Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1, Part 61

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1336


USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1 > Part 61


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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Mr. Post's death occurred at his residence, No. 706 Prospect avenue, on Friday, Jan. 13, 1899. He had long been suffering from a complication of disorders, which had so far undermined his health that when attacked by grippe he failed rapidly, passing away after a short illness. His demise was deeply mourned, not only by the many warm friends whom he had attracted to himself by the geniality and gentleness of his disposition and his sincerity of heart, but also by the poor who lost in him a counselor and benefactor, and by Hartford citizens at large, who mourned that a man of such generous public spirit and blameless life had been taken from their midst.


Mr. Post was married Sept. 7, 1857, to Miss Helen Maria Denslow, of Hartford, daughter of William Judd Denslow, a descendant of Nicholas Denslow, of Windsor. Mrs. Post and their four children survive him. Their eldest daughter, Helen Louise, was born April 5, 1860, and on June 5, 1889, married Thomas Brownell Chapman, of Hart-


ford. Alice Maria, born Dec. 27, 1863, is now Mrs. Frederick Everest Haight, of Brooklyn, having been married Oct. 24, 1888. William Strong, born Feb. 25, 1868, is now the president of the William H. Post Co. The youngest daughter, Miss Anne Wilson Post, was born Nov. 15, 1878, and lives at home.


MICHAEL C. NEEDHAM, whose death oc- curred in 1876, in Hartford, was for a period of twenty-five years one of the substantial and useful citizens of that city.


Mr. Needham was born in September, 1832, in Mullinahone, County Tipperary, Ireland, and there received his school training. When a young man he came to the United States, locating at Spring- field, Mass., where as boss carpenter he was em- ployed for three years in building railroad cars. He came to Hartford in 1851, and at once took a lively interest in the welfare and growth of the city, and, possessed of energy and industry, and being a good financier and manager, soon forged his way to the front and became one of the enter- prising and public-spirited business men of that period. He engaged in work as a carpenter, and in 1859 erected a block of buildings on Front street. He became engaged in the wholesale liquor busi- ness on that street. In 1867 he purchased what was known as the Olcott property, on the corner of Main and North Main streets, and elegantly re- built the Main street front, comprising about ninety feet. This property is now known as Needham's corner. After fitting up this block he engaged in the tea business, and also kept a shoe store on the same street. He continued in active business up to the time of his death, and attained a prominent position among the business firms of the city, and from his strictly upright life and honorable deal- ings commanded the respect of all classes. Mr. Needham was fond of good horses, and generally had the finest turnouts of that day in Hartford. He was generous, and gave liberally to every good work of charity, and did his giving without dis- criminating as to religion or creed. He gave $500 to the building of St. Patrick's church, and after the building was destroyed by fire obtained a sub- scription of $14,000 for its rebuilding. He gave liberally toward the building of the cathedral at Hartford; was always a friend to those in need, and to the Catholic Church especially he was very generous. His political affiliations were with the Democratic party, in whose councils he was prom- inent, and by whom he was once offered the nom- ination for mayor, which he declined.


On April 24, 1854, Mr. Needham was married to Ellen Donavan, of Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland, who for twenty-three years after her hus- band's death carried on the business. She died July 30, 1899. In 1897 she had erected the finest monument in St. Patrick's cemetery. Twelve chil- dren were born to this couple, three of whom only


( /Que


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


are now living: (1) William F. is a musician in Colt's Band, of Hartford. He married Ada Schmeltz, and they have had children as follows: William, Nellie, Ada, and George (deceased). (2) John A. is a resident of Hartford. (3) GEORGE A. is also a resident of Hartford, and since the mother's death has looked after and managed the estate. He married Kathryn, daughter of Patrick Murphy, of Hartford, and one son, George A., Jr., was born to them Nov. 24, 1900.


CHARLES H. ROBINS, city auditor of Hart- ford, had an extended business experience prior to his first election in 1894 to the important public office mentioned above. His recognized talents in com- mercial affairs are supplemented by an engaging personality, which has won for him an unusually large number of personal friends. His father was in his day also a prominent and most highly es- teemed citizen of Hartford. Mr. Robbins is a mem- ber of one of the old and leading families of Con- necticut. He is of the eighth generation in lineal descent from Nicholas Robbins, who in 1638 was a resident of Duxbury, Mass., and died there in 1650. In his will, probated Feb. 9, 1651, are men- tioned as his children, John, Mary, Hannah and Rebecca.


(H) John Robbins, son of Nicholas, settled in Bridgewater, Conn., and there in 1667 was born his son Jeduthan.


(III) Jeduthan Robbins, son of John, removed to Plympton, and there died in 1726. His eight children were Jeduthan, John, Persis, Hannah, Elizabeth, Abigail, Mehitabel and Lemuel.


(IV') Lemuel Robbins, son of Jeduthan, was born in 1726. He married Esther Dunham, and for some time resided at Bridgewater. Later he re- moved to Sutton, Mass., where his son Ephraim was born, and afterward to Townsend, now Poult- ney, Vt., with his son William, where he was killed by the falling of a tree in 1786, aged sixty years. His children were : ( 1) Lemuel, who married Rachel Bass, and died in Augusta, N. Y., March 3. 1842; (2) John, who married Olive Knight ; (3) Ephraim, born March 7, 1752; and (4) William.


(V) Ephraim Robins spelled his name with one "b." and all his descendants have adopted that or- thography. He married Abigail Caulkins May 2, 1771, and died in Hartford, Conn., June 30, 1829. His eleven children were as follows: (1) A daugh- ter died in infancy; (2) Diantha, born April 22, 1774. died at Hartford July 25, 1856: (3) Emelia, born Feb. 26, 1776, married Rev. S. S. Nelson, and died at Amherst, Mass., in 1854: (4) Abigail, born Aug. 10, 1778, married Rev. William Collier, and died at Charlestown, Mass., Sept. 19, 1813: (5) Clarissa, born May 26, 1780, died at Hartford, Conn., May 18, 1801 : (6) Sallie, born April 23. 1782, mar- ried Francis Wilby, of Boston, and died July 21, 1832; (7) Ephraim, Jr., born March 9, 1784, mar- ried (first) Rebecca S. Burr, of Hartford, (second)


Eliza H. Burnet, of New Jersey, and (third) Jane Hussey, of Baltimore; (8) Gurdon was the grand- father of our subject: (9) a son died in infancy ; (10) Joseph Skiffe, born Feb. 16, 1791, died at Hartford March 26, 1815; (11) John Newton, born Jan. 6, 1797, married Clarissa Ann Gaw, of Provi- dence, R. I., and died at Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 9, 1823.


(VI) Gurdon Robins, grandfather of our subject, was born at Windsor, Conn., Feb. 6, 1786, and was married Oct. 7. 1809, to Julia Savage, of Middle- town, Conn. For a number of years he was engaged in the ministry at Hartford as pastor of the North Baptist Church. He was also engaged in the book publishing business, publishing among other works "Peter Parley's Tales." He also published the "Christian Secretary," now published at Hartford. To Gurdon and Julia ( Savage) Robins were born children as follows: (1) Julia Ann, born July 11, 1810, died Feb. 6, 1816: (2) Charles Dodd, born at Hartford Nov. 21, 1811; died March 13, 1815; (3) Gurdon, Jr., father of our subject, was born Nov. 7, 1813; (4) Julia Savage, born at Hartford, Jan. II, 1816, married for her first husband Sept. 15, 1835, Justus R. Fortune, of Connecticut, and for her second husband, April 28, 1874, Charles J. Mar- tin, of New York. Gurdon Robins, Sr., died at Hartford Feb. 4, 1864.


(VII) Gurdon Robins, the father of Charles H., was for a number of years engaged in the book publishing business at Hartford. Later he traveled for several large book publishers of New York, and when the Civil war opened he went to the front as quartermaster of the 16th Conn. V. I. He remained in service until captured at Plymouth, N. C. He spent nine months in Libby prison and Anderson- ville, and when exchanged his health was so shat- tered that his life was despaired of. Returning to Hartford he became paymaster for the Woodruff & Beach Iron Works, which position he filled for many years. Mr. Robins first married Miss Harriet Jer- usha Williams, of Norwich, Conn., May 16, 1840, and to them were born two children : George Savage. who died in infancy ; and Robert Williams, who is commandant's clerk in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. On April 25, 1849. Mr. Robins married Miss Mary Jane Redfield, of Essex, Conn, and to them were born children as follows : Mary M., who married W. W. Stillman, superintendent of charities ; Julia A .. who married Frank D. Munger, superintendent of the registry department in the post office ; and Charles H., our subject.


The father, Gurdon Robins, was elected clerk of Hartford April 1, 1872. He served as town clerk a number of years and was councilman from the old Fourth ward. In politics he was a stanch Republi- can. He was always interested in public affairs, but was not a politician. He was unusually popular among his fellow citizens, and was continually in office until no longer able to execute its duties. He was prominent in the fraternal orders, a thirty-


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


second-degree Mason, and an Odd Fellow. His


death occurred May 23, 1883.


Charles H. Robins, our subject, was born July 9, 1859, at Essex, Conn. He was educated in the South school of Hartford and in the Public High School of the city, attending the latter through the first two years of its course. Mr. Robins then en- tered the post office at Hartford, where he remained four years as assistant stamp clerk. Serving a year as assistant postmaster at Meriden, he returned to the Hartford post office departinent, and was for four years relief clerk. In 1885 Mr. Robins re- signed that position to become bookkeeper at Port- land, Conn., in the United States Stamping Works and with the Portland Stamping Works, acquiring in time full charge of the office. In 1888 he re- turned to Hartford to become bookkeeper for the Dwight State Machine Co. While there he was ap- pointed record clerk in the Internal Revenue Office under Collector John I. Hutchinson. He was pro- moted to deputy collector, and spent four years in the office, being outside deputy and having charge of twenty-one towns, including Hartford. In March, 1894, Mr. Robins resigned his office, and the following month he was elected city auditor on the Republican ticket, receiving the largest vote on the ticket. He was re-elected in 1896, and again in 1898, and in 1900 was placed on both tickets, polling at each election the largest vote of all the candidates. These votes were the visible evidences of his wide popularity. Besides his deep interest in public af- fairs Mr. Robins has been closely identified with the fraternity life of Hartford. He is a charter member of Lincoln Lodge, K. of P., and is now past chan- cellor. also president of the endowment rank of that order. He has been since 1883 a member of Hart- ford Lodge, No. 19, B. P. O. E., in 1895 he became a member of the Putnam Phalanx, and is associated with the A. O. U. W., the Order of the Maccabees, and the Hartford Yacht Club.


Mr. Robins married Miss Jennie Williams, daughter of Henry G. Williams, of Portland, Conn., Nov. 5. 1890, and to them was born a daughter, Ethel Williams, on Nov. 3, 1895.


DAVID CRARY, SR., M. D., for many years a leader in the medical fraternity of Hartford, was born April 18, 1806, in Wallingford, Vt., son of Elias and Elizabeth Crary, well-to-do agriculturists of that locality. He was the youngest of a family of seven children, and one of his sisters married Dr. John Fox. of Wallingford.


After the usual district-school course Dr. Crary attended the high school in Potsdam, N. Y., and on graduating began teaching school in Danby, Vt. His medical studies were begun with his brother-in-law, Dr. Fox, who was one of the noted physicians of that section with a large and lucrative practice. In 1834 Dr. Crary graduated from the Medical Col- lege at Castleton, Vt., and afterward practiced in Dorset, that State, for about two years. Longing


for a larger field of usefulness he removed to Hart- ford in 1838, and became associated with Dr. Rem- ington, who then had a very large practice, particu - larly in the treatment of malignant tumors. His as- sociate died soon after, and Dr. Crary succeeded him, acquiring in a short time a large practice, in which he made a specialty of obstetrics. He was in the active practice of his profession for fifty years, until his retirement in 1885, and had assisted at the birth of over 3,000 children.


In 1861 Dr. Crary returned to Wallingford, Vt., where he remained-farming, fishing and hunting- until 1867, when he returned to Hartford and re- sumed his profession. He took much interest in ornithology, and upon his removal to Wallingford disposed of what was probably the largest private collection of birds in the State at that time. It in- cluded several hundred specimens, many rare to this latitude. At the first administration of nitrous oxide to a patient in Hartford Dr. Crary assisted Dr. Sam- uel Beresford and Dr. Horace Welles, the patient being a woman who had a tumor removed. He is also credited with the first operation for tracheotomy in Hartford. Summoned to a child suffocating with membranous croup he opened the trachea with a lancet and held the wound open until assistance ar- rived, the operation resulting in the child's recovery.


In politics Dr. Crary was a Democrat, and he took a keen interest in public affairs. When he rep- resented the First ward in the council he was chair- man of the Fire committee, and he was president of the board of school visitors for nine years in the 'eighties. For many years he was on the medical staff of the hospital, when it was located in the building on the corner of Maple and Retreat avenues, and he was a member of the Hartford County and the State Medical Societies. Dr. Crary was sur- geon for the Hartford Light Guard when it was commanded by Gov. Seymour. For many years he was president of the Hartford Fox Club.


On Jan. 14, 1836, Dr. Crary married Susan Har- ris, of Windham, Vt., who died Nov. 2, 1849. On March 12, 1851, he married a second wife, Martha Tryon, who died Dec. 11, 1893. He died April 16, 1894, and is buried in the old cemetery. By the first marriage he had six children, three of whom died in infancy : David Crary, Jr., is mentioned more fully below ; Frank, born Aug. 12, 1845, settled in Michigan; and Susan, born Nov. 2, 1849, died in 1868, aged eighteen years. By the second mar- riage there were two children: Louis, who died in 1890; and Edwin, born July 28, 1854, now a drug .. gist in Hartford.


DAVID CRARY, JR., one of the leading physicians of Hartford, was born in that city April 26, 1842. After receiving a public-school education he clerked four years in a drug store in Rutland, Vt., and later he began the study of medicine with his father as preceptor. In 1869 he was graduated from the Medical Department of Yale College, and in the same year became associated with his father, the


David Gray"


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


partnership lasting until the latter's retirement in 1885. He has since practiced alone, and at present is the physician at the county jail. He is a member of the American Medical Association; the Yale Alumni Association and the Yale Medical Alumni Association ; and the State, County and City Medical Societies. In 1900 the Doctor took a trip to Europe, visiting the Paris Exposition, Switzerland, Germany, Holland and England.


HON. CHARLES E. MORRIS, a well-known and popuar citizen of Whigville, Burlington, is now serving as a member of the State Legislature. His life record is well worthy of emulation, and contains many valuable lessons of incentive, show- ing the possibilities which are open to young men who wish to improve every opportunity for ad- vancement.


Mr. Morris was born in Torrington, Conn., Aug. 2, 1848, a son of Emory Morris, a native of Con- necticut, and a grandson of Lanson Morris. The father received a district-school education, and throughout life followed the occupaion of a machin- ist. Politically he was a Republican, and religiously was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died in Torrington, Conn., and was buried there. He married Miss Sarah A. Mills, by whom he had three children : Albert A., a resident of Coggon, Iowa; Charles E., our subject ; and Mary A., who died at the age of nineteen years. For her second husband the mother married Darius Peck. She, too, was a faithful member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. She died in Iowa, and her remains were interred therc.


Charles E. Morris received only a district-school education during his boyhood, and at a very early age began the battle of life for himself as a farm hand. When fourteen he commenced working in Torrington for the Union Hardware Co. for eighteen dollars per month, remaining there until nineteen years of age, and then came to Whigville, to the employ of Mr. Peck, Mr. Jones and Smith Brothers, as a wood turner for about twenty-five years. He then turned his attention to farming on the Peck farm in Whigville-a tract of 114 acres-on which he has made extensive improvements, including the erection of a fine barn. Here he is successfully en- gaged in general farming and dairying, keeping the best Jersey stock for the latter purpose. In Bur- lington Mr. Morris was married, in 1869, to Miss Anna E. Barker, who was born there, a daughter of Emory Barker, and is a lady of talent and chiar- acter. To this marriage have been born three chil- dren : Belle, now the wife of Jay Mills, of Central City, Iowa; Clifford, who died at the age of six months ; and Ruth, at home.


Mr. Morris is an enterprising man of progres- sive ideas, and is honored and respected by all who know him. He is a prominent representative of the Republican party and a stanch supporter of its principles. He has most creditably served as grand


juror, is now a selectman and a member of the district school committee, and was also elected to the State Legislature in 1898 by a fair majority, which speaks well for his popularity and the confidence reposed in him by his fellow citizens, as the town is Democratic. He is a prominent member of the Whigville Grange, and with his family holds mem- bership in the Congregational Church.


HUNTINGTON. The Hartford family of this name, of which the late Hon. Samuel H. Hunting- ton was the head, and a distinguished son now is Col. Robert W. Huntington, of the United States. Marine Corps, lately promoted for meritorious sery- ice in the war with Spain, and whose son, Robert W. Huntington, Jr., is secretary and actuary of the Connecticut General Life Insurance Co., of Hart- ford, is one of the oldest and most prominent fam- ilies of Connecticut.


Judge Samuel H. Huntington was in the sev- enth generation from the American ancestor of the family, Simon Huntington, the line of his descent being through Christopher, John, John (2), John (3), and Hon. Hezekiah.


(1) Simon Huntington, the Puritan emigrant, was born in England, probably, Margaret Baret, of Norwich, or its vicinity, in England. He died on a voyage to this country, in 1633. Tradition has ascribed to him a family consisting of wife, Mar- garet, and three sons, Christopher, Simon and Sam- uel, and has placed his leaving England in 1639 or 1640, and made the landing of his family at Say- brook, Connecticut.


(II) Christopher Huntington, son of Simon, the emigrant, probably accompanied his mother to Windsor, Conn., where he must have spent his youth. In 1652 he married there Ruth, daughter of William Rockwell. He probably moved in 1654 to Saybrook, and in the spring of 1660 he joined a colony and aided in founding the town of Nor- wich, Conn., being one of the patentees of the town in 1685. He died in 1691. His children were: Christopher, Ruth, Ruth (2), Christopher (2), Thomas, John, Susannah, Lydia and Ann.


(III) John Huntington, son of Christopher, was born in 1666, in Norwich, Conn., and died in 1696. He married in 1686 Abigail, born in 1667, daugh- ter of Samuel Lathrop, son of Rev. John Lathrop, the first minister of Scituate, Mass. Their children were : Abigail, Jolin, John (2), Hannah and Martha.


(IV) Johin Huntington (2), son of John, was born in 1691, in Norwich, and died in 1737. He married in 1723 Thankful Warner, of Windham, who died in 1739. Early in the settlement of Tol- land he removed to that town. His children were : John, Thankful, Samuel, Andrew, Abigail and De- boralı.


(V) John Huntington (3), son of John ( 2). born in 1726, in Tolland, was accidentally killed in 1774. He married Mchetabel Steele, born in 1733. He was a farmer, and lived in Tolland. His chil-


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


dren were : John, Thankful, Mehetabel, Elisha, Will- iam, Hezekiah, Deborah, Samuel, Abigail, Ruth, Thankful (2) and Maria.


(\']) Hon. Hezekiah Huntington, son of John (3), and father of Judge Samuel H. Huntington, was born Dec. 30, 1759, in Tolland. He studied law with Gideon Granger, of Suffield, and with John Trumbull, afterward judge of the superior court, and was admitted to the Bar at Hartford in 1789. He established himself in the practice of law at Suffield in 1790, and soon attained eminence in his profession. In 1806 he was appointed, by Jefferson, attorney for Connecticut, and he held this office until 1829. While residing in Suffield he represented the town in the General Assembly of the State in several sessions of the Legislature, from May, 1802, to October, 1805. In 1801 he had been appointed one of the commissioners under the bankrupt law of the United States, and held the office about two years. In 1813 he removed to Hart- ford, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in Middletown, Conn., May 27, 1842. Mr. Huntington was marked for his great ability, which made him deservedly popular. While in Suf- field, Oct. 5, 1788, he married Susan Kent, who was born Sept. 20, 1768. Their children were: Henry W., Julia A., Horace A., Samuel H., Hezekiah, Susan L., and Francis J.


(VII) Hon. Samuel Howard Huntington, son of Hon. Hezekiah, was born Dec. 14, 1793, in Suf- field, Conn. He was graduated from Yale in 1818, and after being admitted to the Bar entered upon the practice of law in the city of Hartford, where his father was then a successful lawyer and district at- torney. He married, Oct. 25, 1825, Catherine H., daughter of George Brinley, of Boston. She died July 21, 1832, at the age of twenty-six years and five months. For his second wife he married, October 19, 1835, Sarah Blair, daughter of Rob- ert Watkinson. He always lived in Hartford, where from the very start of his business life he was a successful man and an honored citizen. In 1829 he was clerk of the State Senate. He was for many years warden of Trinity Church. He was judge of the county court, and on the establish- ment of the court of claims, in Washington, D. C., he was elected as one worthy the trust to be reposed in its chief clerk. He died at his residence in Sum- ner street, Hartford, on Feb. 4, 1880, at the ad- vanced age of eighty-six years. "He had been a man of remarkably vigorous health through his long life : an upright man of good habits and warm hospitality, a consistent and earnest Episcopalian through life. At the age of eighty-five he walked erect, and his step was lighter than most men of younger years. Several weeks before his death he wrote an article published in the Times, suggesting that the question of the Asylum street railway crossing might be solved by a track on the west of Asylum Hill, near Woodland street, meeting the roadbed of the Con- necticut Western road. Though his health and


strength had been failing for a year before his death the article showed that his mind was still clear.


The death of Mr. Huntington's second wife oc- curred April 26, 1876. To this marriage were born children as follows :


(I) Catherine B. Huntington was born Jan. I, 1837.


(2) Maria C. Huntington was born Dec 27, · 1838.


(3) Robert W. Huntington, of the United States Marine Corps, was born Dec. 3, 1840, in Hart- ford, Conn. On the breaking out of the Civil war he was a Freshman in Trinity College, but on the call of his country he enlisted in Gen. Hawley's Company, Ist Conn. V. I., and served in the army until September, 1861, when he was appointed a lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He has been in the service continuously from that time to the fall of 1899. On June 21, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of captain. He was senior Marine Corps officer at Samoa, and was on board the "Trenton." After the destruction of the ships in the hurricane there of 1887, he was in command of the marine forces on shore, which forces laid out the encamp- ment, administered discipline, etc. On Oct. 24, 1889, Capt. Huntington was promoted to major, and Feb. 2, 1897, he became lieutenant-colonel. During the late war with Spain Col. Huntington was in charge of a battalion about 650 strong. They sailed on the "Panther," and were encamped in Florida for some time before starting for Cuba. Immediately on reaching Guantanamo Bay, they were landed on Friday, June 10, under cover of a warship, and all day Saturday and until Sunday forenoon the Span- ish forces on land kept up a bushwhacking fight, killing four men and wounding several others. En- trenchments, however, were thrown up, in spite of the opposition of the enemy, their attack lasting a week, and being made chiefly at night. The landing was of great value, and little Camp McCalla, as it was named, became famous in American history. The brave effort of the men was one of the heroic events of the Cuban campaign. One of the results of the landing was to secure for the blockading squadron a safe anchorage and a smoother sheet of water for coaling. It was an important move, and was executed with judgment and skill. For merito- rious service Col. Huntington was recently promoted to the rank of colonel, the next highest in the marine corps. He was retired from active service Jan. 10, 1900.




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