The Nye Family of America Association, Inc. was reorganized in 1959 for the purpose of acquiring, restoring and operating as a museum, the 17th century Benjamin Nye Homestead on Old County Road, East Sandwich, MA, and as a genealogical and research organization for all Nyes. |
Quick Links
Nye newsletters Nye photos Send us email at nyeassoc@comcast.net 85 Old County Road P.O. Box 134 East Sandwich, MA 02537-0092 |
Hours
Tuesday - Saturday
12:00 to 4:30pm from
June 15th to Mid October
Closed Sundays, Mondays,
and holidays.
Call us during the season at
508-888-4213
Off season visitors may call to make an appointment:
508-888-7629
2013 EVENTS
June 15 - Open House 12:00-4:30 Tours of the Museum, refreshments and Free Admission!
Click Nye Reunion for registration form. Annual Meeting-Please join us for the Annual Meeting to hear the President's Report and to approve the Slate of Officers
October 19 - Autumn Gathering 11:00-4:00 Watch hearth-side cooking and sample delicious treats.
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If for any reason you decide you no longer want to receive the newsletter, just click the Safe Unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page. |
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Greetings!
Here in East Sandwich we are thoroughly enjoying the warmth and blossoms of spring. We are pleased to be able to show off our newly cleared and restored landscape this year. Come to
our OPENING DAY OPEN HOUSE on Saturday, June 15th, from noon to 4:30. FREE ADMISSION!
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Care to help us with our new
FISH LADDER AND BRIDGE?
As part of our Landscape Restoration Project, we will be having a fish ladder (a stepped waterway) constructed at the outlet of the newly-cleared pool at the east end of the Homestead & Museum. This will accomplish two goals: it will raise the water level in the pool to prevent vegetation from re-establishing growth, create an attractive pool in the process, and it will enhance the stream's value as wildlife habitat. The bridge and railings will take the place of two planks.
Plan of the fish ladder
The old Nye millstream has quite a history. For sometime after Benjamin Nye built his dam and grist mill in the 1660s, the millpond water had to be lowered each spring to allow the migration of herring up into the pond for spawning and for capture, for use as food and fertilizer. This presented problems for the miller and the herring fishery. In 1769 the Sandwich town meeting voted "that a passage shall be made to allow herrings into the pond that supplies Nye's mill". This early herring run, seen in the photo below, was dug by hand, with stones placed to facilitate the upstream journey of the fish.
The 1769 herring run. The Homestead is to the right, the Grange hall to the left.
The herring run allowed the mill to continue running as the fish
moved upstream. Before entering the salt marsh, the stream
flows into a pool built by the State Fish Hatchery in 1965. The weir for this washed out years ago - our new fish ladder will replace it.
Eels and other fish will be able to come up from the ocean and marsh and inhabit our pool, but the herring migration will not be restored until another fish ladder is built at the Nye Pond outlet, across the street. This lower fish ladder, however, is a necessary step towards that goal.
Site of the new fish ladder, with the pool beyond.
The new fish ladder will cost $13,000 to 15,000 to build - WOULD YOU CARE TO HELP US?
Your contribution can be mailed to "Fish Ladder Appeal, Benjamin Nye Homestead & Museum, P.O. Box 134, East Sandwich, MA 02537, and is tax-deductible.
Please come and visit the Homestead & Museum, and the beautiful grounds, which will include the pool, fish ladder and bridge, which we plan to have built in July.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST AND SUPPORT!
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GENEALOGIST'S CORNER by Julia Hendy.
I hate to disillusion you, but you can no longer legitimately claim Lave Nye of Denmark as an ancestor as was presented in the 1907 edition of A Genealogy of the Nye Family, In the early 2000's , The Nye Family of America supported an extensive review of the Danish and English ancestry as was presented in that early edition. The result of the research by Ian Hilder of England, Dr. George R. Nye, and Jonathan A. Shaw was that no evidence could be found to support even Benjamin Nye's exact birthplace in England. However, it is considered probable that he came to New England on the ship Abigail with Thomas Tupper and his family.
A pamphlet ,Origins of Benjamin Nye: Examining the Sources, as a reprint with the permission of the New England Genealogical Society and authors, Messrs.Hilder, Nye and Shaw, is available from the Nye Family of America at a cost of $3.00 plus shipping and handling. The booklet goes into great detail explaining the research that was done to show errors in information that cannot be supported by evidence. The second portion of the booklet contains a Genealogical Summary of Benjamin Nye, his wife Katherine Tupper and their children.
Any questions?
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 | | Nye Museum Cap $15.00 |
The Nye Online Gift Shop has been updated and improved in recent months, and you can now shop directly online and check out using a PayPal account or credit card.
You can purchase cup plates, postcards and note cards, tote bags, magnets, coasters, books and genealogies, soap, mugs, coverlets, and more.
New in the gift shop this year are Nye caps, beeswax and bayberry candles, Sandwich puzzles, with a bird's-eye view of the Town.
CLICK HERE to shop online or visit the Nye Family website at www.nyefamily.org
and click on the online shopping link.
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MEMBERSHIP - PLEASE JOIN or RENEW!
Your membership is of great importance to us, and here are two good reasons: First, though your dues are helping us operate the various levels and aspects of our 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, think of them as specifically helping us maintain and improve outreach to members who can't easily visit us in person. In addition to this e-newsletter, we publish a paper edition in the fall, maintain a facebook page, and host the website, which is currently being updated.
The second reason is that your participation as a member simply makes us a more vibrant and diverse organization - more meaningful and fun. Though most of our members are descendents of Benjamin Nye and Katherine Tupper, we also welcome non-Nyes who like what we are doing and want us to carry on into the future.
Membership also gives you free admission to the Homestead & Museum, and we wish that all of you could someday make the visit. Please join or renew at whatever level you can afford, and help us carry on our outreach and preserve our historic treasure!
MEMBERSHIPS can be obtained via the Nye Family at www.nyefamily.org and press the MEMBERSHIP button. |
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GIVE THROUGH YOUR IRA AND SAVE ON TAXES
Make a charitable gift from your IRA account this year. For the year 2013, donors aged seventy-and a-half or older can make gifts to the Nye Family of America and other charities directly from their traditional IRAs without including the IRA withdrawal in their tax income. This was passed into law as part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.Gifts may count toward donor's required minimum IRA distribution for the tax year.
This provision is available now through December 31,2013
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