page_title: John Alden
section_title: Voyage of the Mayflower
hierarchical_section_title: John Alden / Voyage of the Mayflower
context_page_description: John Alden was a crew member on the historic 1620 voyage of the Mayflower which brought the English settlers commonly known as Pilgrims to Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts. He was hired in Southampton, England, as the ship's cooper, responsible for maintaining the ship's barrels. Although he was a member of the ship's crew and not a settler, Alden decided to remain in Plymouth Colony when the Mayflower returned to England, opting to remain with the Pilgrims as a colonist. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact.
  He married fellow Mayflower passenger Priscilla Mullins, whose entire family perished in the first winter in Plymouth Colony. The marriage of the young couple became prominent in Victorian popular culture after the 1858 publication of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's fictitious narrative poem The Courtship of Miles Standish. The book inspired widespread depictions of John and Priscilla Alden in art and literature during the 19th and 20th centuries.
  Alden was one of Plymouth Colony's most active public servants and played a prominent role in colonial affairs. He was annually elected to the Governor's Council nearly every year from 1640 to 1686.
context_section_description: Alden was hired by Capt. Christopher Jones in Southampton when he was about 21 years old to work as the ship's cooper during the Mayflower's voyage to America. According to historian Nathaniel Philbrick, due to Alden's useful skills as a barrel-maker and carpenter, the colonists encouraged him to remain with them in America during the voyage.
  The Mayflower departed Plymouth, England, on September 6, 1620. The 100-foot ship had aboard 102 passengers and a crew of about 20 to 30 in extremely cramped conditions. A lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for months caused illnesses that would eventually be fatal for many, particularly to women and children. During the voyage to North America, there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come.
  On November 9, 1620, after a month of delays in England and about two months at sea, they spotted Cape Cod. Their original destination had been the mouth of the Hudson River, which was then part of the Colony of Virginia. Capt. Jones made an attempt to round the southern end of Cape Cod but he lacked an adequate chart of the area known as Pollock's Rip and the strong currents and dangerous shoals there forced him to turn back. Due to widespread illness among the passengers and dwindling supplies, Jones determined that the colonists would have to disembark and settle in New England rather than the Hudson River. The Mayflower eventually came to anchor on November 11 in Provincetown Harbor at the northern tip of Cape Cod.
  The decision to settle outside of Virginia Colony raised some problems. The group carried a patent which granted authority to their elected leaders and entitled them to establish their own plantation within the bounds of Virginia Colony. Because they would be settling in New England, the patent became irrelevant and some members began to question the authority of their leaders. To settle these questions, the colony's leadership drew up the Mayflower Compact, an agreement that they would work together, acting as "a civil body politic" in obedience to such laws as the colony might enact. The Mayflower Compact was signed by all free male settlers on November 11, the same day they set anchor at Provincetown. John Alden signed the document, which is an indication that he had already made the decision to remain with the settlers.
caption: The Mayflower Compact 1620, an 1899 painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, depicts John Alden signing the document[9]
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