SC 13G 1 firstbanc_13g-021402welch.htm FIRST BANCSHARES SC 13G 02/14/02 FOR NICK WELCH First Bancshares Schedule 13G
                                  UNITED STATES
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549



                                  SCHEDULE 13G

                    Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
                               (Amendment No. 1)

                             The First Bancshares, Inc.
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                                (Name of Issuer)

                                  Common Stock
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                         (Title of Class of Securities)

                                   318916103
                            ------------------------
                                 (CUSIP Number)

Check the following  box if a fee is being paid with this  statement [ ]. (A fee
is not required only if the filing person:  (1) has a previous statement on file
reporting  beneficial  ownership  of more  than  five  percent  of the  class of
securities  described  in Item 1;  and (2) has  filed  no  amendment  subsequent
thereto reporting  beneficial  ownership of five percent or less of such class.)
(See Rule 13d-7).

*The  remainder  of this cover page shall be filed out for a reporting  person's
intitial  filing on this form wich respect to the subject  class of  securities,
and for any subsequent admendment  containing  information which would alter the
disclosures provided in a prior cover page.

The information required in the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed
to be "filed" for the purpose of Section 18 of the  Securities  Exchange  Act of
1934 ("Act") or otherwise  subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act
but  shall be  subject  to all other  provisions  of the Act  (however,  see the
Notes).





CUSIP No. 318916103 13G Page 2 of 6 pages 1. NAME OF REPORTING PERSON S.S. OR I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NO. OF ABOVE PERSON Nick D. Welch 2. CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP* (a) [ ] (b) [ ] 3. SEC USE ONLY 4. CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION United States of America 5. SOLE VOTING POWER NUMBER 113,510 OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY 6. SHARED VOTING POWER OWNED BY 0 EACH REPORTING 7. SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER PERSON 113,510 WITH 8. SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER 0 9. AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 113,510 10. CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES* [ ] 11. PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW 9 9.8% 12. TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON * IN *SEE INSTRUCTION BEFORE FILLING OUT
CUSIP NO. 318916103 13G Page 3 of 6 pages Amendment No. 1 to Schedule 13G Nick D. Welch Item 1(a) Name of Issuer: The First Bancshares, Inc. Item 1(b) Address of Issuer's Principal Executive Offices: 6480 U.S. Highway 98 West Hattiesburg, MS 39404 Item 2(a) Name of Person Filing: Nick D. Welch Item 2(b) Address of Principal Business Office or if none, Residence: P. O. Box 6302 1301 Spring Hill Road Laurel, MS 39441 Laurel, MS 39411 Item 2(c) Citizenship: United States of America Item 2(d) Title of Class of Securities: Common Stock, no par value per share Item 2(e) Cusip Number: 318916103 Item 3 If this statement is filed pursuant to Rules 13d-a(b) or 13d-2(b), check whether the person filing is a : (a)( ) Broker or Dealer registered under Section 15 of the Act (b)( ) Bank as defined in Section 3(a)(6) of the Act (c)( ) Insurance Company as defined in Section 3(a) (19) of the Act (d)( ) Investment Company registered under Section 8 of the Investment Company Act (e)( ) Investment Adviser registered under Section 203 of the Investmentadvisers Act of 1940 (f)( ) Employee Benefit Plan, Pension Fund which is subject to the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or Endowment Fund; see 240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(F) (g)( ) Parent Holding Company, in accordance with 240.13d-1(b)(ii)(G) (Note: see item 7) (h)( ) Group, in accordance with 240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii) (H)item 4 Ownership:
CUSIP NO. 318916103 13G Page 4 of 6 pages Item 4 Ownership: If the percent of the class owned, as of December 31 of the year covered by the statement, or as of the last day of any month described in Rule 13d-1(b)(2), if applicable, exceeds five percent, provide the following information as of that date and identify those shares which there is a right to acquire: (a) Amount Beneficially owned: 113,510 shares (b) Percent of Class: 9.8% (c) Number of shares as to which such person has: (i) sole power to vote or to direct the vote: 113,510 (ii) shared power to vote or to direct the vote: 0 (iii)sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition of: 113,510 (iv) shared power to dispose or to direct the disposition of: 0 Item 5 Ownership of Five percent or less of a class. Not applicable Item 6 Ownership of More than Five Percent on Behalf of Another Person. Not applicable.
Page 5 of 6 pages Item 7 Identification and Classification of the Subsidiary which Acquired the Security being reported on by the Parent Holding company. Not applicable Item 8 Identification and classification of Members of Group. Not applicable Item 9 Notice of Dissolution of Group. Not applicable CUSIP NO. 318916103 13G Page 6 of 6 pages Item 10 Certification Not applicable After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct. 2/13/02 ------------------------------ Date /s/ Nick D. Welch ------------------------------ Nick D. Welch