The first class, consisting of four male students, began their studies on July 4, 1816, without any formal academic buildings.

In 1824, Thomas Jefferson wrote to Alden, expressing the hope that his University of Virginia could someday possess the richness of Allegheny's library.

[1] Set against the backdrop of a fierce Indian war, the tale focuses on a love triangle among three Pilgrims: Myles Standish, Priscilla Mullens, and John Alden.

In 1814, Alden was the first to publish a popular family tradition about the love triangle of his Mayflower pilgrim ancestors in his book American Epitaphs.

The families of the alleged lovers remained close for several generations, and intermarried, moving together to Duxbury, Massachusetts, in the late 1620s.