ALDEN, JOHN (1599?-1687), one of the "Pilgrims" who in
1620 emigrated to America on the "Mayflower" and founded
the Plymouth Colony. According to William Bradford's
History of the Plimoth Plantation, he was hired as a
cooper at Southampton, "where the ship victuled," just
before the voyage, "and being a hopfull yong man, was much
desired." He was one of the first settlers of Duxbury,
Massachusetts, where he lived during the greater part of his
life, and from 1633 until 1675 he was an "Assistant" to
the governor of the colony, frequently serving as acting
governor. At the time of his death, at Duxbury, on the
12th of September 1687, he was the last male survivor of
the signers of the "Mayflower Compact" of 1620, and with
the exception of Mary Allerton was the last survivor of the
"Mayflower" company. He is remembered chiefly because of
a popular legend, put into verse as The Courtship of Miles
Standish by Henry W. Longfellow, concerning his courtship
of Priscilla Mullins, whom he married in 1623, after having
wooed her first on behalf of his friend, Miles Standish.
Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed