Evening star., 1897-03-20
HE SPEAKS FOR HIMSELF
A Descendant Of John Alden md Pris-
ella.
He Lives In q H0me Full Of Relics oi
Colonial Daye-An Interest,"
fng Character.

sixty miles from Buffalo. Is q direct de-
scendant OF John Alden and the pretty
Puritan Prisciila-"the Mayfower Of Ply
mouth"-whose courtship is told by Long
fellow
Henry Sherman Alden was born in 1921
and is about seven removes from his his
torical ancestor. the tfmid wooer. John
Alden. 1t may be he inherits some of that
traditional tt1nidity himself. for he Is a
bachelor of seventy-five and lives entirely
by himself in an old. weather-beaten farm
house. which stands on a slight eminence
near the four corners Of the country road.
and has been inhabited by its present own
er for the past fifty years.
In personal appee rance Mr.. Alden closely
resembles The portraits Of his distinguished
ancestor. tall and straight as an arrow
with courtly. deferential manners and that
same grace Of speech and skill in the
turning Of phrases which Longfeliow as
cribes to the proxy of the sturdy captain OF
plymouth If clad in the garments Of Puri-
replica of John Alden. whose great grand
son. bern in 1I14. and who lived to be 103
years old was the great grandfather OF the
present Mr.. Alden.
people who annually frequent the shores OF
Lake Cfartauqua discovered the existence
OF this interesting descendant of John
Alden and Priscilla Mullins. and almost
daily during the summer he receives with
the stately courtesy which never deserts
him visitors who come to the coiiec-
tfon of ancient historical treasures with
which the old house Is filled. Many OF the
visitors try to entice the old gentleman
into parting with his antiquities. and only
last summer he was beguiled into selling
his grandfathel's eight-day clock. a huge
affair in solid old mahogany with brass
works A relic hunter offered him $D for
it, and Mr.. Alden is not blessed with
an abundance of this worlds goods the
price was too tempting to be resisted.
When too late. he discovered that ne
might have received i've times that sum
for valuable an historical treasure. and
since then he regards all possible pur-
chasers with a wary eye and listens to no
oyertureS to part with his relics.
Quaint Old Home.
AS the visitor enters the living room OF
this quaint old farm house he feels that ne
must have stepped backward at least
century. The ancient fireplace, with the
bellows 100 years old hanging from the
high mantel. confronts you; portrait of
Henry Clay smiles down upon you from
the smoke-stained wallis and you see your
face reflected In a mirror framed in tor
toise shell brought over from Amsterdam
In 1Sh2, the original cost OF which was SD
You Immediately begin a mental estimate
OF the value of that elegant tortoise shell
frame, four inc hes wide and inclosing a
mirror two by four feet, if converted into
vogue.
Mr.. Alden takes his daily meals from the
old-fashioned fall-leaf table which once
served as writing table for James Monroe
In the state room of the vessel In which he
made his voyage across the ocean to France
whittier he was sent minister by Presi-
dent Jefferson. Mr.. Alden's grandfather
was famous sea captain and was one of
the owners of the ship in which Monroe
took passage When the ships company
dissolved the owners cast lots for the fur
nisnings. and this table fell to Captain
Alden.
By far the most valuable of the entire
collection. both in an historical and sen;i-
mental respect is the old moth-eaten snow
shoe purchased by John Alden of Plymouth
from tribe of Indians round about the
Puritan settlement. Il has been handed
down from generation to generation and is
quite the most precious Of all Mr. AIden's
treasures. In shape 1t is almost precisely
that of the modern tennis racquet the heel
skin.
The old Alden homestead in Millbrook,
Mass, has been purchased within the past
year by John 7. Alden of St. Louis. a de-
scendant of John and Priscilla Alden who
proposes to round off the property by addf-
tonal purchases and make of the place a
thing OF beauty and pride to all Americans.
Mr.. Alden is bachelor and a man of
wealth. who will devote a part of his in
come during his life and his estate al his
death to this purpose. On this famous
place is located the old log cabin to which
John Alden took Priscilla Mullins as a bride
In 1887. There is also the house built later.
on. still standing and occupied by a cousin
OF the owner. whose name is John W.
Alden. and who has little daughter Pris-
ella, seven or eight years old. The place
is visited by hundreds of tourists yearly,
and. when rescued from it's present ,,ilapi-
dated condition by the patriotic Alden who
purchased 1t recently to save 1t from being
sold for museum purposes will doubtless be
the Mecca OF many more,