John Nims House

The ancestor of the Nims family in America, Godfrey Nims, arrived in Deerfield around 1667. He constructed a home on this lot around 1685. The home burned in 1694 and Godfrey rebuilt it. Again, it burned in the 1704 Indian raid and was rebuilt in 1710 by John and Elizabeth (Hull) Nims, who both had been Indian captives. The house served as a post office from 1816-1831. The property went out of the family in the 1890’s but was bought by two Nims descendants, Eugene D. Nims and Harry D. Nims, in 1936, and deeded as a gift to Deerfield Academy in 1938. The house is used as a faculty residence.

Nims Stones

Three stones mark important Nims locations in Deerfield, Massachusetts: the Godfrey Nims Stone, the Godfrey Nims Bolder, and the Thankful Nims Stone.

The Godfrey Nims Stone

This stone marks the location of the home lot of the Nims house that was stormed and burned to the ground during the February 29, 1704 raid. Godfrey and Mary Nims’ son, John, and his wife Elizabeth built an original home on this lot circa 1710 which they remodeled circa 1785. The stone is in front on the left side of the Nims House. The wreath was presented at the 2018 reunion.

Location. 42° 32.649′ N, 72° 36.271′ W

The Godfrey Nims Boulder

A short walk from the Nims House is The Memorial Hall Museum with the Nims Bolder. The Nims Family Association placed the memorial in 1914.

Godfrey Nims Ancestor of All of the Name of Nims

Settled in Deerfield 1674

Fought under Capt. Turner 1676 Bought this Home Lot 1692

His House Burned, His Wife and Seven Children Captured or Killed by Indians in 1704.

This New Hampshire Boulder was Erected as a Memorial by the Nims Family Association 1914

Location: 42° 32.597′ N, 72° 36.177′ W.

The Godfrey Nims Boulder

The Museum celebrates the region’s long indigenous and immigrant history. It houses the “Sheldon House Door” which was the main door to a deerfield home built by John Sheldon in 1699 which he had strengthened. It still shows the hatchet scars of the 1704 raid. http://1704.deerfield.history.museum/home.do

The Thankful Stone

The so called “Thankful Stone” was placed on the site of the hillside home of John Richards, the step-father of Benjamin Munn and his wife Thankful Nims. Covered with snow, the half-underground home went unnoticed on February 29, 1704. The Plaque was dedicated in 2001.

"Near this spot was the cave in which on Feb 29, 1704 the family of Benjamin and Thankful (Nims) Munn escaped the Indian Attack" 2001