Falk Relations: Nims Family

compiled by Steve Wilson, last updated December 6, 2015.
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Descendants

Outline

Godfrey Nims♦ (b. c. 1650, d. 14 Mar. 1704, Massachusetts), 1m. 26 Nov. 1677 to Mary Miller (b. c. 1652, Springfield MA, d. 27 Apr. 1688, Deerfield MA), 2m. 27 Jan. 1692 at Deerfield MA to Mehitable Smead (b. 2 Jan. 1667, Northampton MA, d. 4 Mar. 1704, near Putney VT)

Rebecca Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 12 Aug. 1678, Northampton MA, d. 30 Aug. 1678, Northampton MA)
John Nims♦ (ch. by 1m., b. 14 Aug. 1679, Northampton MA, d. 29 Dec. 1762, Massachusetts), m. 19 Dec. 1707 at Deerfield MA to Elizabeth Hull (b. 23 Dec. 1688, Deerfield MA, d. 21 Sep. 1754, Deerfield MA)

John Nims (b. 26 Nov. 1707, Deerfield MA, d. 28 Jan. 1708, Deerfield MA)
Mehitable Nims (b. 9 Mar. 1709, Deerfield MA, d. 26 July 1712, Deerfield MA)
Elizabeth Nims (b. 1 Mar. 1712, Deerfield MA, d. 27 Feb. 1779, Deerfield MA), m. 10 Dec. 1730 at Deerfield MA to John Hawks (b. 5 Dec. 1707, Deerfield MA, d. 24 June 1784, Deerfield MA)
Mehitable Nims (b. 14 Mar. 1714, Deerfield MA, d. 6 Nov. 1782, Greenfield MA), m. 12 May 1731 at Deerfield MA to Jonathan Smead (b. 19 Jan. 1707, Deerfield MA, d. 29 Apr. 1783, Greenfield MA)
John Nims♦ (b. 19 Dec. 1715, Deerfield MA, d. 6 Oct. 1769, Massachusetts), 1m. 16 Jan. 1735 at Deerfield MA to Abigail Smead (b. 29 Jan. 1718, Deerfield MA, d. 4 Dec. 1755, Massachusetts), 2m. 24 Mar. 1761 at Deerfield MA to Abigail Hoyt (b. 1716, Massachusetts, d. 11 Oct. 1790, Deerfield MA)

Ebenezer Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 22 Apr. 1736, Deerfield MA, d. 20 Dec. 1736, Deerfield MA)
Esther Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 18 Dec. 1737, Deerfield MA, d. 28 Sep. 1824, Charlemont MA), m. 5 June 1760 at Deerfield MA to Sylvanus Rice (b. 1729, Massachusetts, d. 6 Apr. 1819, Charlemont MA)
Reuben Nims♦ (ch. by 1m., b. 14 June 1740, Deerfield MA, d. 16 Nov. 1814, Shelburne MA), 1m. 1 July 1762 at Deerfield MA to Sarah Burt (b. 1739, Massachusetts, d. 4 Apr. 1774, Shelburne MA), 2m. 25 June 1777 at Shelburne MA to Deliverance Gould (b. 23 Feb. 1742, Boxford MA, d. 31 Jan. 1813, Shelburne MA)

Jonathan Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 12 May 1763, Deerfield MA, d. 8 Apr. 1837, Adams MA), m. 29 Nov. 1787 to Hannah Densmore (b. c. 1762, d. 1 Oct. 1836)
Reuben Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 17 Aug. 1765, Deerfield MA, d. 28 Oct. 1792)
Joel Nims (ch. by 1m., bap. 3 Mar. 1768, Deerfield MA, d. 5 May 1768, Deerfield MA)
Abigail Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 7 May 1769, Shelburne MA, d. 15 June 1842, Shelburne MA)
Sarah Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 6 Dec. 1771, Shelburne MA), m. 17 May 1796 at Shelburne MA to Levi Farnsworth (b. 1766)
son Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 6 Feb. 1774, d. 6 Feb. 1774)
Elizabeth Nims (ch. by 2m., b. 16 Nov. 1778, Shelburne MA, d. c. 1846, Bellevue MI), m. 21 Feb. 1798 at Shelburne MA to Samuel Higgins (b. 16 Sep. 1774, Chatham CT, d. c. 1849, Battle Creek MI)
Samuel Nims (ch. by 2m., b. 13 Aug. 1780, Shelburne MA), m. 5 Dec. 1805 at Shelburne MA to Electa Skinner (b. 23 Mar. 1780, Shelburne MA)
Joel Nims (ch. by 2m., b. 29 Dec. 1782, Shelburne MA, d. 16 Dec. 1861, Shelburne MA), 1m. 27 Nov. 1806 at Shelburne MA to Betsy Nims (b. 1785, Massachusetts, d. 7 Dec. 1812, Shelburne MA), 2m. 20 Oct. 1813 at Shelburne MA to Lovina Bardwell (b. 1783, Massachusetts, d. 17 Dec. 1871, Deerfield MA)
Mary Nims (ch. by 2m., b. 15 Jan. 1786, Shelburne MA), m. 21 May 1812 at Shelburne MA to Samuel Brown (b. 1787, Massachusetts, d. 23 Aug. 1869, Buckland MA)

Elizabeth Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 20 Apr. 1743, Deerfield MA, d. 5 July 1743, Deerfield MA)
Abner Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 30 May 1744, Deerfield MA, d. by 1 Aug. 1780), 1m. 1768 at Deerfield MA to Mary Sheldon (bap. 8 June 1746, Deerfield MA, d. 26 Oct. 1771, Deerfield MA), 2m. 11 Apr. 1778 at Shelburne MA to Sarah Ransom (d. 22 Feb. 1808, Bolton NY)
Mary Nims (ch. by 1m., bap. 27 Nov. 1746, Deerfield MA, d. 5 Feb. 1747, Deerfield MA)
John Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 12 Mar. 1748, Deerfield MA, d. 15 May 1823, Buckland MA), m. 15 Jan. 1771 at Charlemont MA to Elizabeth Rice (b. 12 Sep. 1751, Charlemont MA, d. 14 Apr. 1842, Buckland MA)
Ebenezer Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 4 Dec. 1751, Deerfield MA, d. 20 July 1836), m. 28 Apr. 1774 at Greenfield MA to Margaret Paterson (d. Dec. 1833, Rowe MA)
Elizabeth Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 20 Mar. 1755, Deerfield MA, d. 10 May 1815, Scipio NY), m. 27 May 1779 at shelburne MA to Luke Taylor (b. 24 Aug. 1754, Deerfield MA, d. 4 Dec. 1841, Scipio NY)

Thomas Nims (b. 8 Apr. 1718, Deerfield MA, d. 4 Feb. 1793, Greenfield MA), m. 26 May 1742 at Westfield MA to Esther Martindale (b. 29 Sep. 1722, Hatfield MA, d. 24 Feb. 1807, Greenfield MA)
Jeremiah Nims (b. 26 June 1721, Deerfield MA, d. 12 July 1797, Deerfield MA), m. 23 Nov. 1744 to Mary Cooley (b. 1723, Massachusetts, d. 30 Apr. 1804, Deerfield MA)
son Nims (b. 16 Dec. 1722, Deerfield MA, d. 16 Dec. 1722, Deerfield MA)
Mary Nims (b. 20 July 1724, Deerfield MA, d. 23 July 1727, Deerfield MA)
Rebecca Nims (b. 6 Jan. 1727, Deerfield MA, d. 18 Apr. 1750, Deerfield MA), m. 6 June 1743 at Deerfield MA to Amos Allen (b. 1722, Massachusetts, d. 27 Mar. 1797, Greenfield MA)
Mary Nims (b. 15 Mar. 1729, Deerfield MA, d. 21 June 1796, Shelburne MA), m. 13 Dec. 1744 at Deerfield MA to John Taylor (b. 1722, Massachusetts, d. 8 Mar. 1799, Shelburne MA)
Daniel Nims (b. 15 Jan. 1731, Deerfield MA, d. 14 Oct. 1806, Shelburne MA), m. 13 June 1757 at Deerfield MA to Charity Childs (b. 1736, Massachusetts, d. 14 Oct. 1820, Shelburne MA)

Rebecca Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 14 Aug. 1679, Northampton MA, d. 29 Feb. 1704, Deerfield MA), m. 15 Jan. 1703 at Deerfield MA to Philip Mattoon (b. 1680, Massachusetts, d. 29 Feb. 1704, Deerfield MA)
Henry Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 20 Apr. 1682, Northampton MA, d. 29 Feb. 1704, Deerfield MA)
Thankful Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 29 Aug. 1684, Deerfield MA, d. 11 July 1746, Deerfield MA), m. 15 Jan. 1703 at Deerfield MA to Benjamin Munn (b. 29 Aug. 1683, Springfield MA, d. 5 Feb. 1774, Northfield MA)
Ebenezer Nims (ch. by 1m., b. 14 Mar. 1687, Deerfield MA, d. c. 1760), m. c. 1710 at Lorette, Quebec to Sarah Hoyt (b. 1686, Massachusetts, d. 11 Jan. 1761, Deerfield MA)
Thomas Nims (ch. by 2m., b. 8 Nov. 1693, Deerfield MA, d. 10 Sep. 1697, Deerfield MA)
Mehitable Nims (ch. by 2m., b. 16 May 1696, Deerfield MA, d. 29 Feb. 1704, Deerfield MA)
Mary Nims (ch. by 2m., b. 28 Feb. 1699, Deerfield MA, d. 29 Feb. 1704, Deerfield MA)
Mercy Nims (ch. by 2m., b. 28 Feb. 1699, Deerfield MA, d. 29 Feb. 1704, Deerfield MA)
Abigail Nims (ch. by 2m., b. 27 May 1701, Deerfield MA, d. 3 Jan. 1747, Oka, Quebec), m. 29 July 1715 at Montreal, Quebec to Josiah Rising (b. 1694, Connecticut, d. 30 Dec. 1771, Oka, Quebec)

Our Descent

Godfrey Nims (c1650-1704), m. 1677 to Mary Miller (c1652-1688)

John Nims (1679-1762), m. 1707 to Elizabeth Hull (1688-1754)

John Nims (1715-1769), m. 1735 to Abigail Smead (1718-1755)

Reuben Nims (1740-1814), m. 1777 to Deliverance Gould (1742-1813)

Elizabeth Nims (1778-c1846), m. 1798 to Samuel Higgins (1774-c1849)

Horatio Higgins (1812-1890), m. 1837 to Mary Jane Felch (1820-1898)

Harvey Alva Higgins (1864-1928), m. 1889 to Lillian Belle Agee (1868-1947)

Elsie Laura Higgins (1895-1959), m. 1915 to George Washington Falk (1895-1969)

Documentation ♦

Godfrey Nims (c1650-1704): 1m. Mary Miller (c1652-1688), 2m. Mehitable Smead (1667-1704)

12 Aug. 1678, "Births in Anno 1678 ... 12 Agust Rebeckah Daug of Godfree & Mary Nimes" [Massachusetts, Northampton, Vital Records]
14 Aug. 1679, "Births in Anno 1679 ... 14 Agust John and Rebeckah Twins son and dau To Godfree and Mary Nimes born" [Massachusetts, Northampton, Vital Records]
20 Apr. 1682, "Births in 1682 ... Aprill 20: Hinry son of Godfree and Mary Nims born" [Massachusetts, Northampton, Vital Records]
29 Aug. 1684, "Thankfull, Daughter to Godfrey & Mary Nimes was born August 29: 1684" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
14 Mar. 1686, "Ebinezer, Son to Godfrey & Mary Nimes, was born March 14: 1686" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
27 Apr. 1688, "Mary, Wife to Godfrey Nims, head of this family, Dyed 27: April 1688" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
27 Jan. 1692, "Godfrey Nims & Mehitable Hull were married 27 January 1692" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
8 Nov. 1693, "Thomas, Son to Godfrey & Mehitable Nimes, was born November 8: 1693" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
16 May 1696, "Mehitable, Daughter to Godfrey & Mehitable Nimes, was born 16 May 1696" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
10 Sep. 1697, "Thomas Son to Godfrey & Mehitable Nims Dyed September 10: 1697" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
28 Feb. 1699, "Mary & Mercy, Daughters to Godfrey & Mehitable Nims, were born February 28: 1698/9" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
27 May 1701, "Abigaill, Daughter to Godfrey & Mehitable Nims, was born May 27: 1701" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
29 Feb. 1704, "[uncertain] Nims was Slain by ye Enemy Febawary ye 29: 1704" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
1704, "The grave of 48 men women and children, victims of the French and Indian raid on Deerfield, February 29, 1704." [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Albany Road Cemetery, Inscriptions]
Haefeli, Evan & Kevin Sweeney, Captive Histories: English, French, and Native Narratives of the 1704 Deerfield Raid, 2006. On p. 53-54, 173-174, "The things that made the men at Deerfield lay hold upon Chepasson were such as these ... When he was in custody, he desired a Negro that watched him to let him have his gun that he might kill Goodman [Godfrey] Nims, and on his refusal he desired his [i.e., the Negro's] knife for the same purpose ... June 19, 1690"; "Godfrey Nims and a soldier escaped to Captain Well's fort ... I sent you John Nims's account of his captivity and the circumstances of his being taken."
Haefeli, Evan & Kevin Sweeney, Captors and Captives: The 1704 French and Indian Raid on Deerfield, 2003. On p. 23-25, 30, 116, 251, 280, several mentions of Godfrey Nims, including: "In 1667 ... during Sunday services, this gang broke into a house and stole '24 shillings in silver and 7 in Wampum' to pay Quanquelatt, a local Indian, to guide them north. The plot was discovered and the participants punished. Authorities gave Quanquelatt twenty lashes; Godfrey Nims, 'the ringleader in these villianes' got fifteen on the naked back ... Before he had turned forty, this former juvenile delinquent had served four times as a selectman, was a sergeant in the militia, and had become one of the wealthiest men in town. His house stood on the west side of the street between those of Ensign Sheldon, his brother-in-law, and the local minister ... With the possible exception of Godfrey Nims and Thomas French, who may have had French ancestors, the town's leaders and voters descended from English stock."
McGowan, Susan & Amelia F. Miller, Family & Landscape: Deerfield Homelots from 1671, 1996. On p. 1, 112, 129, 138-139, "Lot 1 South ... John Weller, Jr. (b. 1671) sold it to Godfrey Nims (d. 1704) in 1694, the deed named a house and other edifices."; "Lot 25 ... Godfrey Nims (d. 1704) was sold the north portion of the lot by William Smead and he owned it from 1679 to 1701 ... Ebenezer Smead (1675-1753) inherited his father's portion of the lot, to which he added the unimproved Nims parcel on the north in 1701."; "Lot 27 ... Benjamin Barrett, Sr., who had a houselot in Wapping about a mile south of the Deerfield street, had apparently agreed before his death [1690] to sell this lot to Godfrey Nims (d. 1705). In a court order of 1692, the administrators of Benjamin Barrett, Sr., were instructed to give Godfrey Nims a deed 'for a houselot formerly sold to him.' The deed from the administrators to Godfrey Nims of Deerfield, cordwainer, conveyed 'A certain Homelot lying in Deerfield ... Upon ye Meeting house hill being the Same piece of Land formerly sold unto him.' On June 27, 1692, Godfrey Nims had married his second wife, Mehitable (d. 1704), widow of Jeremiah Hull (1663-1691), and they moved into the house, which was cited in the deed of March 18, 1692. Records of the Hampshire County Inferior Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions reported that on January 4, 1694 the house of Godfrey Nims burned. Nims's stepson, Jeremiah Hull (1690-1694), having been put to bed, 'was burnt to death' in a fire accidentally started by ten-year-old Henry Nims (1682-1704). Henry went 'into the chamber with a light and by accident fired some flx or towe ... the chamber was all in a flame, and before other help came sd Jeremiah was past recovery.' Godfrey Nims did not rebuild on the burned site, but purchased the unimproved Lot 28 to the north from Benjamin Hastings (1659-1711) of Hatfield. The western part of Lot 27, site of the house burned in 1694, continued to be held in the Nims family until 1894 ... After the fire of 1694, Lot 27 remained empty, with the possible exception of farm buildings, until 1797 ..."; "Lot 28 ... Godfrey Nims (d. 1705) bought Lot 28 consisting of three unimproved acres from Hastings in 1695, several months after his 1694 purchase of Lot 1 South containing five acres with a house and other edifices. ... beginning in 1695, there have been three houses on Lot 28, including the present one. The earliest of the three houses was built about 1695, the year after the house of Godfrey Nims was burned on Lot 27. Nims soon built a new house which, in turn, was burned in the French and Indian attack of 1704. It was reported that four of Godfrey Nims's children were 'Slain' and that his wife and three other children were captured and taken to Canada. The Nims house and barn and all their contents were destroyed. Of the family of Godfrey Nims, only he remained alive and in Deerfield after the attack. Before any of his captive children returned from Canada, Godfrey Nims died. His inventory was taken on April 10, 1705."
Melvoin, Richard I., New England Outpost: War and Society in Colonial Deerfield, 1989. On p. 136, 138, 155, 199-200, 221, "Cordwainer Godfrey Nims paid off over £4 worth of debts accumulated in the 1670s for items like cotton ribbon, sewing materials, and hide leather by giving over to Pynchon several pairs of shoes he had made"; "In 1685 Godfrey was convicted and fined 'for defaming or slaundering' Mr. Joseph Hawley of Northampton over the fair saile of a house."; "On August 21 [1695], in the only attack on valley settlements that summer, Indians ambushed three Deerfielders as they crossed a bridge on their way to the mill ... Godrey Nims had his horse shot out from under him, yet survived by getting a ride back to the fort from Philip Mattoon"
Sheldon, George, A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts, 1895-1896. In 1:46-48, 2:250, "Nims, Godfrey, bought home lot No. 35 in 1674, but I do not find him living here until the Permanent Settlement ... Williams, Zebediah, sold out his land in Northampton, in 1674. He was here in 1675, and was one of the teamsters killed with Lothrop. His widow, Mary, duaghter of Wm. Miller, married Godfrey Nims."; "Nims, Godfrey; cordwainer; prob. the ancestor of all of the name in the country; is first heard of as a 'lad' at Nhn., Sept. 4, 1667; was in the Falls fight, May 19, 1676; he bought land here in 1674, and was among the earlier permanent sett.; in 1692 he bought No. 27, and in 1694 No. 28; these two lots united became the Nims home lot; it has never been out of the family ... a house was burned on this lot Jan. 4, 1693-4, and a step-son of Godfrey perished in the flames; another was burned here in 1704, in which three children were lost and his family was nearly exterminated on that bloody morning; he d. soon aft.; the inventory of his estate was taken Mar. 12, 1704-5. He m. ... (2) ... Mehitable ... she was cap. 1704, and k. on the march to Canada."
Suddaby, Elizabeth C., ed., The Nims Family: Seven Generations of Descendants From Godfrey Nims, 1990. On p. 1-9, "... the first being the Hampshire County Court record of September 24, 1667, which reads: 'James Bennet, Godfrey Nims & Benoni Stebbins, young lads of Northampton being by Northampton Comissionrs bound over to this Corte to answer for diverse crimes & misdemeanrs comitted by them, were brought to this Corte by ye Constable of yt Towne wch 3 lads are accused by Robert Bartlett for that they gott into his house two Sabbath dayes when all the family were at the Publike Meeting: On ye first of wch times, they vizt. Nims & Stebbins did ransack about the house & tooke away out of diverse places of the house vist. 24 shillings in silver & 7s in Wampum wth the intention to run away to the French: Al which is by them confessed, wch wickedness of theires hath also been accompanyd with frequent lying to excuse & justify themselves especially on Nims his pt., who it seemes hath been a ringleader in their vilainys; for all wch their crimes and misdeameanors this Corte doth judge yt the said 3 lads shalbe well whipt on their naked bodies vizt. Nims & Bennet wth 15 lashes apeece & Benoni Stebbins with 11 lashes. And the said Nims & Stebbins are to pay Robert Bartlett the summe of 4£ being accounted treble according to the law, for what goods he hath lost by thir meanes. Also those psons that recd any money of any of the said lads, are to restore it to the sd Robert Bartlett. But there being made to the Corte an earnest petition & request by Ralfe Hutchinson, father-in-law to ye said James Bennett & diverse other considerable psons yt the said Bennets corporall punishment might be released by reason of his mothers weakness, who it is feared may suffer much inconveniency thereby, that punishment was remitted upon his father-in-law his engaging to this Corte to pay five pounds to ye County as a fyne for the said Bennets offence, wch 5£ is to be paid to ye County Treasurer for ye use of ye county. Also John Stebbins, Junior being much suspected to have some hand in their plotting to run away. This Corte doth ordr ye Commisssionrs of Northampton to call him before ym & examine him about that or any other thing whereon he is suspected to be guilty with ye said lads, & so act therein according to their discretion, attending law. Also they are to call the Indian called Quequelatt who had a hand in their plott & to deale with him according as they fynd.' ... On February 4, 1668, Godfrey Nims appears ... as one of many from Northampton who signed a petition requesting relief from taxation on goods brought into the colony's ports ... the Oath of Fidelity to the government on March 25, 1672/3 ... contributions to Harvard College in 1672/3 ... On May 19, 1676 ... serving under Capt. William Turner of Boston in the Falls Fight ... A deed dated 1679 gives the first written indication that Godfrey Nims settled at Deerfield ... Family tradition holds that Godfrey Nims was one of the first three settlers of Deerfield before 1671 and that he first lived in a hole or cave carved out of the hillside on land south of Col. Wilsons. But there is no documentary evidence of his moving to Deerfield before the 1679 deed and another deed in 1682, when he sold a dwelling house and land on the west side of Hawley street in Northampton ... Cordwainer Godfrey Nims paid off over £4 worth of debts ... by giving over to Pynchon several pairs of shoes he had made ... On January 6, 1685, ... received fourteen acres at the south end of the community ... On May 30, 1689 ... Godfrey was chosen constable ... elected one of five selectmen at the town meeting of December 14, 1691 ... November 22, 1695, Godfrey was chosen collector ... selectman again during 1695-96 ... On January 4, 1694 ... the Nims' house burned ... On October 23, 1694, he paid Jonathan Weller and his wife 30 pounds for a tract of land of about nine acres ... Another deed, dated February 28, 1694/5, shows that Godfrey purchased from Benjamin Hastings for the price of ten pounds and ten shillings ... three acres ... On July 29, 1695, he paid 12 pounds for land from the estate of Benjamine Barret ... At a town meeting on March 3, 1701, he was chosen ... to lay a road to the land on the west side of the river ... In 1702, Godfrey served as a member of the school committee ... inventory of his estate taken on March 12, 1704/5 ... settled January 11, 1708/9"

John Nims (1679-1762): m. Elizabeth Hull (1688-1754)

26 Nov. 1707, "John, Son to John & Elizabeth Nims was born November the 26: 1707" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
19 Dec. 1707, "John Nims & Elisabeth Hull were joyned in Marriage Decr ye 19: 1707 by ye Revirend Mr John Williams" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
28 Jan. 1708, "John, Son to John & Elizabeth Nims Died January the 28: 1707" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
9 Mar. 1709, "Mehitable, Daughter to John & Elizabeth Nims was born March the 9: 1709" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
1 Mar. 1712, "Elizabeth Daughter to John & Elizabeth Nims was born March the 1: 1712" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
16 July 1712, "Mehitable, Daughter to John & Elizabeth Nims Died July the 16: 1712" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
14 Mar. 1713, "Mehitable Daughter to John & Elizabeth Nims was born march 14th 1713" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
19 Dec. 1715, "John, Son to John & Elizabeth Nims was born December the 19: 1715" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
8 Apr. 1718, "Thomas, Son to John & Elizabeth Nims was born April 8th 1718" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
26 June 1721, "Jerahmiah, Son to John & Elizabeth Nims was born June 26: 1721" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
16 Dec. 1722, "Jno & Elizabeth Nims had a Son stillborn December 16th 1722" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
20 July 1724, "Mary, Daughter to John & Elizabeth Nims was born July 20th 1724" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
6 Jan. 1727, "Rebeckah, Daughter to John & Elizabeth Nims was born January 6th 1726/7" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
23 July 1727, "Mary, Daughter to John & Elizabeth Nims Dyed July 23: Anno: 1727" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
15 Mar. 1729, "Mary 2d Daughter to Jno & Elizabeth Nims was born March 15th 1728/9" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
15 Jan. 1731, "Daniel, Son to John & Elizabeth Nims was born January 15th 1730/31" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
21 Sep. 1754, "Elisabeth Nims, one of the heads of this family Died Sepr ye 21, 1754" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
1762, "In Memory of Mr. John Nims Who Died Dec. 29th A.D. 1762 In the 83d Year of his Age."; "The Body of Mrs Elisabeth ye Wife of Mr John Nims is here interred who Died Sep 21.1754 in ye 66 Year of her age" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Albany Road Cemetery, Inscriptions]
Haefeli, Evan & Kevin Sweeney, Captive Histories: English, French, and Native Narratives of the 1704 Deerfield Raid, 2006. On p. 18, 152, 174-180, includes Joseph Petty's c. 1729 narrative of his escape, with John Nims.
Haefeli, Evan & Kevin Sweeney, Captors and Captives: The 1704 French and Indian Raid on Deerfield, 2003. On p. 109, 168, 195, 212, 262, "... on October 8, Natives ambushed two Deerfield men, Zebediah Williams and John Nims, as they watched over animals pastured outside the stockade. Both were captured and carried to Canada"; "Four men decided to take matters into their own hands and escape ... joined by John Nims, who had been captured in 1703 ... On May 10, which was the Feast of the Holy Sacrament and a 'great procession day,' they had 'Liberty to go in & about the city of Mont Real, & there ... happened all to meet together.' At this meeting Nims and Petty informed the other two of their plan to escape. ... Three days later, Petty made ready ... They arrived at 'about break of day' on Monday, May 14. Then they paddled across the Saint Lawrence in a canoe 'by sun rising.' Two days later the escapees reached the Richelieu River nine miles below Fort Chambly, crossed over it on a raft, and proceeded south along the east bank. ... 'Weak and faint,' the four men finally reached Deerfield on June 8."; "Former captives ... John Nims ... made use of their newly acquired skills in woodcraft, snowshoeing, and languages as they guided scouting parties north."
McGowan, Susan & Amelia F. Miller, Family & Landscape: Deerfield Homelots from 1671, 1996. On p. 1, 138-139, "Lot 1 South ... The lot was owned by John Nims (1679-1762) from 1704 to 1762."; "Lot 28 ... John Nims (1679-1762), Godfrey's oldest son, escaped from his captors in Canada, returned to Deerfield later in 1705, and probably lived in his father's house, on Lot 1 South, until about 1710 when he probably moved back to Lot 28 to reinhabit and to rebuild on the burned site. ... After living in a house built on the 1695 foundation for twenty or thirty years, John Nims probably built a new house - the third house - about 1740 to 1750. The new, or present, house may have been built about 1744 when John Nims's sono Jeremiah Nims (1721-1797) married, or possibly in 1749 when John Nims deeded one-half his homelot and one-half 'a mansion house and barn' to his son Jeremiah for the consideration of £100."
Melvoin, Richard I., New England Outpost: War and Society in Colonial Deerfield, 1989. On p. 213, 272, "on the evening of October 8 [1703] the first blow of Queen Anne's War struck the valley - at Deerfield. While they were watching after the town's animals in the pasture outside the fort, Indians ambushed Zebediah Williams and John Nims. After firing but missing, the Indians quickly seized Williams. Nims ran away toward a pond nearby, but then, afraid he would be shot, he gave himself up. The Indians quickly marched the men off into captivity."; "In 1725 ... in the same meeting, John Nims announced that he, too, refused to serve as selectman"
Sheldon, George, A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts, 1895-1896. In 2:251, gives the family of John Nims.
Suddaby, Elizabeth C., ed., The Nims Family: Seven Generations of Descendants From Godfrey Nims, 1990. On p. 8-17, 61-62, 73-74, "On October 8, 1703 ... Zebediah Williams & John Nims went into ye meadow in ye evening to look after creatures, & wer ambushed by indians in ye ditch beyond Frary's bridge, who fird at ym, but missd ym, and took W. quick, an N ran to ye pond, & then returned to ym (fearing to be shot,) ye Indians wound cattle and went off. Ye men were carried to Canada, where W. dyd. ... John Nims ... returned to New England after a harrowing trek ... his escape in 1705 ... At the close of Queen Anne's War ... an exchange of prisoners ... John Nims went along to represent his family ... returned to Boston on August 24, 1713 ... John Nims and Benjamin Munn were allowed seven shillings each for service with Capt. Jonathan Wells company ... On May 7, 1723, a proprietors' meeting which divided the Greenfield lands ... John Nyms [received] 13 commons 3 acres 138 rods ... In another land division on March 21, 1726 ... John Nims each received further Greenfield lands as proprietors."; "John Nims deeded the house to his son Jeremiah in 1749 ... House Built by John and Elizabeth Nims c. 1710, Remodeled, c. 1785"; "John Nims is cited in the town meeting of March 8, 1714 as working with others to get the mill running ... He is recorded in the 1718 listing of those persons with rights to the commons that was to be divided in the town of Deerfield. He served as selectman of Deerfield for the year 1729 ... John Nims appears as holding shares in the new township of Keene, NH and being a proprietor of the township of Charlestown, MA. He was a grantee in the town of Bernardston for his father's service in the Falls Fight. He was also involved in another division of land in Deerfield in 1743 ... received 109 acres ... served on a committee to assure the building of mounts at Green River and fort rooms ... at the town meeting of May 21, 1744 ... voted to be allowed to make three pews on the north side of the east door of the meeting house in 1746 ... died without a will, having deeded his land to his children.

John Nims (1715-1769): 1m. Abigail Smead (1718-1755), 2m. Abigail Hoyt (1716-1790)

16 Jan. 1735, "Jno Nims & Abigail Smead were married by the Revd Mr Jonn Ashley ye 16th of Jany 1734/5" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
22 Apr. 1736, "Ebinezer, Son to John & Abigail Nims was born April 22d 1736" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
20 Dec. 1736, "Ebenezer, Son to Jno & Abigail Nims Died December 20th 1736" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
18 Dec. 1737, "Esther, Daughter to Jno & Abigail Nims, was born December the 18: 1737" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
14 June 1740, "Rubin, Son to John & Abigail Nims, was born June the 14th 1740" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
20 Apr. 1743, "Elisabeth, Daughter to John & Abigail Nims, was born April 20th 1743" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
5 July 1743, "Elisabeth, Daughter to Jno & Abigail Nims, Died July 5th 1743" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
30 May 1744, "Abner, Son of John & Abigail Nims was born May 30th 1744" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
17 Nov. 1746, "Marah, Daughter of John & Abigail Nims, was born Novr 17th 1746" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
5 Feb. 1747, "Mary, Daughter of John & Abigail Nims, Died February 5th 1747" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
12 Mar. 1748, "John, Son of John & Abigail Nims, was born March 12th 1748" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
4 Dec. 1751, "Ebenezer, Son of John & Abigail Nims was born December 4th 1751" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
20 Mar. 1755, "Elisabeth, Daughter of John & Abigail Nims was born March ye 20th 1755" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
24 Mar. 1761, "John Nims & Abigail Clisson, [married] March 24: 1761" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
1769, "Mr John Nims Died Oct. 6 A.D. 1769 In the 54th Year of his Age."; "Mrs Abigail the Wife of Mr John Nims Died Decem 4 A.D. 1755 Aged 38 Years" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Albany Road Cemetery, Inscriptions]
McGowan, Susan & Amelia F. Miller, Family & Landscape: Deerfield Homelots from 1671, 1996. On p. 1-2, "Lot 1 South ... "John Nims, Jr. (1715-1769) owned it for seven years, beginning at the time of his father's death, and left it to his son, Reuben."
Sheldon, George, A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts, 1895-1896. In 2:251, gives the family of John Nims.
Suddaby, Elizabeth C., ed., The Nims Family: Seven Generations of Descendants From Godfrey Nims, 1990. On p. 19, 77-79, "John Nims, Jr. ... acted as scouts for Shattock's Fort to watch the movement of a large force of French and Indians in July 1747"; "John Nims, Jr. served twice in King George's War. He appears on the muster roll of Capt. Thomas Wells for April 23, 1746 as a sentry. In July 1747, he acted as a scout ... Upon his death John Nims left the following last will and testament: 'In the Name of God Amen. I, John Nims of Deerfield in the County of Hampshire province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, being under indisposition of Body, but thro the goodness of God having my reason continued to me desire to set my house in order ... With regard to my Beloved wife Abigail it is my will She Should be provided for according to the laws of this province and also one half of my sheep and a yoke of two year old steer be given to her. It is my will that my sons Reuben, Abner, John & Ebenezer should have an equal in my estate: But then it is my will that my Son Reuben Should have that half of the Lot he now lives upon & that it Shall be to him So Much as it May be esteemed Worth without any Improvements made upon it. It is my will that my two daughters Esther & Elizabeth Shall have one quarter part Each of them So Much as one of my sons & I do Constitute my Beloved wife & my Brother Jeremiah Nims Executors ... I do Set my hand & Seal this twenty seventh day of September in the ninth year of his Majesties reign and in the Seventeen hundred & sixty ninth year of Lord Christ. John Nims' The will was probated on November 7, 1769."

Reuben Nims (1740-1814): 1m. Sarah Burt (1739-1774), 2m. Deliverance Gould (1742-1813)

6 May 1739, "Sarah Burt born May 6, 1739" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
14 June 1740, "Reuben Nims born June 14, 1740" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
23 Feb. 1741, "Reuben Nims ... Deliverance Gould his 2d Wife born Feb. 23, 1741" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
1 June 1762, "Reuben Nims & Sarah Burt, June 1: 1762" [Massachusetts, Deerfield, Vital Records]
1 July 1762, "Reuben Nims ... Married to Sarah Burt July 1st, 1762" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
12 May 1763, "Reuben Nims ... Sarah Burt ... Jonathan their son born May 12, 1763" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
17 Aug. 1765, "Reuben Nims ... Sarah Burt ... Reuben born August 17, 1765" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
7 May 1769, "Reuben Nims ... Sarah Burt ... Abigal born May 7, 1769" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
1 Dec. 1771, "Reuben Nims ... Sarah Burt ... Sarah born Decr 1, 1771" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
2 Apr. 1774, "Mrs Nims died April 2, 1774" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
16 Nov. 1778, "Reuben Nims ... Deliverance Gould ... Elizabeth their Daughter born Nov. 16, 1778" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
13 Aug. 1780, "Reuben Nims ... Deliverance Gould ... Samuel born August 13, 1780" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
29 Dec. 1782, "Reuben Nims ... Deliverance Gould ... Joel born Dec. 29, 1782" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
15 Jan. 1786, "Reuben Nims ... Deliverance Gould ... Mary born Jan. 15, 1786" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
1790, res. Shelburne, Reuben Nims, 3 males 16+, 3 males 0-15, 5 females [USA, 1790 Census, Massachusetts, Hampshire County]
28 Oct. 1791, "Reuben Nims ... Reuben Died Octr 28, 1791" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
1800, res. Shelburne, Reuben Nims, 1 male 0-9, 2 males 16-25, 1 male 45+, 2 females 10-15, 1 female 16-25, 1 female 26-44, 1 female 45+ [USA, 1800 Census, Massachusetts, Hampshire County]
1810, res. Shelburne, Reuben Nims, 00101-00111 [USA, 1810 Census, Massachusetts, Hampshire County]
31 Jan. 1813, "Reuben Nims ... Mrs Deliverance his wife Died Jan. 31, 1813" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
16 Nov. 1814, "Mr Reuben Nims Died Nov. 16, 1814" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
1814, "Sacred to the memory of Mr Reuben Nims who died November 16th 1814"; "In Memory of Mrs Sarah Nims Consort of Mr Reuben Nims who died April 2d 1774 in ye 35th Year of her Age. Beneath this Monumt my Body is interd and the first Person that was Buried in this [cemetery]"; "Mrs. Deliverance Wife of Mr. Reuben Nims, died 1 Feb. 1813 AE 72" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Hill Cemetery, Inscriptions]
15 June 1842, "Reuben Nims ... Abigail Died June 15, 1842" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
16 Dec. 1861, "Reuben Nims ... Joel Died Dec. 16, 1861" [Massachusetts, Shelburne, Vital Records]
Essex Institute, Vital Records of Shelburne, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849, 1931. On p. 119, 173, "Marriages ... Nims ... [Reuben, P.R. 14], and Sarah Burtt, July [1 P.R. 14] 1762. Reuben, and Deliverance Gould, June 25, 1777"; "Deaths ... Nims ... Deliverance, w. Reuben, Jan. 31, 1813. [a. 72 y. P.R. 18] ... Reuben, Nov. 16, 1814. [Nov. 26, a. 74 y. P.R. 18], Sarah, 'the first burial in the Hill Cemetery,' w. Reuben, Apr. 4, 1774, a. 35 y. P.R. 18"
McGowan, Susan & Amelia F. Miller, Family & Landscape: Deerfield Homelots from 1671, 1996. On p. 1-2, "Lot 1 South ... "John Nims, Jr. (1715-1769) owned it for seven years, beginning at the time of his father's death, and left it to his son, Reuben (1740-1814). Reuben removed to Shelburne about 1767; in 1774 his brother Abner Nims (1744-bef.1780), a blacksmith, sold to Thomas Wells Dickinson (1751-1835) of Deerfield."
Sheldon, George, A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts, 1895-1896. On 2:252-253, gives the family of Reuben Nims.
Suddaby, Elizabeth C., ed., The Nims Family: Seven Generations of Descendants From Godfrey Nims, 1990. On p. 93-94, "Reuben served with Capt. Israel Williams as a Sentinel during the French and Indian War. He enlisted on April 19 and stayed until November 4, 1757. He enlisted again in April 1758 and served two months with Major John Hawks' Company. His last service was in March 1760 and lasted for eight months. He acted as a Private under Capt. Salah Barnard. By 1771 he had removed to Shelburne where he appears on the tax list. He owned a house and land that produced an income of £2 per year. He also owned one horse, two oxen, three cattle, six goats and sheep, one swine, ten acres of tillage and five acres of mowing land ... At his death Reuben Nims left his son Jonathan, $100; his daughters, Sarah Farnsworth, Elizabeth Higgins and Mary Brown, $50 each; his son Samuel forty acres of land and his daughter Abigail the use of the westerly room, a portion of the estate to keep her comfortable and $100 upon her marriage. He gave the rest of his estate to his son Joel."

Zebediah Williams (1649-1675): m. Mary Miller (c1652-1688)

18 Dec. 1672, "Zebadiah Williams And Mary Miller were Maried the 18th Decemr 1672" [Massachusetts, Northampton, Vital Records]
24 Dec. 1673, "Births in ye year 1673 ... 24 Decemr Mary, Daughr of Zebadiah & Mary Williams" [Massachusetts, Northampton, Vital Records]
Sheldon, George, A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts, 1895-1896. In 1:48, "Williams, Zebediah, sold out his land in Northampton, in 1674. He was here in 1675, and was one of the teamsters killed with Lothrop. His widow, Mary, duaghter of Wm. Miller, married Godfrey Nims."