Final Days and Legacy
John Alden was the last male survivor of the signers of the Mayflower Compact, and with the exception of Mary Allerton, he was the last survivor of the Mayflower's company. He died at Duxbury on September 12, 1687. Both he and his wife Priscilla lie buried in the Miles Standish Burial Ground.
The Alden residence is also in Duxbury, on the north side of the village, on a farm which is still in possession of their descendants of the seventh generation. He made no will, having distributed the greater part of his estate among his children during his lifetime.
John Alden's House, now a National Historic Landmark, was built in 1653 and is open to the public as a museum. It is run by the Alden Kindred of America, an organization which provides historical information about him and his home, including genealogical records of his descendants. John and Priscilla had the following children who survived to adulthood: Elizabeth, John (accused during the Salem witch trials), Joseph, Priscilla, Robert, Jonathan, Sarah, Ruth, Mary, Rebecca, and David. They have the most descendants today of all the pilgrim families.
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Famous quotes containing the words final, days and/or legacy:
“The final flat of the hoe’s approval stamp
Is reserved for the bed of a few selected seed.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“With the holders holding my hand nearing the call of the bird,
Comrades mine and I in the midst, and their memory ever to keep, for the dead I loved so well,
For the sweetest, wisest soul of all my days and
lands—and this for his dear sake,
Lilac and star and bird twined with the chant of my soul,
There in the fragrant pines and the cedars dusk and dim.”
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“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
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