Alexander Gordon

Alexander Gordon (1635 in Aberdeen Scotland – 1697), fought as a Royalist and was captured by Oliver Cromwell's army at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651 at the end of the English Civil War. He was imprisoned at Tothill Field outside London over the winter of 1651–1652. He was transported to the New World in 1652 and entered into indentured servitude. His later victory over servitude became the legal precedent in Massachusetts. The Alexander Gordon line is the earliest Gordon family in the New World according to the Gordon Genealogy DNA Project, and descends from Adam de Gordoun through Sir William Gordon 1265 Laird of Strathbogie (now Huntly). Along with many other Scottish prisoners, he sailed on the ship "Liberty", commanded by Capt. James Allen to Boston, and was confined at Watertown as a prisoner of war. For a year or more Alexander remained with John Cloyes, a boatswain, or mate, of the vessel living in Cambridge on the road to Watertown—near the site of Cambridge Hospital today.