead farm in Duxbury. [12]
vi. Sarah Alden was born say 1634. She died before 13 June 1688. She married Alexander, the son of Myles Standish. [12][11] Alexander married second as her third husband Desire (Doty) (Sherman) Holmes. [12]
vii. Ruth Alden was born say 1636. died before 13 June 1688. She married John Bass on 3 February 1657/8 in Braintree. [11]
viii. Mary Alden was born say 1636. She was alive and unmarried on 13 June 1688.
ix. Rebecca Alden was born say 1640. She married Thomas Delano.
x. David Alden was born say 1642. He married Mary, the daughter of Constant Southworth and Elizabeth Collier, by 1674. [11]
His father left David land in Middleborough. [12]
If William Bradford is correct that John and Priscilla had 11 children, then there must have been another one that died before 13 June 1688.
References:
1. George Ernest Bowman, "Mayflower Genealogies: I. Vital Statistics of Mayflower Passengers," Mayflower Descendant 2 (1900): 114–120.
2. William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, Charles Dean, editor (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856)
3. Diary of Samuel Sewall, vol. 1, Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 5, Fifth Series (Boston: The society, 1878), 190.
4. "John Alden's Deposition," Mayflower Desendant 3 (1901): 120–1.
5. Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Plymouth Colony: Its History & People (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1986), Appendix E (1623 land division), 27 (Undertakers).
6. "Division of Cattle in 1627," Mayflower Descendant 1 (1899): 148–54.
7. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, vol. 1, Court Orders, 1633–1640 (Boston: William White, 1855).
8. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, vol. 2, Court Orders, 1641–1651 (Boston: William White, 1855).
9. Sandwich and Bourne Colony and Town Records, Library of Cape Cod History and Genealogy (Yarmouthport: C.W. Swift, 1912), no page numbers.
10. George Ernest Bowman, "John Alden's Inventory and Settlement of His Estate," Mayflower Descendant 3 (1901): 10–11.
11. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Volumes I-III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 21–24.
12. Alicia Crane Williams, "The Alden Family: A Look at the First Four Generations," Mayflower Descendant 48 (1998): 107–10.
Last revised: 26-Feb-2024