Genealogy
Connect With Your Alden Heritage
Tracing our family genealogy is an exciting and rewarding experience. For many, genealogy begins simply as a family story passed down from generation to generation. Through a more thorough exploration of our family’s history, we embark on a journey of personal and family discovery.
Since 1906 AKA has connected with thousands of Alden descendants across the globe. There is no easy answer to the question “How do I begin tracing my Alden genealogy,” but AKA is committed to assisting in this process. E-mail the basic information about your line to our genealogists and let us tell you how much has previously been documented. This can save you some time and money. If you are not sure about the line, the AKA genealogists may still be able to guide you in the right direction.
Below are a series of links and information to help in your journey to explore your family’s heritage.
Mayflower Families Through Five Generations
Known first as the “Five Generations Project and now called the “Silver Books Project,” this series is researched and produced by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants with the goal of providing documentation from primary sources and making that material available to the general public who wish to prove their lineages. These avidly collected books are an invaluable tool in genealogy research – and four volumes have been published on the John Alden family. To learn more about the history of the Five Generations Project books click here.
For information on how to purchase your copies of the Alden Five Generations Project, please click here.
Alden Kindred Search Project – 8 Generations – Searchable Database
The Alden Kin Search Project is an ongoing collaborative effort to gather and make available (subject to privacy issues) information on all of the descendants of Pilgrims John and Priscilla Alden. This information is gathered from many sources including the records of the Alden Kindred of America, Incorporated, the family organization of the descendants of John and Priscilla. These web pages contain entries for 54,191 descendants (and spouses of descendants) of John and Priscilla through 8 generations, as well as on 17,686 marriages of these same descendants. And all individuals are linked back to a single family!
PLEASE NOTE THAT AN UPDATED VERSION OF THE DATABASE WILL BE COMING SOON.
For researching your line, the Alden family database generations 1-8 is to be used as a GUIDE ONLY. Some of the information and source materials are unavailable. For lineage applicants, you will still be required to supply full documentation (birth, marriage and death certificates) for each generation from generation 4/5 to the present day. Generations 1-4/5 can be found fully documented in the “silver books” series Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, v 16, parts 1-4/5 available at www.alden.org.
Other Resources
Other Genealogical Organizations
Become a Member
Verifying your connection to John and Priscilla Alden by becoming a lineage member of the Alden Kindred of America is a meaningful achievement. Our genealogical staff can often provide much of the documented line from our own files, and they work with applicants to locate additional material needed to complete their lineage. For more information on how you can add your name to the Alden family tree click here.
Genealogical Documentation
