John Nims home in Deerfield, MA.

John and twin sister Rebecca Nims were born August 14, 1679 in Northampton. He and step-brother Zebediah Williams were captured by a handful of Indians on October 8, 1703 while bringing two cows in from the pasture. John was held captive outside of Montreal and Zebediah was taken to Quebec City. John escaped with three other captives in May 1705, arriving in Deerfield a month later, emaciated and suffering from exhaustion. He learned his father had died in March 1705. 

Elizabeth Hull, daughter of Godfrey’s second wife Mehitable, was born December 23, 1688 in Deerfield. She was held in Montreal and redeemed from her captivity by ship in 1706. John married Elizabeth on December 19, 1707 and John built their home on the Nims lot in Deerfield. Their first child, named John, was born November 26, 1707. On July 6, 1712, John was recruited to join another mission to Quebec to redeem captives because of knowledge of the trail. Six days after he left and unknown to John, 3-year-old daughter Mehitable became ill and died. 

While in Quebec John met with 12-year-old step-sister Abigail but could not convince her to return with him to Deerfield. He also met with brother Ebenezer and his wife Sarah in the Huron village of Wendake. John returned to Deerfield on September 24th and became active in town business, working with others to get the mill running and serving as a selectman in 1729. John and Elizabeth had ten more children, one stillborn and losing 3-year-old. Elizabeth on September 21, 1754. John died on December 29, 1762. - Jeff Nims

John Nims Family Migrations

The family of John Nims is the most heavily concentrated in northwestern Massachusetts. Each generation moved a little further north settling in Greenfield, Shelburne, and Gill, then up into Windham County Vermont. Some of these grandchildren migrated to Saratoga, Warren, and Cayuga counties in New York between 1890 and 1910. It was from these migrations that further migrations took the Nims families west.

Amasa Nims (1810) and his brother Daniel Nims (1807) (Daniel, Daniel, John) left Bolton, New York in February 1840 and headed west to Indian Territory. They crossed the Mississippi River on ice and settled in Jackson County, Iowa. They founded the town of Maquoketa, Iowa where a very large concentration of Nims descendants now live. Their brother, Elial, took a different route settling in Ohio and Illinois before finally arriving and settling in Maquoketa.

Silas John Nims(1778, Buckland, Massachusetts) ( John III, John Jr., John) left Franklin County, Massachusetts in 1810 and settled in Saratoga County, New York. His son, Alpheus John Nims moved with his family to Wisconsin in 1847. While there he separated from his wife and eight children and remarried and had eight more children as he moved to Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa. He moved his second family to Sumas, Washington about 1884. Their descendants are heavily concentrated in the Sumas area, and southern British Columbia, Canada. The family farm is right on the Canadian border. Our past president, Frank Nims, is a descendant of that family.

Zeeb Taylor (1750, Shelburne, Massachusetts) (Mary Nims, John) moved his family from Franklin County, Massachusetts in 1793 to the Finger Lakes region of central New York. His son, Stephen Taylor and his wife Martha were early converts to Mormonism in 1838. They left New York and met up with the traveling Mormon Saints in Winter Quarters, Nebraska in late 1847. They left Winter Quarters in June of 1848 to emmigrate to Utah. Martha died on the trail in June 1848 and Stephen took his children on to Utah. They have a very large concentration of descendants in Utah, Arizona and California. Stephen Taylor is also a descendent of Thankful.