Myles (or Miles) Standish – circa 1584–1656

Standish was an English military officer who served as the strong military leader of the Plymouth colony. He was immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1858 poem “The Courtship of Miles Standish,” which relates the apocryphal story of his asking fellow colonist John Alden to propose marriage on his behalf to Priscilla Mullins—who replied, “Speak for yourself, John” and married Alden instead.