Posted By:	sybil dixon
	Email:
	Subject:	Thames, Tims, Timms organizational meeting / reunion
	Post Date:	September 07, 2002 at 07:37:25
	Message URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/ga/milton/messages/123.html
	Forum:	Milton County, GA Genealogy Forum
	Forum URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/ga/milton/

PROBLEMS, NEEDS, OBJECTIVES FOR A THAMES/TIMS ORGANIZATION The committee asked me to send a summary of the reasons for scheduling a meeting to get to know one another and to form a Thames/Tims Organization Please read and consider the following. The earliest people arriving in America with a name that sounds like TIMS or THAMES came in the 1600s. The origin of most if not all seems to be England, Wales or some other part of the United Kingdom. Some were educated and financially able to pay their own transportation, but the majority seem to have come as indentured servants to get passage paid. All come for a better life either because of religious persecution or hard times in the society they were a part of. New land and a chance to make a new life for their families seemed to be a magnet to these people. Some of them were in prison because they could not pay for routine bills they owed and under the laws they were jailed for not paying a bill. Most of these people were honest, hard working, ambitious and very religious people. Many of them were ministers. With the opportunities available in the new country many became professional people. All are ancestors to be proud of. Using as an estimate 20 years per generation, a youngster born today may have as many as 20 generations of ancestors in this country. Language and accent variations because of the many origins of settlers and the lack of education of the earliest of our kin, and the clerks that wrote all the legal records, has caused our name to be spelled numerous ways in the records of the country. Those of us who have searched these records for years fully realize the variations in spelling of the family name. Many people today using one spelling really do not know what their original family name was, only that it sounded something like TIMS. There is today no central library where Thames/Tims information is available for research. What will future generations who want to search for their ancestors do? Is all the work hundreds of us alive today going to be so scattered that it cannot be found? Is it going to be pitched out by descendants who have not learned the importance of ancestors? I have two sons, both over age 50, and neither one shows more than a polite interest in our ancestry. I wonder how many of you feel you must have the same situation. When we pass on whoever disposes of our possessions, if not interested in genealogy, will merely throw out "the junk and old papers" and all our work will be lost. It the opinion of the committee that those of us who care have an obligation to make preparation to correct this problem. At a minimum we should do the following: 1 Form an organization that could accumulate information on our families 2 Publish and circulate that information in a quarterly newsletter. 3 Provide copies to the major research libraries where it will remain available forever. 4 Provide a vehicle for exchange and sharing of information on the family. 5 Assemble in one location copies of as many books, histories and pictures on the family as can be found. 6 Take any other action deemed necessary to perpetuate the records of our ancestors. 7 Any other steps the membership feels appropriate toward these goals. I personally know of over two hundred and fifty people who are actively searching for ancestors whose names sound like TIMS or THAMES. No doubt I know of more than a small percentage. I have over 15,000 in my database using one of the many spellings that may well originate from the same family. If someone does not start somewhere to accumulate and preserve the information that is being collected a wonderful history will be lost forever. Those of us who have been searching courthouses and libraries for years know well what has been lost in wars and fires and unthinking persons who have sent to the landfill an ancestors collection on the family. This led to planning the meeting in Gastonia, NC April 4 & 5, 2003. Please address an email to annetteTadler@carolina.rr.com. or a letter to Mrs. Annette Adler, 1827 Kingston Dr., Gastonia, N.C. 28052 and provide the following information: Name(s): mail address: email address: interested in Thames/Tims organization: plan to attend April 2003 meeting: Motel accommodation needs: Willing to work in getting an organization going: The motel information is needed now even if you cannot make a commitment at this time because an approximate number is needed to negotiate the best motel rates. It is understood that changes in plans may be caused by circumstances between the present time and April 2003.