John Alden Capt. ¹

   Another name for John was Sr. Alden John.

  General Notes:

From "Mayflower Families" (p. 27): "His gravestone is one of three preserved under the portico of the new Old South Church near Copley Square, Boston. The stone had been excavated with others when cellars for new buildings were dug in Carlton Place near Eliot Street in 1870."
From "Mayflower Families" (p. 27): "On 30 March 1661 John Alden witnessed a deed in which William Phillips bought land from an Indian named Fluellin (York Deeds, 8:220). In 1661 John Alden built mills at Saco, Maine, for his father-in-law, William Phillips, who on 28 November 1662, deeded one quarter part of a saw mill 'with saws doggs Crows & all manner of Tooules' to Alden and his wife Elizabeth (York Deeds, 2:35; Saco Hist, 162, 184)."
From "Mayflower Families" (p. 32): "On 28 May 1692 the magistrates of Salem sent for Capt. Alden to answer an accusation of witchcraft. Capt. Alden was a leading and respected citizen of Boston, but he was not 'so circumspect, when they brought him before the court at Salem in May, but he could use the strong language of an old sea dog, as he was, when he was confronted by a lot of wenches whom he had never before seen, and accused of bewitching them.' One accuser had apparently first pointed to Captain Hill, but after Hill whispered to her, she accused Alden. 'There stands Alden, a bold fellow with his hat on, sells powder and shot to the Indians, lies with the sqaws [sic] and has papooses.' He was immediately taken into custody by the marshal and required to surrender his sword. When further examination was made at the meeting house, the accusers said that Alden pinched them even though standing a good distance from them. The magistrates ordered Alden's hands held open during the proceedings. Although one of the judges, Bartholomew Gedney, said he had known Alden many years and had been to sea with him, always thinking him an honest man, he now saw cause to alter his judgment. When asked to look at the accusers, they fell down and Alden was committed to jail in Boston without bail. He remained there for fifteen weeks until seeing how other witchcraft trials were proceeding, was convinced by friends to escape and absent himself until things had cooled off. At that time there were about one hundred people accused and imprisoned for witchcraft. He escaped just before the execution of nine victims and presumably went back to relatives in Duxbury. When he returned and turned himself into the Superior Court at Boston in April 1693, no one appeared to prosecute and he and some 150 others were discharged (Upham's History of Witchcraft, 2:208, 243, 246-7, 255, 450, 453; NEHGR, 24:404; Borton Old South Ch, 223)."

  Noted events in his life were:

• Alt. Birth, Bef 22 May 1627, Plymouth, Plymouth Co., MA. ²

• Will, 17 Feb 1702. ³

• Probate, 13 Apr 1702, Will Proved. ³

• Estate Inventory, 2 Jun 1702. ³

• Census, 1643, Duxborrow, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts.

• Freeman, 7 Jun 1648, Plymouth Colony. ⁴

on 1 Apr 1660 in Boston, Massachusetts.

  Marriage Notes:

From "Mayflower Families" (p. 27): Married by Jo: Endecot Gov; "this is three months before the birth of first child, there may be some confusion in published records from double dating system see 'Alden Gen, 43').