The
Nims family, with its roots in Deerfield, Massachusetts, can now be
found across
nearly all fifty states in the U.S. and several other countries as
well. Informal gatherings of family members have occurred in many
settings over many years. On at least two occasions, associations have
organized to carry out family-related activities. Early in the 1900's,
a group organized in the Keene, New Hampshire area, and began holding
reunions annually, meeting once every year from 1904 to 1938, missing
only the years 1933 and 1937. The record of this first group can
be found in
The Nims Family Association, The Early Years: 1904-1938, published by
NFA in 1991.
NFA members, early 1900s
Nims Family Association Presidents
- Frank L. Nims 1979-1985
- Robert M. Nims 1985-1988
- Godfrey Nims 1988-1989
- Arthur Nims Phillips 1989-1992
- David A. Nims 1992-1996
- William A. Nims 1996-2000
- David A. Nims 2000-2004
- Ronald Graham, 2004-
| Photos of some Nims Family Association Presidents |
Current President Ronald Graham
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Past President David Nims
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Past President Bill Nims
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Past President Frank Nims
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Past President
Arthur Nims
Phillips.
(Art, who served as president from 1989-1992, & vice-president
during 1988, & 1992-1996, passed away on August 4, 2004.)
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Nims Family Association Historians
- Ellen Mary Nims 1979-1984
- Elizabeth Suddaby 1984-1989
- John Schultz 1989-1992
- Susan Oathout 1992-2003
NIMS FAMILY ASSOCIATION
A View of Twenty-Five Years
June 26, 2004
(A look at where NFA has been, and where it might go: comment
provided by David Nims, outgoing president of Nims Family Association, on the
occasion of the 25th meeting of the association.)
This is the 25th meeting of the Nims Family Association since its
rebirth under the presidency of Frank Nims in 1979. The letter from
Mary Merriam announcing that first call to a fall meeting went out on
August 15, 1979. On October 27, 1979, Frank gaveled our first meeting
to order, with about 50 members of the extended Nims Family present.
This summer of 2004 will see local programs commemorating the 300th
anniversary of the raid on Deerfield in 1704, a raid which had
tremendous implications for this village and for all of us as
descendants of Godfrey Nims. Today, as we think of that first NFA
meeting in '79, and of that horrific raid 300 years ago, it is fitting
to consider what our association has done in the last 25 years, and
what it might accomplish in years ahead.
Past NFA Presidents
David Nims, Bill Nims, Arthur Nims Phillips, and
Frank Nims
From 1979
until 1990, NFA met in
Deerfield every year, with usually 60-90 attending, primarily to hear
about the progress of "the book", later to become The Nims Family:
Seven Generations of Descendants from Godfrey Nims. Following the
publication of this major work in 1990, the decision was made to meet
every two years in Deerfield, always in even-numbered years. We know
we'll be in Deerfield again in 2006, and there is a comfort in that
realization.
Consider
some of our 25 meetings and what they have offered over the years: from
outside of our family, we have heard outstanding speakers such as
Donald Friary, executive director of Historic Deerfield; & Rick
Melvoin, Deerfield Academy instructor at early Deerfield meetings in
'83 & '85; Joyce Loranger at San Pedro in '95; Essie Dozier at
Virginia Beach in '97; Carole Callar at Lansing in '99; Joseph Von Deck
& Chrystal Montgomery in 2000, and Susan McGowan (twice) here at
Deerfield. Topics have ranged from World War II shipping tragedies off
the Virginia coast to tracing the lineage of black slaves and roots of
women with names lost after marriage; from "The Thing Gets Underway"
describing early years of Civil War strife, to Susan McGowan's book
with Amelia Miller on Deerfield Homelots from 1671, and the Michigan
State Library and its wonderful genealogical resources. Last evening,
we discovered more about Abigail, through the research of Dr. Barbara
Matthews; today, Prof. Kevin Sweeney, has given us all new insights
about Deerfield and the conditions surrounding the 1704 raid.
From within our own association and family ranks have come a number of
informative presentations: Henry Leland Clarke on Music That Changed
The Valley, and Dr. Charles F. Nims on his work as an archaeologist in
Egypt. Family branches have come to life through Marjorie Nims Borke,
Alan Riedinger, Dr. Bob Nims, Arthur Nims Phillips, Walton Cheney,
Katharine Olsen, Robert Mills Smith, K. Godfrey Nims, Evelyn Taylor,
Terry Cornwell Rumsey, and Judge David Nims. David Proper has told us
much about Colonial kitchens and life for the early Deerfield settlers.
Beth Suddaby helped us learn of the 113 members of the Nims family who
appeared in Civil War ranks; on another occasion she expertly discussed
the history of quilting. Dr. Arthur Wiscombe captured our attention
with his address, Personal and Family History: An Odyssey into Love and
Life; Lise Rochette taught us more about Abigail and that dreadful
march to Canada in the winter of 1704. I have brought you details of
the first Nims Family Association, centered around Godfrey's grandson
David, first town clerk of Keene, NH, and lasting from 1904 to 1938.
In addition to speakers, our programs have provided a treasure hunt for
Nims artifacts at Memorial Hall Museum, aided by Executive Director Tim
Neumann. We visited Keene, NH in 1987 to view a number of sites with
which the extended Nims family is connected. At regional meetings, we
took a boat ride down to Seattle, WA and back to Edmunds; visited the
Joseph Smith Building, Family History Library, Church Museum of History
& Art, LDS Church Conference Center, and the Mormon Tabernacle
among other attractions in Salt Lake; rode in a 4-seater airplane to
Catalina Island in San Pedro (well, not everyone, but my wife Marilyn
got to go along with two others with pilot and then-NFA president Bill
Nims.)
What else has gone on? Beginning in 1991 under the planning of Myrt and
Dee Hall, former treasurer and secretary of NFA, we held our first
regional meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, in our effort to bring word of the
association and its work to members and guests around the country
perhaps unable to make the trek back to Deerfield and their roots. That
was followed in 1993 with the meeting at Edmunds, WA, with Frank Nims
and his committee giving us our largest attendance ever, 165 attending
from 19 states. Then it was on to San Pedro, CA with hosts Bill &
Susan Nims in '95; to Virginia Beach, VA in '97 with Ron and Mary Ann
Graham; to Lansing, MI with Arthur Nims Phillips and wife Doris in
1999; and our most recent regional meeting in Salt Lake City in 2001,
hosted by Betsy & Allan Wiscombe. These regional meetings have
helped to spread the word about our family, its ancestry, and our
association.
Is it always just speakers and stuff? Not if you count social dinners
and fine restaurants we have visited. Just in this Deerfield area,
people here will recall Brickers and Famous Bill's, the Whately Inn,
The Lobster Pot, Muchmore's, Bernardston Inn, and even our catered
meals at the White Church. No entertainment, ever? You may have missed
Walton Cheney's presentation at our meeting in 2002, with songs from
singer/songwriter Michael Card; or Sue & Marvin Shedd and the
Falltown String Band. Have you been part of any of the sing-alongs with
pianists Betsy Wiscombe and me, or heard Ted Wirt on piano? Were you
fortunate enough to be at Salt Lake to hear Stuart & Betsy
Christensen (daughter of Allan & Betsy Wiscombe) with their
children Matthew, Allison, Bonnie, Melissa and Nathan as they sang for
us on a Friday evening? Or Betsy's sister Andrea Evans as soloist with
Betsy accompanying on Saturday? Remember the magician, Eddie Raymond,
at the White Church dinner in 2000?
OK, so we've listened to some speakers, walked around on tours, had
some nice meals and listened to songs. But have we ACCOMPLISHED
anything? Let us consider. NFA has organized 25 association meetings,
printed brochures about our association several times, incorporated as
a non-profit organization in the state of Massachusetts, received an
IRS federal tax exemption for association funds, repaired 3 historic
slate headstones in Keene, NH, including those of Abigail, wife of
Godfrey's grandson David; Alpheus, son of Abigail & David; and
Samuel Nims, son of Roswell & Sarah Wilson Nims. On August 21,
1989, the final manuscript of The Nims Family: Seven Generations of
Descendants from Godfrey Nims was mailed to the printer by chief editor
Elizabeth Suddaby. NFA has contributed monies to the refurbishing of
the David Nims portrait in the Keene, NH library, the only known
portrait of one of Keene's original settlers. We have established the
idea of regional meetings around this nation. We have funded and placed
appropriate markers in front of the John Nims House, with a dedication
program authored by John & Ellen Schultz, and near the Thankful
Nims Munn cave described in Miracle of the Snow, through efforts of Ron
Graham and Avis Whitehouse. We have straightened and cleaned Nims
family gravestones here in Deerfield at the Albany Road Burying Ground.
NFA has established the K. Godfrey Nims Memorial Fund in honor of the
third president of the association. We have created association items
available for purchase as gifts. And we have PUBLISHED: our major
family history of 941 pages in 1990; Nims Family Association; The Early
Years: 1904-1938, a 206 page account of that group published in 1991;
The Story of the John Nims House in 1993; and The Gish-Nims Connection,
a 63-page pamphlet published in 2003 showing how actresses Lillian
& Dorothy Gish are descended from Elizabeth Nims and Salah Barnard
of Deerfield. We have funded the publishing of reprints of The Story of
Godfrey Nims and A Wooded Hill in Our New England, pamphlets compiled
by Francis Nims Thompson; and of Miracle of the Snow, the imaginative
account of the Thankful Nims Munn escape on the night of the 1704
Deerfield raid. Last night, I showed you our latest publication on
Thomas Lathrop Nims of the John line, accomplished through the efforts
of his three daughters, Cathy, Susan and Nancy.
Stage Coach, West
St., Keene, NH in front of the
Nims Bros. store. This stage line carried visitors to the
summer hotels at Spofford Lake well into the twentieth century.
NFA now has a family website of seven pages, offering a wealth of
information about the association. I can tell you that as of June 18,
1041 visits have been made to the site since we began tracking visitors
Nov. 25th last fall. We average better than 100 hits a month, with 160
visits the highest thus far. We offer email access to NFA officers
through the site, and have both given and received a great deal of
information.
And there is more. We have computerized our family records, the job
Historian Susan Oathout was laboring on at the time of her death last
fall. In 1990, we included 42 pages of material on the Abigail line,
all we had. Earlier this month, we printed 1,003 pages of data from
Susan's disk on the Abigail line. John yielded 221 pages in 1990, and
2116 pages this month. Thankful took 231 pages in the 1990 book,
whereas we now have 1,541 pages of content for that line. And Ebenezer,
who gave us 206 pages in 1990, now has 1781 pages of that branch. And
there may be more in written files we are still transferring from
Susan's home in Gloversville, NY. It has been a tremendous gathering of
family information over the last 10-12 years, and we know the story is
not yet nearly complete.
So we have certainly have achieved important goals.
What's next? We need some help, and we need to publish additional
records. It is time to switch our emphasis from inputting family data,
to publishing material from the archives for our interested association
members. Let's speak about the help we need first. NFA needs to broaden
the feeling of ownership in our association, by involving more members
in the decision-making process. Toward that end, I proposed to the
Board yesterday that we expand the number of directors to twelve, and
restructure the Board committees to share in the work of the
association. The Board accepted that proposal, and we will now be led
by a Board of twelve directors, who will elect 4 officers from within
that group. Last night I said we needed 3 people to step forward this
weekend to serve on the Board. And every four years we will need other
people to volunteer their effort and input during a term on the Board.
Many who have worked diligently for NFA are now deceased, in declining
health, or aging. We need new blood to carry on the association effort.
I call your attention to the fact that following the demise of that
first Nims Family Association in 1938, nothing happened for 40 years
until the rebirth of our present association. We have much valuable
work to accomplish. An influx of volunteers to help will insure that we
do not travel the same path as did that earlier association. Please let
us count on you when the need arises.
NFA wants to publish material; we have sufficient funds to at least
begin the task.. We do need input about what members wish to see in
print, or on CD disks. Publishing WHAT is the issue. The Board will
continue to discuss what kind of publishing can take place, and which
of us will make sure material is ready for printing. But we do need
input from members to guide us in our deliberations. We will need
additional funding to pay for publishing, though it is our hope to make
the publications provide us income as well. We realize that after our
review and preparation is completed, we will be able to offer CD disks
of the branches, in addition to printed records. But even with these
obstacles still to overcome, today, as I complete my second term as
president of Nims Family Association, I know that with the continued
support of association members through contributions to the K. Godfrey
Nims Memorial Fund and payment of annual dues, with the help of
volunteers who will step forward for a time and help direct the effort,
and with the restructuring of the Board of Directors to spread the
tasks of the association more evenly among a greater number, the
promise that President Frank Nims and the other early organizers saw in
1979 will be realized. The Nims Family Association will continue to
thrive and achieve, as the record of our extended family grows, a
record of which all of the descendants from Godfrey Nims can be
proud.
Reunion 2006:
NFA
Treasurer Nancy G and Sandy P
