David Alden

Biography

David Alden belonged to the generation born in Plymouth Colony, on the coast of present-day Massachusetts, after the Mayflower crossing. A son of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, he established his own household in Duxbury, north of Plymouth, with Mary Southworth. Their children included Ruth, Elizabeth, Priscilla, Benjamin, Alice and Samuel.

Public business formed part of David's life. The older Duxbury histories record service as constable and town treasurer; Savage's genealogical dictionary identifies him as a representative in 1689 and 1690. The latter years placed him in town government after the overthrow of the Andros administration.

Deeds offer a more personal view of his later years. In March 1717/18 he gave his son Samuel, described as a seaman, land at Rotty Brook in Middleborough, inland from Plymouth. The property had come to David from his own father under a deed dated July 8, 1674. The transfer thus followed a particular piece of family land through successive owners.

Another March 1718 deed gave Benjamin land in nearby Pembroke, Massachusetts, but restricted his ability to dispose of it until the deaths of David and his wife. Gifts also connected David with his married daughters Alice Paddock and Priscilla Cheeseborough. These transactions supplied an estate arrangement through deeds rather than a surviving will. Administration proceedings establish that David had died by April 1, 1719.

The burial listing associates David Alden with Standish Burial Ground, Duxbury, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States.