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The Nims
Family Association
is an association of individuals and families descended from Godfrey
Nims of Deerfield, Massachusetts. The association is registered in
Massachusetts as a non-profit, domestic corporation. Membership in the Nims
Family Association
is open to any person descended from, or married to, anyone of the
surname Nims. The purposes of the association are to collect, maintain,
and distribute genealogical and historical data pertaining to
descendants of Godfrey Nims, to preserve and display artifacts of the
family, and to promote other activities relevant to the Nims family.
We
actively seek contact with all descendants of Godfrey Nims through four
of his children who survived to adulthood: John; Ebenezer;
Thankful Nims Munn; and Abigail Nims Rising. We have
completed a foundation volume titled "The Nims Family: Seven
Generations of Descendants from Godfrey Nims".
Our goal now is to continue publishing records in the files of the
association. Toward that end, we have purchased computer equipment and
are continuing the process of inputting data from the four family
branches. These records will be made available to association members
for nominal publishing and service costs. Eventually, copies of the
files will be placed in the LDS Church Ancestral File and at the
Deerfield, Massachusetts Memorial Libraries. All descendants of Godfrey
Nims are encouraged to participate in the Nims Family
Association
and in the gathering of data and artifacts. If you are interested in
joining the nearly four hundred families who are already association
members, contact our secretary
or treasurer at the address below. Dues are $10 per family annually. We
welcome your participation and
support. Click HERE
for further membership information.
Our President- Betsy Wiscombe
Dear members of the NFA:
I have always had a great interest in my heritage, as has my mother,
Eleanor Johnson, who introduced me to the Association in the
mid-1980's. NFA through the years has reached its members by its
quarterly newsletters, maintaining an active web site, and organizing
meetings in Deerfield or in other cities around the country.
My goals as president would be to try to continue in this great work,
following Ron Graham and other presidents who have worked diligently to
try and maintain interest and to keep the Association moving forward.
I will try to ensure that material coming out in the newsletters will be of interest, report on the ongoing work of editing and publishing the files of Godfrey's progeny, and to organize the meetings as interest warrants.
Special thanks go to president Ron Graham, treasurer Nancy Garreaud, secretary Cynthia Smellie, Dave Nims who handles the web site, and vice-president, Brenda Babineau who has also edited the newsletter. Thank you to all on the board who have made contributions during this past presidency.
Betsy
Wiscombe
Greetings to the Nims Family Association
Members & FriendsDear cousins and friends of NFA.
2012 Reunion: We are happy to be able to announce that in 2012, we will be holding a Nims Family Reunion in the Montreal, Canada area with Lise Rochette-Menard and husband Louis Menard, serving as our reunion coordinators. It will be held in either September or October. They are in the process of soliciting input from the NFA Officers and Board and also from the Seguin Genealogical Society from whom we have many descendants from the Abigail line.
Passports: Lise has reminded us that those entering Canada from the States need a passport, so this gives everyone who might be attending the reunion ample time to get this in order. We are excited about this future event and as time goes on, we will add more information in future newsletters. Thanks, Lise and Louis.
Research: My husband, Allan Wiscombe, has been moving along with the proofreading of various files handed down from former historian, Susan Oathout, and making many additions to individual families by means of computer research, especially in gleaning what ancestry.com provides.
Your Help: Anyone who would like to assist Allan is welcome. Something that all of you can do is to check with him and see what he has about your own family, starting with yourself and/or you children and grandchildren. We need updates on your families (dates of births, marriages, deaths; names and places) and this would include your siblings and extended family who come down from the Nims. We also welcome stories of interest to include in the family history. We are not doing research on ancestors of non-Nims line; that is, people who have married into the family. However, those people are mentioned, such as “Mary Nims married John Smith, son of James and Susan Smith of Northampton, MA”
The Goal: The goal is to make files available to our membership so that they can access them for their own use and to add them to their personal family genealogy. As you remember from the last newsletter, David Nims has completed the work for the Ebenezer line that comes down through his ancestor, David Nims (1769.) As soon as his file and any others that become completed are up on the Nims web site, we will let the membership know.
Suggestions: If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to get in touch with me at any time at allanandbetsy@yahoo.com. Don’t forget that you can access the Nims Family Association online at www.nimsfamily.com.
Happy spring, everyone!
Betsy Wiscombe
Deerfield Descendants Reunion 2010Historic Deerfield has announced a “Save the Date” for the summer of 2010. “Join us and your Deerfield Descendant ‘cousins’ for the Deerfield Descendants Reunion on June 25, 26 and 27, 2010. (As Nims descendants, we are Deerfield Descendants.)
Share your stories with other Deerfield Descendants
Research your Deerfield genealogy
Relive the history of Deerfield through lectures, tours, and special activities
Enjoy the rural landscape, historic houses, and beautiful artifacts of your family’s past.
The registration form and preliminary schedule for the 2010 Deerfield Descendants Reunion has been posted on the Historic Deerfield website!
Please spread the word in your families and in your genealogy networks.
The link to Reunion information is: http://www.historic-deerfield.org/deerfield-descendants-reunion-2010
If you don’t have internet access, sign up (it’s free) to be on the Deerfield Descendant mailing list and receive descendant info by mail. Send your name and address to Karen Dionne, Assistant Director of Development, Historic Deerfield, Inc., P.O. Box 321, Deerfield, MA 01342 (Indicate that your Deerfield family connection is Nims.)
Hope to see you there!
Sally Phillips, NFA secretary
Notes from the Editor
Hello, everyone!
My name is Vicki Coutu (Thankful), niece of Judith Nelson, who is the person responsible for my interest in genealogy.
Thank you for the opportunity to compile and edit the Nims Family Association Newsletter. I look forward to learning more about the Nims Family through the contributions to the newsletter.
If you have news items or photographs that you wish to share in the newsletter regarding the Nims Family, please send them to me via U.S. Mail, or email me at Vickster3659@charter.net.
I wish everyone good health and happiness through this holiday season.
Vicki Coutu
Nims Family Association Reunion News, October 10 and 11, 2008
On a beautiful October fall afternoon, the NFA Board of Directors convened at 4 pm under President Ron Graham at the Bement School in Deerfield, MA. The meeting viewed a list of NFA deceased members, heard the treasurer’s report from Nancy Garreaud, discussed potential officers and directors, listened to David Nims discuss the compilation of Godfrey’s grandson he has finished, and saw the preliminary organization of the publishing project from coordinator Allan Wiscombe. The list of deceased members since the last reunion in 2006 as read by the president included the following: Frances Duhme Asay; Floride Harrison Nims Blachmon; Russell William Brown; Scott Chandler, Peder Johnson, Robert Perrigo; Barbara Miller; Lucius Nims; Milton Rufus Nims; Richard S. Nims; Rufus Nims; V. Gale Nims.
The Board voted a reimbursement sum to David for expenses incurred in publishing 6 copies of the compilation, and a fund of money for Allan to draw from as needed for the publishing project. That sum will include membership in Ancestry.com, where Allan has found thousands of additional family individuals. Ron Graham had prepared a chart depicting ancestral lines for those who had sent in lineage along with reservations for the weekend. The Board also made the decision to close the Box 99 Deerfield post office box when the current rental ends, citing costs and lack of first class mail received there. A mailing address will be established with the secretary.
Following
a social hour and dinner at the school, Robert Paynter, a
professor in the Anthropology Department at the University of
Massachusetts, gave a talk with slides showing excavation work done on
the south lawn of the John Nims House on the main street over a period
of time. Summarizing what we learned from the Friday comment,
it appears that Godfrey Nims built an original house on Lot 27, which
was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1694. Excavation work
in the area first began in the summer of 1986 using remote sensing gear
to search for anomalies in the soil. Later, a team of
instructors and about a dozen field students uncovered a portion of a
well-constructed cellar foundation with a sandstone floor.
This probably was built in 1695 on Lot 28, and burned to the ground in the 1704 raid on Deerfield. When Godfrey’s captured sons returned to Deerfield, one or both apparently dug out the cellar of the second house and used it to start a new home. By 1740, one brother had moved away, and the other built a new home twenty feet from the old cellar starting perhaps as early as 1723. That house we see today is known as the John Nims House, presented in 1938 by the Nims family as a ‘deed of gift’ to Deerfield Academy, the present owner. Data suggests the construction of that home may have taken place over a period of several years. The 1710 home was destroyed, and the cellar filled in with family trash, later discovered in the excavation process.
Here are the new Nims Family Association officers and directors as selected over the weekend. President, Betsy Wiscombe (Ebenezer); Vice-President, Ron Graham (Thankful); Treasurer, Nancy Garreaud; (Ebenezer), Secretary, Sally Phillips (Thankful); Directors, Gordon Bean (Abigail), Lise Rochette (Abigail), George Babineau (Thankful), Judy Nelson (Thankful), David Nims (Ebenezer), Judy Graves (John), and Patricia Potter (John). We have one director slot left to fill, and letters are out to candidates to determine their interest. Our new newsletter editor is Vicki Coutu, while Allan Wiscombe holds the position of publications coordinator.
President:
Elizabeth Wiscombe, P.O. Box 186, Eden, UT 84310-0186
Vice-Pres: Ronald Graham, 5344
Hickory Ridge, Virginia Beach, VA 23455-6680
Treasurer: Nancy
Garreaud, 921 East 100 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84102
Secretary: Sally
Phillips, 104 Mechanic Street, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370-1224
Directors:
George Babineau, MA
Gordon Bean, Toronto, Canada
Judy Graves, MA
Judy
Nelson, MA
David Nims, MA
Patricia Potter, MA
Lise Rochette, Montreal, Canada
Newsletter Editor: Vicki Coutu, MA
Publications Coordinator:
Allan Wiscombe, UT
For
further information concerning the Nims Family Association
and any of its activities, please use the "e-mail us"
link on the left or contact us at the following address: Sally
Phillips, 104 Mechanic Street, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370-1224
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