John Alden Day
John Alden Day is a commemorative local event held on the first Saturday in August, recognizing the legacy of John Alden, a key figure in early American history. Alden was born around 1599 in eastern England and served as a cooper for the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, which brought them to Massachusetts in 1620. Notably, he was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact, a foundational document for self-governance in the New World. After the arrival, Alden chose to remain in Plymouth, eventually moving to Duxbury, where he and his wife, Priscilla Mullens—whom he married shortly after their arrival—raised their family.
Throughout his life, Alden held various important roles in the colony, including positions in the colony’s council and as deputy governor. He was also one of the last surviving signers of the Mayflower Compact when he died in 1687 at the age of 89. The observance of John Alden Day serves to honor his contributions and the historical significance of the Plymouth Colony, reflecting on the early settlers' impact on American history.
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John Alden Day
John Alden Day
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Plymouth was a small, poor, and relatively short-lived colony. Yet its inhabitants earned a place of special prominence in American history, and few of the Pilgrims are better known than John Alden, the hero of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem “The Courtship of Miles Standish.” Longfellow's narrative poem is without historical foundation, since there is no evidence that Alden ever competed with Standish, who was perhaps 15 years his senior, for the affection of Priscilla Mullens. However, John Alden did indeed marry Priscilla Mullens shortly after the Mayflower's arrival on the Massachusetts coast in 1620, and Longfellow was one of their descendants.
Alden was born in eastern England around 1599. Aside from this vague information, nothing is known about his early life. The first definite statement regarding Alden is contained in the history Of Plimoth Plantation, written by William Bradford. According to Bradford, the Pilgrims hired the 21-year-old Alden as a cooper or barrelmaker shortly before their departure from Southampton, England. The young man's presence on the Mayflower satisfied an act of Parliament that required every seagoing vessel carrying beer to employ a cooper. On the voyage across the Atlantic, Alden kept the beer casks in good repair. He decided to remain with the settlers after their arrival in the New World.
Before disembarking on the Massachusetts coast, Alden and the 40 other adult male passengers signed the Mayflower Compact, a preliminary plan of government. The youngest to agree to this famed document, he devoted his entire life to the service of the “civil body politic” that the compact advocated. In 1627 Alden was one of the eight “undertakers” who assumed the responsibility for the colony's debts. In addition he held many of the most important positions in the colony. Alden was a member of the colony's council of war in all times of impending crisis, served as treasurer of the colony from 1656 to 1658, was governor's assistant for 44 years and deputy governor in 1664, 1665, and 1677.
Alden settled first in Plymouth. There he probably built a house similar to those erected by the other Pilgrims: a small, one -room, clapboard structure with a thatched roof. (Contrary to popular belief the first settlers of eastern Massachusetts never constructed log cabins. This type of building did not appear in North America until Swedish settlers arrived in Delaware in the 1640s.) Alden remained in Plymouth until 1627 when he and a number of colonists, including Myles (or Miles) Standish, decided to set up another town at Duxbury about ten miles from the original settlement. The Plymouth general court approved this plan and in that same year granted Alden 169 acres upon which to establish his farm.
John and Priscilla Alden lived for many years in Duxbury, where most of their 11 children were born. Alden also received a substantial land grant in nearby Bridgewater. John Alden, the last surviving signer of the Mayflower Compact, died in 1687 at the age of 89. John Alden Day, a local observance celebrated on the first Saturday in August, honors his life.