JOHN ALDEN
PRISCILLA MULLINS

There are two reasons why the name John Alden is so well known. One is the famous poem, "Courtship of Myles Standish," which, though it is fiction, was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a descendant of Alden's. The other reason is that Alden has, probably, the largest number of descendants, as compared with those of other Mayflower passengers.

Alden was hired at Southampton as a cooper (barrel maker); an Act of Parliament in 1543 required that a ship carrying beer should have a cooper aboard to replace lost "barrel stock."

William Bradford wrote in his History of Plymouth Plantation "John Alden was hired for a cooper at South-Hampton, . . . and being a hopeful young man was much desired, but left to his his own liking to go or to stay when he came here; but he stayed, and married here."

Alden was the seventh signer of the Mayflower Compact. He was a surveyor of highways, deputy from Duxbury from 1641 to 1649, a member of the colony's council of war in 1646, 1653, 1658 and 1667, treasurer from 1656 to 1658, Governor's Assistant from 1632 to 1641 and from 1650 to 1686. Twice he was Deputy Governor, in 1664 - 1665 and in 1677.

Priscilla Mullins was the daughter of William and Alice Mullins. William Mullins was a shoe dealer in Dorking, Surrey, England. He purchased shares in the Pilgrims joint-stock company and brought his wife Alice, daughter Priscilla and son Joseph to America on the Mayflower. Unfortunately only Priscilla survived the first winter.

In about 1623 Priscilla married John Alden. They were among the founders of the town of Duxbury, Plymouth, MA.

John and Priscilla had 10 children:

ELIZABETH b. circa 1624/5, d. 1717

JOHN b. circa 1626,  d. 1702

JOSEPH b. after 22 May 1627,  d. 1697

SARAH b. after 22 May 1627,  d. before 13 Jun 1688

JONATHAN b.circa 1632,  d. 1697

RUTH b. unknown,  d. 1674

MARY b. unknown,  d. after 13 Jun 1688

PRISCILLA b. unknown,  d. after 13 Jun 1688

DAVID b. circa 1646,  d. circa 1718/19

REBECCA b. before 1649,  d. after 13 Jun 1688

Sources:

Families of the Pilgrims, Compiled for the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, by Hubert Kinney Shaw, 1956

Caleb Johnson's Mayflower Web Pages.
For a link to this wonderful site with a lot of information about the Mayflower click on the link below.

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