The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 26, 1899, Page 26

26 THE SUNDAY OCALL. 5 04000004840 405000 +0+ 0+0+0+@ z«»ommw Priscilla Alden of Jo-Day i Jells About Priscilla HAlden of Long Ago THINK that the descendants of the Puritans feel that Thanksgiving means fust a little more to them than to the rest of the nation. The ghosts of my ancestors are always with me on that day. [ fecl their joy is mine, I hear the Gover- nor proclaim a Thanksgiomng, [ see the people, with prayer and thanks, sit down to a repast that we in these days of plenty would call but scanty fare. I musi confess that the thought that | am a descendont of Priscilla and John Alden gives me a great deal of pleasure. The other pilgrims who braved those first terrible winters were fust as courageous, but the romance of John and Priscilla makes them more intercsting fo us. i/ I read and re-read Longfellow's poem with ever-increasing t find wnchanged in the poem. Lonmgfellow did mot sposl them by 8 over<oloring. The facts in themselves were romantic enough to E suit the peet's fancy. However, some of Priscilla’s character- 5k istics are not mentioned. They ore traits Priscills developed A later tn life, so it was wot necessary for Longfellow to tell that £ Priscilla had the quicest temper and wos the best cook n i Plymouth. | There is a pretty little sequel to the courtship of Milas i Standish that is Enoun only in the Alden fomily. Miles Stand- ssh, when the wound that Priscilla had made in his heart had healed, married another. Years after, the son of Miles Standish married o dowghter of Priscilla and John Alden. There is a poetical justice abowd this that we always love to dwell on. A year or two ago I met a lady, 6 lineal descendowt of Captain Miles Standish. She had heard of me, and come to Oakland “just to shake hands,” as she said, “with o descendond of John Alden.” You can imagine how strangely we both felt. Miles Stand- ish, Priscilla and John Alden seemed to step out of the past and bless our meeting, @+0+404040404040404040404 04040404040 40404040404040+9 s ° + $ E § % $ § ° 4+ § é snterest. The traditions mvy father told me before I could spell 1 + ° g 3 * ° + o * 3 * o + o * o . o . o + o ‘ o ‘ o 0404040404 040404040 40404040 +040404040404040404040404 404040 +0404040404 040404040 +0+0+0+0 +0+0+0+ | AMA LINEAL \DESCENDENT \Th?bufi"‘ y & GENERAT for such a woclety to lJows. She was overshadow, even to obltvion, the ethera stralghtway Inftiated and presented with They are Miles Standish, John Alden and the pin of the order. Priscilla. % thers there were who with difficuity - $iit < could trace ancestry back to (ne EBome there are who fr m h‘,‘l.ohry‘l: a‘:x: Standls n Revolution. ) Alden did not have to Page know that engage a professional genealogist. From mMerely a c bet’s imagina- \ \ fother to son‘adown the years the story ton. Not John Alden B of Priscilla was told, her chfldren’s chil- 204 iaci racters. In 1t to r grandchildren fine ry to the poem, the rea an ancestor print is usually Priscilla’s su guenot mentionipg his time Molines Hiram Alden married Melitta Hunt- anglicized into \ ) ley. Alma Priscilla Alden, daughter of Tather to call her “Pri John Alden was ow—but fine v the reader. 1s Molines, show- iraw her v Sim- fed Han- rried Lucy n \ / Dr. Hiram Alden and Melitta Huntley. maiden,” or “Priscilla, the beautiful spin- \ Thus is her desoent written in the book DPEF: lkely to nd &, er make X and #o em back Into the shadows of the A P hed by the Daughters of the Amer. There are one or two other family tra- L1 t b Priscilla was tb h /(\ I on. The members of that so. ditions which the- poet suppressed, and Ien; you dow’t um- Jobn Alden died 56 a 1 « we have In our midst a Which Ml ssed. P la D your minds, after §7 years, and was t A / | . reat-grest granddaughter of ~had a very n her ire was ne and that one, ginal band of . 1 John Alden. But how many &roused. She neve d to g peo- With mRothen rejecting, comparing on® gescendants ascribe hi bave ever dreamed of such a per- Ple “a plece of her min not that Pris- Then you make 'known your deeire, with 004 health to his wife's ex t ‘culip- cllla was a nag or a scold. She was quick idden avowal, ary powers. “Ples ltke Pri 1sed te 1atever the IMterary merit of the [0 show her wrath, b quicker to get hurt, and indignant per- make” is & family adage. “Courtship of Miles Standish” thers {s OVer it. Generous and kind hearted, the povin Miss Alden is descended fror sey no doubt of its popularity. The Durse of the sick and the friend of the S W A m et e ocond Hon o€ Frisciile oy J«JY-‘-:.' lays on the heartstrings, whether Needy: yet Priscil truth to tell, had a bound ¢ height to Priscilla had thirteen . seve or not the hexameters vibrate pleasantly -t€mper unusual to t cid Puritans. "”‘Ju;;‘fr"( ~ 3G e eral of them dled. One of wns worn on the ear. Longfel he does not mention g Y * in the accompanying ph nged n John . Alden, “fair-haired, her temper, makes her character in keep- thing 1o be asked for and had for to Priscilla’s granddaught with delicate, Sa ng ing With the family traditions. She s as oy b gt e and bertha are more m the dew of his youth and the beauty frank and outspoken as a girl of to-day. , th such decisive speeches does Long- rest of the dress is a han thereof,” and Prisclila, the fairest “Serve yourself would you be well (010N tErOW trie light and shade on Pris. ago. de of her own circle maiden in Plymouth, “Priscilla, the Berved.” was the excellent adage Miles C 3% character. There are strokes that The names John and Pris e national soclety of the mayflower of Plymouth, modest and sim- Standish forgot when came to his "HOW her now arch, now earnest. Once he preserved in the Alden fam the American n ple and sweet,” owe their posthumous courtship. How did Priscilla, the *“gentle betrays the quick temper of his den’s house at Duxbur in 159 at Wast fame entirely to the poet's pen. Puritan malden,” answer John Alden .0t Miles Standish he makes 1650, is now oc Benjamin Harr Miles Standish, with musket and When he offered her another's heart and o7, S “He Is a little chimney, and Alden in direct I rotected the colonist from the hand? heated hot In a moment Alden RE 's ¢ girl over In Oakland who to the “Courtship of Miles Standish™ became known ot of fr s h the med ¢ & school te st e <o, i S Priscilla’s sayings have passed from If Her fath g . : » arrow and tomaha t 1 er father, b s Alma Priscllla Alden. Misy s sm;.‘n;‘-’«”:?:lfx:knf \\i!lr';lfl‘;::; et "ty wayain, ot Flymouth'is se veey 1o lip through.the generations " fam. S ¥ A ¥ frect e ) « " 1 2 - el ed me, v, g 0 3 he: e - 10 Beast. Alma Prisciila Alden 3 old read, 'tis not the records Why does he not come himself and take the J: LONEfellow gave them a poetical of it in the newspapers. She didn't t of battles fought and won that fascinate ouble to woo me? fisyay, butsthe) kernek: was xiven. him' by she would join it; she had never taken 'Tis the story of the choleric cautaini I 1 &® ot worth the wooing I surely am not hiS mother. Her re n Alden, & s & . orth the winning!" “Why don't v¢ P out pupers for the Soclety of Colonlal courtship, penned by the poet, that has Then yosu A gen s 3 hy don't you r yourself, theme for the Dazes. Eut she {s a stanch patriot. so saved him from the fate of the forgotten ing the matter, oo JohaT" bas passed from mother to daugh- - Ald 2 v tandish”™ in she wrote them a little note, telling them g. Making it worse as he went by saying the L°F €VeNn to this generation. Longfelow No wonder la when asked captaln was busy— bullt the poem on this nalve re who she was and how much she sympa- . and great-gr B »d eifted three kingdoma to find the Had no He lisped It at his mot 8 time for such thin first call “Pris laté nd Alder - thized with any movement to preserve wheat for this pi E A3 rst called it 5 atér changing and I or Mr el o - e al is planting, then sifted the The words grating hi gy Lo P Sl e k. Doen Sourtalit ' e A & . o~ *d her an a Jocal chepter of the things of historical interest. eat as the lving seed of t tton, Fell on the car of Prisctlla, 1§ ¥ SThe Gourtahin of Miiss B R e s T e ¢ petey Sack S Fal N L Sed trat apciican Revolution A real live descendant of Priscilin and Of that brave band who came over In «gaaoh, She made answer! ihero 1s angther Interesting fact which g giad 'to learn that we bave & Priscile ma Priscil J 0 n ha Iss Alden’ v 3ditian : - “Has Do tim as risc en’s existence John Alden was too valuable an addition the Mayflower there are three names thac i vetors e ' mach, Shings, aa you cant Miss Alden bas been told by her father, Alden in our midet. it lends & Bew Who Lad it from his father before him, charm to the poem.