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Family tree▼ Facts and Events
Children
References
- ↑ Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Duxbury, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1911)
p. 309.
SNELL, Josiah and Anna Alden [dup. Aldin], Dec. 21, 1699.
- Mitchell's somewhat tarnished History of Bridgewater identifies the wife as "Anna, d/o Zechariah Alden". To be of an appropriate age to marry in 1699, this implies that Zachariah was one of the 11 children of John Alden and Priscilla Mullin mentioned by Bradford in his 1651 accounting, and this conclusion is seen in some books and websites. The Mayflower Descendant, in an article on Mayflower Family Fables by Robert S. Wakefield, Vol. 43, p. 15, says "Mrs. Charles L. Alden's 'Alden Genealogy' in NEHGR, 51:431 and 52:438-439, gives John Alden of the Mayflower a son Zachariah who did not exist." This is a little harsh, as all 11 children have not been accounted for, but probably accurate. This article cited suggests a son Zachariah, probably an assumption based on alleged daughter Anna naming a son Zachariah, and the presence of a Mary Alden signing a receipt in 1688, thought to be Zachariah's wife. However, as NEHGR, p. 102:84, points out, there is no circumstance, Zachariah alive or dead, where his wife would have signed for him. Further, the town record itself does not identify Anna as the daughter of Zechariah, only later writers like Mitchell. Further, John Alden's daughter Mary was once thought married to Thomas Delano, but it was the daughter Rebecca that was so married, so the Mary Alden signing is probably the unmarried daughter. Additionally, John Alden gave land to all his other sons but not to any Zachariah, so, in conclusion, he almost certainly had no such son.
The NEHGR article last cited, "Alden Lineage of William Cullen Bryant" [a descendant of the marriage on this page], speculates that Anna was actually the daughter of Jonathan Alden and Abigail Hallett. Jonathan's probate is divided into 7 shares: two for eldest son, and five other children, but one child's name is unaccounted for. Anna would be named after her mother's mother, and Anna's own daughter Abigail would be named after Anna's mother. However, the deed has not been found which transferred ownership from Anna to Jonathan's son John, who ended up with, and later sold, the share allocated to the unaccounted for child. So this remains speculative.
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