| Interment Location | Visited | |
|---|---|---|
| Duxbury, MA | August 20, 2015 |
“Why don’t you speak for yourself, John?” Priscilla Mullins asks this question of John Alden when he proposes marriage to her on behalf of Miles (alternately spelled “Myles”) Standish in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1858 poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish. The veracity of the poem on numerous counts has been called into question, but Longfellow’s work certainly elevated the profile of the Plymouth colonists characterized therein. Although the precise location of John Alden’s grave has been lost to time, a slate tombstone marks the general vicinity of his interment in Duxbury, Massachusetts.
Few specifics are known of John Alden’s life before he immigrated to North America aboard the Mayflower. Born in England around 1598, Alden was approximately 22 years old when he signed the Mayflower Compact. This governing document for Plymouth Colony had 41 signatories, per a 1669 account from local historian Nathaniel Morton. All 41 were free white men. The burial sites of these and other pilgrims are in different states of preservation. When I visited with my friends Kelvis and Keyana in 2015, we found the left side of John Alden’s gravestone to be considerably deteriorated.
To the left of John Alden’s tombstone is a corresponding marker for his wife of roughly six decades, Priscilla Mullins. Her exact spot of burial within the Myles Standish Burying Ground is also undetermined. The slate memorials were placed in 1930 by the Alden Kindred of America near the restored stone of their son, Jonathan. Myles Standish’s more elaborate grave is situated roughly 100 feet northeast of the Aldens’ markers.
Fast Facts
Born: ca. 1598 in England, Great Britain
Died: September 12, 1687 in Duxbury, Plymouth Colony
Age: Approximately 89
Interment: Myles Standish Burying Ground, Duxbury, Massachusetts
"John Alden was hired for a cooper, at South-Hampton, wher the ship victuled; and being a hopfull yong man, was much desired, but left to his owne liking to go or stay when he came here; but he stayed, and maryed here."
- William Bradford
1651 in his journal, titled and posthumously published as Of Plimoth Plantation
Sources Consulted and Further Reading
Bradford, William. Bradford’s History “of Plimoth Plantation”. Boston, 1898; Project Gutenberg, April 14, 2019. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/24950/24950-h/24950-h.htm.
Bruton, J. Makali. “Memorial Stones of John and Priscilla Alden.” Historical Marker Database. Updated July 19, 2021. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=159950.
Plimoth Patuxet Museums. “Mayflower and Mayflower Compact.” Accessed November 5, 2022. https://plimoth.org/for-students/homework-help/mayflower-and-mayflower-compact.