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
Current Nims Family Association
“When we
have time, let’s get together to publish a history of the Nims
family.” So ended a conversation between Mary Merriam and
Frank Nims about 1959. With those words, the two went their
separate ways, Mary to raise a family, and Frank to an overseas
assignment as an Air force officer. Twenty years later, they
agreed “now is the time.” From telephone conversations and
visits, as well as encouragement from K. Godfrey Nims of Fort Mill, SC
and others, the current Nims Family Association had its beginning.
A first
meeting notice dated August 15, 1979, was signed by Mary Merriam of
Conway, MA; Mary Haglund of Kanosh, UT, and Frank Nims of Cove,
OR. With help from her mother, Ellen Nims McDonald, and
friends, Mary mailed the notice to those with the family name Nims
using telephone books from across the country as her source.
The response was great and on October 27, 1979, 50 descendants of
Godfrey Nims met at the White Church in Deerfield, MA to establish the
second Nims Family Association. The group elected officers
that day and laid the groundwork for researching and publishing a
history of the first seven generations of the Nims family.
Officers
elected at this organizational meeting were Frank L. Nims, president;
William Schoeffler of Brookline, MA, vice president; Lucius Nims of
Greenfield, MA, treasurer; Mary M. Merriam, secretary; and Ellen Mary
Nims, Greenfield, MA, historian. Also elected was a finance
committee consisting of Stuart and Carlton Nims of Keene, NH, and
Marshall Nims and John Schultz of North Tonawanda, NY. Work
on the history progressed for nearly a decade, under direction from
presidents Frank Nims, Dr. Robert Nims, K. Godfrey Nims, and Arthur
Nims Phillips. Also heavily involved were historians Ellen
Mary Nims, Elizabeth Suddaby who acted as editor, John Schultz and
Susan Oathout, culminating in 1990 with a 941-page
publication: The Nims Family: Seven Generations of
Descendants from Godfrey Nims.
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, 2004-2008
- Elizabeth
Wiscombe, 2008-
Photos
of some Nims Family Association Presidents
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Current President Elizabeth
Wiscombe |
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Past President Ronald Graham
(Ron,
who served as president from 2004-2008,
& vice-president from 2000-2004 and 2008-2012
passed away on April 5, 2012.)
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Past President David Nims
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Past President Frank
Nims
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Past President Bill 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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Past President
Kenneth Godfrey Nims.
(Kenneth, who served as president
from 1988-1989 passed away on
September 21, 1992.)
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Godfrey Nims Boulder Dedication, 1914
Here’s a bit of earlier history of Nims Family Association.
The occasion is the Dedication of the Godfrey Nims Memorial Boulder at
the eleventh reunion of the Nims Family Association, and field day of
the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield, Massachusetts :
Thursday, August thirteenth, nineteen hundred fourteen.
Order of Exercises:
Dedicatory Prayer -
Rev. Granville W.
Nims, Troy, NH
The Story of Godfrey Nims -
Honorable Francis Nims
Thompson, Greenfield,MA
Echoes from Canada -
Frederick Candee
Nims, Painesville, OH
Stray Leaves from the Ancestral Tree -
Madella S.
Nims, Keene, NH, NFA Historian
Unveiling of Boulder -
Estelle C. Nims,
Ruth M. Nims, Charlotte S. Nims,
Norris G. Nims
Presentation of Boulder to Nims Family
Association -
Henry W. Nims, Keene, NH
Acceptance of Boulder from the Committee -
Marshall W. Nims, Concord,
NH, NFA President
Presentation of Boulder to Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association -
Norman G. Nims,
Yonkers, NY
Acceptance of Boulder from Nims Family
Association -
Mrs. Jennie M. Arms
Sheldon, Deerfield, MA
Ode to Boulder -
Mrs. Eunice K. Nims Brown,
Springfield, MA
Benediction
One
of the presenters, Frederick Candee Nims (Godfrey - Ebenezer -Moses
-Ariel -Joel -Allen -Frederick C.) spoke of a visit to Oka and the Lake
of the Two Mountains, taken in September, 1908, or about eighteen years
subsequent to Miss Alice Baker’s visit, which provided the research for
her book, True Stories of New England Captives.
Here are portions of remarks given by Frederick C. Nims at the
Dedication, Echoes from Canada.
“It
was the good fortune of my wife and self to follow her (Alice Baker’s)
footprints to the Lake of the Two Mountains, and the home of Josiah
Rising and Abigail Nims, his wife. At this time we had never
seen
Miss Baker’s book, and upon subsequent comparison were struck with the
similarity of our experiences, both in the Mission buildings at Oka and
at the old homestead. But when the friendly Father Lefebvre
produced from the church archives the ancient records, we failed to
recognize the entry of the marriage of Joseph and Abigail, being
ignorant of their Indian names as therein employed. Nor were
we
advised of the translation of the English, ‘Josiah Rising’, into the
French, ‘Ignace Raizenne’, until enlightened by the good
priest.
Across the street from the mission grounds, in a pleasant home fronting
the beautiful Ottawa, we found three comely young ladies, the recently
orphaned Mlles. Harbour, who were nieces of the present Mme. Raizenne,
and who, by the aid of an interpreter, supplied us with all needful
information regarding the family.
The streets of the little
village of Oka, still undefiled by gasoline or electricity, and with
their immaculately white-washed cottages, from the windows and corners
of which dark-skinned children peered curiously, were wonderfully
interesting. Occasionally a two-wheeled cart appeared, wherein sat a
pure-bred Indian and his dusky companion, somber and silent…
After
a laborious drive of nearly a mile over the heavy sand dunes northward
from Oka, we passed through a gate at the right into an open spruce
grove, thence across a rolling field and down a lane for a fourth mile,
and the Raizenne homestead was reached, pleasantly located near the
base of the westerly cone of the Two Mountains. Upon the
removal
of the mission from Sault au Recollet to Oka, in 1721, this fine domain
of 280 acres was bestowed on Josiah and Abigail soon after their
arrival in Oka, and here they reared their family of two sons and six
daughters. In 1791, as we learn from the date carved over the
doorway, a considerable stone addition was made to the house, but the
reception rooms have remained in the older portion, which, due
evidently to reverential sentiments, has been kept in such good repair
that it is now in a better state of preservation than the newer
part. The homestead has remained in the continuous possession
of
Josiah and Abigail and their descendants since 1721, the present owner
and occupant (1908) being Jean Baptiste Raizenne, of the fifth
generation from Godfrey Nims. Mr. Raizenne was born March 29,
1838, and his four children, Rising, Wilhelmine, Isabelle and Marie
Stella, were born in the 1880s. All are attractive,
intelligent
and well educated, and as yet unmarried. The mother, before
marriage Melina Mallette, was raised in an English home, and is the
only member of Jean’s household who speaks English. It is a
family of exemplary character and excellent standing in the community,
and all are endowed with high regard for their New England
ancestry. Notwithstanding the silence with which these
Canadian
kins-people were so long clothed, the knowledge of their American
lineage was inherited by each generation from Josiah and Abigail, and
the fact was evidenced by Jean Baptiste Raizenne in the bestowal of the
name ‘Rising’ upon his son. We are all conversant with the
reputed return of Abigail to Deerfield in 1713, under circumstances
which challenge our credulity, but which were given credence by
officials at the time, and later by Mr. Sheldon in the ‘History
of Deerfield.’
I questioned Mr. Raizenne especially on this subject, and he assured me
that ‘there was no tradition of such an incident in his family, but
that his father often told him that Josiah and Abigail visited
Deerfield after their marriage.’ If this visit has been
anywhere
recorded by our historians it has escaped my notice.
The deeply
religious sentiments of Josiah and Abigail, and their fealty to the
Catholic Church, were also inherited by their progeny. Of the
eight children of Abigail, one became a priest and two were nuns, one
of the latter attaining the high position of Lady Superior.
In
the second generation there were nine children, with one priest, four
nuns, and two Sisters of Charity; while in the fourth (or present)
generation, there have been two nuns. In addition to
these,
many of the offspring of the daughters who have married have likewise
consecrated their lives. In the fourth generation, which
includes
Jean Baptiste Raizenne, there were ten children, of whom the elder
daughter, Walburge, became Sister Raizenne, while the much younger
daughter, Guillelmine, became Sister St. John the Evangelist, both Grey
Sisters of the Cross, and residents at the Grey Nuns’ Convent, Ottawa,
Ontario. There, Sister Raizenne died on the 12th of June
last, at
the age of eighty years, sixty of which she had passed in the service
of the Master. Sister St. John fills the responsible position
of
Secretary to the Mother Superior of the Grey Nuns’ Convent, and is a
woman of culture, refinement, and affectionate regard for her
forbears. In 1913 she published at Ottawa a little book
entitled
“Notes Genealogiques sur la Famille Raizenne”, a valuable work, which
covers connectedly the history of Josiah and Abigail and their direct
descendants to the present time….
In the erection of this
Memorial upon Godfrey Nims’ Home Lot, due respect is shown to our first
American ancestor, and for the sufferings of his family. Near
the
far corner of Memorial Hall stands a handsome evergreen brought as a
seedling by our good friend Alice Baker from the home of Josiah and
Abigail at far-away Oka; while beside the house erected by their hands
in the shadow of the Two Mountains are growing two elms transplanted
from Godfrey’s adjoining Home Lot. If sentiment takes voice
in
Deerfield, its echoes resound from Canada.”
Painesville, Ohio, August 5, 1914
Think
of this early history as you consider journeying to the Montreal area
for the next Nims Family Association Reunion August 24-25 of 2012.
David Nims
Nims Family Association Historians
- Ellen Mary Nims 1979-1984
- Elizabeth Suddaby 1984-1989
- John Schultz 1989-1992
- Susan Oathout 1992-2003
- Allan Wiscombe 2008 -
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