Alden, John, c.1599–1687, Puritan settler in Plymouth Colony. He came to America on the Mayflower and was prominent as assistant to the governor of the colony. He moved (c.1627) to Duxbury and there was neighbor and friend of Miles Standish. Alden's marriage to Priscilla Mullens gave rise to the romantic legend made familiar by Longfellow's poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish.
