John Alden Jr was a colonial soldier, merchant, politician, sailor, and one of the accused victims during the Salem Witch Trials. Unlike many of the others, he managed to escape prison with the help of friends and did not return until the hysteria had subsided.
Alden went on to write an account of the Salem Witch Trials in which he was critical of the entire process.
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Family
John Alden was not originally from Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the son of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins from the Plymouth colony, who arrived on the Pilgrim ship the Mayflower.
He was born in Plymouth in about 1626 or 1627. He and his older sister Elizabeth are listed in the records of the division of cattle among the residents of Plymouth, which occurred on June 1, 1627. The family later moved across the harbor to form Duxbury when John was very small.
He was a sea captain, a merchant in Boston, and a charter member of Rev. Samuel Willard's Old South Meeting House and Third Church in Boston; over time, he became a prominent member of the society within early Boston as evidenced by the many documents in the state archives recording his activities, as well as information on the large house he occupied.
There is evidence that he may have participated in King Philip's War as a young man and as the son of John Alden, a major commander in the war and a prominent member of society in both Plymouth and Duxbury.
He later in life held a military command during King William's War and was involved in the Naval battle off St. John (1691). He married Elizabeth Phillips Everill in 1660, and they had twelve children, some from a prior marriage:
- John Alden III, born 20 November 1660, died young
- Elizabeth Alden, born 9 May 1662, died 14 July 1662
- John Alden IV, born on 12 March 1663, had an issue and became a sailor like his father
- William Alden I, born 10 March 1664, died young
- Elizabeth Alden, born 9 April 1665, had issue
- William Alden II, born 5 March 1666, died young
- Zachariah Alden, born 8 March 1667, died young
- William Alden III, born on 10 September 1669, had an issue
- Nathaniel Alden, born 1670, had issue
- Zachariah Alden, born 18 February 1673, had issue
- Nathan Alden, born 17 October 1677, died young
- Sarah Alden, born 27 September 1681, died young
Salem Witch Trials
To understand why John Alden was accused, it is important to understand the gossip that surrounded him.
Alden was not a citizen of Salem, and he did most of his business in Boston. Many times, he was just sailing through as a merchant, and he had a good reputation. He stopped at Salem on his way home from Quebec, where he had gone in February 1692 to rescue New England colonists who were captured in the Candlemass attack on York, Maine.
He had been involved in several exchanges of this type over the years; this fed mightily into controversies about the man as another piece of gossip that surrounded him was that he sold weapons to the enemy for personal profit, including Native American tribes like the Wabanaki, allies of the French in 1692. This was a time period in which colonization of Northern New England was a battlefield between Puritans, the French, and their Native American allies, with high casualties, violent skirmishes, and several raids on each other.
Raids had been made on Salem, and one of the raids killed the parents of Mercy Lewis, one of Alden's accusers.
When Alden arrived in Salem Village, he did not know about the ongoing trials. He was over 60 years old, his son was currently being held in Quebec as part of a prisoner exchange and had never met any of the afflicted that was accusing others in the village of witchcraft. There was not much of a connection with him, and the accusation against him was obviously false. Here is what he said in his own words about his examination:
“Those wenches being present, who plaid their juggling tricks, falling down, crying out, and staring in people's faces; the Magistrates demanded of them several times, who it was of all the people in the room that hurt them? one of these accusers pointed several times at one Captain Hill, there present, but spake nothing; the same accuser had a man standing at her back to hold her up; he stooped down to her ear, then she cried out, Aldin, Aldin afflicted her; one of the Magistrates asked her if she had ever seen Aldin, she answered no, he asked her how she knew it was Aldin? She said, the man told her so.”
The accusers continued their absurdity and continued further. Here is Alden again in his own words:
“Then all were ordered to go down into the street, where a ring was made; and the same accuser cried out, ‘there stands Aldin, a bold fellow with his hat on before the judges, he sells powder and shot to the Indians and French, and lies with the Indian squaes, and has Indian papooses.’”
John Alden petitioned his friend and judge Bartholomew Gedney, who knew his character, but Gedney had been swayed by the afflicted girls and had lost his reason when he said:
"always look'd upon him to be an honest Man, but now he did see cause to alter his judgment."
Alden knew that he was not going to be getting out of this with the help of the court, so he began to look for other ways.
At the time of his trial, Salem jail was already full, and so he was carted off to Boston. In the coming weeks of incarceration, he had been inclined not to make much of the matter but was prevailed upon by some friends and broke out of jail, fleeing in the night on horseback. It was mid-September, and his decision to run away proved wise, as evidenced by the fact that Giles Corey was crushed to death within a few days of his departure.
Some sources say he escaped to New York, but more likely, Alden escaped south to Duxbury, his hometown in his youth and the location of many of his relatives, namely his younger brothers David and Jonathan and a very large amount of nieces and nephews still living in the town.
According to the oldest traditions, when, having awakened his family in the dead of night and causing much alarm, he said in a terrified voice that he was "flying from the Devil, and the Devil was after him!!
He remained hidden until the executions had ended and a new court was reviewing the cases. He returned to Salem, paid his bail, and then was released from all charges.
He would serve four months in prison, and during this time, his son would be sent to France due to his father not showing up for a prisoner exchange because he was accused of witchcraft. His son would eventually make it back to America a decade later.
John Alden would die on March 25, 1702.
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