History of Hancock County, Illinois, together with an outline history of the State, and a digest of State laws, Part 1

Author: Gregg, Thomas, b. 1808. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, C.C. Chapman
Number of Pages: 1046


USA > Illinois > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Illinois, together with an outline history of the State, and a digest of State laws > Part 1


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1500


Glass F547


Book


HRG&


2


FIRST PUBLIC BUILDING IN HANCOCK COUNTY COURT HOUSE


HISTORY


645 33/4


OF


HANCOCK COUNTY,


ILLINOIS,


TOGETHER WITH


AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE,


AND A


DIGEST OF STATE LAWS.


Illustrated.


BY TH. GREGG.


CHICAGO: CHAS. C. CHAPMAN & CO. 1880.


F547 . Hz G8


2.325.28 10


16-1389 rev2


BLAKELY, BROWN & MARSH, PRINTERS, 155 & 157 DEARBORN ST., CHICAGO.


BOUND BY DONOHUE & HENNEBERRY, 105 & 109 MADISON STREET., CHICAGO.


EDITOR'S PREFACE.


JOHN BUNYAN, in his " Apology" for writing a Book, says :


For having now my method by the end, Still as I pull'd it came; and so I penn'd It down, until at last it came to be, For length and breadth, the bigness which you see.


And then, when it was written, and on submitting the question of its publication to friends :


Some said, John, print it; others said, Not so. Some said, it might do good; others said, No.


And after hearing their counsel :


At last I thought, since you are thus divided, I print it will, and so the case decided.


The undersigned has about the same apology for writing this book, which he styles a History of Hancock County. There is this difference, however, that instead of "having his method by the end," he found it to have neither end nor middle; and that though the work "came to the bigness that you see," he could have found enough material to have made a book of twice its size. From the beginning it has been a work from which he has expected more pleasure than profit; and if he has succeeded in making it credita- ble as a contribution to the great volume of Illinois history, he is amply satisfied.


And now at the close, no one can see and regret its imperfections more than himself. He can see errors of omission and commis- sion, and realize that many important things have been left unnoticed, while less important ones have found place. Yet he urges that, to a certain extent, this is unavoidable in a work compiled from so many diverse materials. If one cannot describe with exactness what has happened under his own observation, he cannot be ex- pected to state with absolute certainty events which transpired through a period of half a century, facts obtained through a thou- sand sources. He leaves the work in the hands of an appreciating


EDITOR'S PREFACE.


and generous public,-not hoping by the mention of these things, to avert or disarm criticism.


It would be wrong to close without acknowledging his indebted- ness to his publishers, whose timely and efficient aid has contributed so greatly to its value and success. He has also been placed under obligations by numerous friends all over the county, who have cheered him and aided him in various ways. He has been espe- cially aided by the gentlemen of the Hancock press-all of them,- and by the kind and courteous county officials and assistants; and he hereby extends to them and to all others his grateful thanks.


TH. GREGG.


CONTENTS.


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


MOUND-BUILDERS


17 21


ILLINOIS TERRITORY.


59 MORMON WAR. 104


MEXICAN WAR. 118


Battle of Buena Vista. 119


Starved Rock


23


Massacre of Fort Dear- born


60


UNION .. 125


States Seceding. 126


EARLY DISCOVERIES ..


Nicholas Perrot ..


31


Joliet and Marquette ... LaSalle's Explorations


31


77


33 State Bank ..


78


Great Battle of the Illi- nois.


31 41


Tonti Safe at Green Bay LaSalle'sAssassination


43


INDIAN TROUBLES 83


FRENCH OCCUPATION. First Settlements ...


44


Winnebago War. 83


44


The Mississi pi Com- pany.


45 47


ENGLISH RULE ..


Gen. Clarke's Exploits


51


ILLINOIS .. County of Illinois


55


55 FROM 1834 TO 1842.


95


Internal Improvements


95


CHICAGO ..


170


The Great Fire ..


172


Ordinance of 1787. 56


Illinoi- and Michigan Canal.


97


St. Clair Governor of


Martyr for Liberty.


98


Commerce of Chicago. 173 STATES OF THE UNION 177


HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.


CHAPTER I.


PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC 191


Geology .. 192


Building Stone 199


Potters' Clay. 200


Coal ...


200


Hancock Mounds


200


Natural Productions. 202


CHAPTER II.


PIONEERS


AND PIO-


NEER LIFE .... 204


CHAPTER III.


THE ADVANCE GUARD 210


CHAPTER IV.


THE FIRST OFFICIALS 215


First Grand Jurors ...... 219


First Petit Jurors .. . 223


CHAPTER V.


ORGANIZATION AND


FIRST PROCEED-


INGS .. 229


Court Seals 234


Delinquent Tax List ... 235


Connty-Seat Question. 235


A Relic of Slavery . . . . 238


The Circuit Court .... 239 The Probate Court .... 241


CHAPTER VI.


THE MORMON PERIOD 242 Introductory Remarks. 242 Origin of Mormonism .. 247 TheTestimony of Three Witnesses .. 249


An Inquiry : The Book of Mormon ... 250 What the Neighbors Say .. . 254


Mrs. (Spaulding) Davi- son's Story. 259 Extracts and Opinions 265 The Gold Plates 270


Dr. John C. Bennett ... 273


'I he Call to Zion ... 276


Theft Denounced .. . ..


278


Quarrels among the


Chiefs. 283 Further Requisitions .. 288 Further Attempts at Prosecution. 290 Excitement at Nauvoo 295 The " Expositor" Ex- posed .. 296 "Nauvoo Neighbor" . 303


Smith's Proclamation. 318 The Atonement ... 319


How it was done-The Killing of the Smiths 324


Before Indictment and Trial .. 326 Trials and Acquittals .. 328 Struggle for the Succes- sion 331


Strang's


Four


Wit-


nesses.


332


More


Violence


and


Bloodshed. 336 Murder of Col. Daven- port. 338


The Beginning of the End. 342


The Exodus Begun. 344


War Impending .. 347 The Battle and Result. 349 Nanvoo Charter and Ordinances ... 354 The Kinderhook Plates 360 " Sons of Dan." 361


William W. Phelps. 361 The Titles of the Twelve 362 The Prophet as a Lin- guist 362


John D. Lee. 364


The " Revelations.". 364 Polygamy. 365 Temperance Clause .... 366 A TolerationOrdinance 366


The Mansion House ... 367


Egyptian IHieroglyph- ice .. . 367


The Temple.


367


The Nauvoo House ..


James C. Brewster .....


368


A Story from


Sten-


house ...


371


Col. Thomas Geddes'


Statement.


372


Mrs. Eliza R. Wells ...


372


The Carthage Greys ...


372


Parley P. Pratt as a


Prophet ...


373


The Baptismal Font ... 373


Incidents of the Burn-


ing.


374


Mormon Methods


374


Gov. Ford's Inaccura-


cies ..


375


The Prophet a Land Speculator. 375 The Re-organized Church. 376


Conclusion.


377


CHAPTER VII.


FORTS JOHNSON AND


EDWARDS ..


...


..


379


CHAPTER VIII.


BIOGRAPHICAL- Black


Hawk .. .


...


382


CHAPTER IX.


HANCOCK NEWSPA-


PERS.


386


CHAPTER X.


WEATHER


PHIE NOM-


Beasts in the Land of


Promise ..


361


ENA.


399


Deep Snow.


399


Storm of 1836. 400


Tornado, June, 1838 .. 400


High Waters ..


401


The Basco Tornado.


401


July 4, 1873.


408


Winter of 1836-'7.


409


CHAPTER XI.


THE JUDICIARY.


410


CHIAPTER XII.


368 | TIIE HANCOCK BAR .... 413


INDIANS ..


Illinois Confe leracy ...


23


THE WAR FOR THE


Sacs and Foxes.


24


27


Expeditions up the Mis- sissippi. 71


ILLINOIS AS A STATE .. 74


The Fall of Sumter. 127 74 Call for Troops Prompt- ly Answered .. Organization .. 128 Derivation of the name " Illinois"


The War Ended-The


Union Restored .... 137


LaFayette's Visit. 79


Grammar and Cook Contrasted. 82


DRESS AND MANNERS. 149 PIIYSICAL FEATURES OF ILLINOIS. 154


AGRICULTURE. 155


BLACK HAWK WAR. 84 87


Stillman's Run ..


Battle of Bad Ax. 90


Black Hawk Captured.


91


GOVERNORS OF ILLI- NOIS .. 157


Biographical Sketch of _ Black Hawk. 92


Lieutenant Governors. 160 State Officials. . 161 U. S. Senators. 162 Representatives in Con- 165 gress 165


NORTHWESTERN TER- RITORY .. 55


N. W. Territory.


59 | PRAIRIE PIRATES. 102


Schedule of Regiments 138 DUELS .. 141


Manners and Customs. Single-handed Combat with Indians ... 29 31


WAR OF 1812-THE OUT- BREAK .. 59


CONTENTS.


CHAPTER XIII.


ANECDOTAL.


420


CHAPTER XIV.


U. G. R. R ..


....


...


430


CHAPTER XV.


RELIGIOUS PROGRESS 433


CHAPTER XVI.


EDUCATIONAL.


435


CHAPTER XVII.


THE POOR.


444


CHAPTER XVIII.


ELECTION RETURNS .. 447


CHAPTER XIX.


PIONEERS' ASSOCIA-


TION.


463


CHAPTER XX.


MISCELLANEOUS STA-


TISTICS. 468


CHAPTER XXI.


TOWNSHIP ORGANIZA- TION 471


First Court House - Fron- tispiece ...


Map of Haucock County .. 14-15


Starved Rock 25


An Iroquois Chief 37


Old Fort Dearborn. 61


OId Kinzie House 65


Pontiac ...


69


Black Hawk.


85


CHAPTER XXII.


OLD LANDMARKS.


473


CHAPTER XXIII.


HANCOCK IN THE RE- BELLION .. 476 Ruth; A Poem of the Rebellion. 492


CHAPTER XXIV.


MISCELLANEOUS.


500


La Moine River. 500


Amzi Doolittle .. 500


Some Pontoosuc Pio-


neers


500


Spelling Schools. 501


The Lost Child. 502


Jumping Claims. 504


Pioneer Life ..


501


The Windmill. 505


The First Two - Story Frame. 506


The First Murder. 506


Sons of Temperance ..


507


Mormon Trail


507


The Deserters


507


LUSUS NATURÆ 508


Gangrene and Quinine 508


A Miscalculation ..


508


Spillman's Fort ..


...


509


CHAPTER XXV.


TOWNSHIP HISTORIES: Appanoose. 949


Augusta. 510 Bear Creek. 608 Carthage. 687 -


Chili.


530


Dallas.


929, 937


Durham


918, 975


Fountain Green 819, 973


673


Ilarmony .


La Ilarpe. 892


Montebello 790


Nauvoo. 955


Pilot Grove 841


Pontoosuc 929, 931


Prairie. 771


Rock Creek 861


Rocky Run 572


Sonora .. 881


St. Alban's 548


St. Mary's. 578,974


Walker ..


. 565, 970


Warsaw.


.637,653


Wilcox.


637, 613


Wythe. 625 ..


CHAPTER XXVI.


THE CRIMINAL REC-


ORD.


. .


977


CHAPTER XXVII.


CENSUS OF 1880.


984 | HANCOCK RAILWAYS 988


ILLUSTRATIONS.


C., R .- I. & P. R. R. Depot. 99


Eye and Ear Infirmary .... 111


Deaf and Dumb Institute .. 115


Scene on Fox River. 121


Lincoln Monument 137


Asylum for Feeble Minded 143


Southern Normal Univer- sity


151


Mississippi Bridge 983


PORTRAITS.


Brant, Hezekiah. 873


Hoffman, E. S. 477


-- Bride, Samuel.


333


Hurdle, John N.


893


Randolph, James M. 723


Browning, G. M.


603


Ilowd, Joel.


833


Rhea, James. 818


Brumback, T. B .. 297


Carey, M. S.


733


Johnson, James T.


657


Smith, Joseph 243


Corey, V. B


549


Manier, W. H


703


Stark, James. 225


Clark, Gen. George R 49


Manifold, J. E


423


St. Clair, Gen. Arthur 101


Tressler, D. L .. 441


567 Turney, S. T 763


351


Ferris, S. G.


207


Mead, S B. .


513


Walker, H. M ..


783


Gill, Charles F. 883


405


Pattersor, Wm A 693


Walton, Wesley 585


Gittings, James


Hamilton, A ...


713


Pitt, John .. 823


Wilcox, L. L ...


803


Williams, W. C.


773


DIGEST OF STATE LAWS.


Laws. .


989 | Trust Deeds.


1008


Infants


1026


Jurisdiction of Courts.


989


Liens. .


1008


Adoption of Children 1027 Church Organization. 1027


ways ..


990


Receipts Limitation of Action.


1011


Miller's 1030


Fences ..


992


Drainage ..


994


Exemptions from Forced Sales. 1012


Landlords and Tenants ... 1013


Criminal Law. 1016


Marks and Brands


997 Subscription .. 1019


Contract for Personal Ser- vices. 1020


Legal Weights and Meas- ures 1034


Interest.


999 Newspaper Libel. 1021


Bees. 1037


Wills. 1001 Tender .. 1021 Dogs 1037


Descent. 1005 Drunkenness 1023


Cruelty to Animals. 1038


Names.


1038


Mortagages & Trust Deeds 1007


School Months 1026


1012


Paupers.


1030


Public and Private Con-


Trespass of Stock.


994


Estrays.


995 996 997


Taxes. 1018


Definition of Commercial Terms ... 1034


Articles of Agreement. Notes. 998


Judgment Note.


999


Deeds .. 1006


Marriage Contract. 1024


¡ Industrial University ..


167


The Crib .. 176


Court- House 190


Mormon Temple. 261


Old Jail ... 279


Kinderhook Plates 360


Carthage College 437


Central Insane Hospital ... 167


.Quinby, Jesse B. 743


Duffy, A. 675


Duvall, B. F 853


Ewell, J. S 863


MeGinnis, D. 621


Walker, George.


Mendenhall, B. 935


Walton, Fred. 793


Gillham, John.


369 Peyton, John. 753


Weakley, Peter E 495


Hammond, A. C. 639


Place, Jas. F. 843


Harter, Joseph. 531


James, A. J .. :


459


Sharp, Thomas C. 387


Maynard, L. C


315


County Conrts ...


990 Bill of Sale. 1010


Commissioner of High-


Days of Grace .. 1011 Game. 1028


veyances .. 1032 Wagers and Stakeholders. 1083 Sunday 1034


Horses.


McGaw, S. P.


Hancock .. 593


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18


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


FORMER OCCUPANTS.


MOUND-BUILDERS.


The numerous and well-authenticated accounts of antiquities found in various parts of our country, clearly demonstrate that a people civilized, and even highly cultivated, occupied the broad surface of our continent before its possession by the present In- dians; but the date of their rule of the Western World is so re- mote that all traces of their history, their progress and decay, lie buried in deepest obscurity. Nature, at the time the first Euro- peans came, had asserted her original dominion over the earth; the forests were all in their full luxuriance, the growth of many cen- turies; and naught existed to point out who and what they were who formerly lived, and loved, and labored, and died, on the conti- nent of America. This pre-historic race is known as the Mound- Builders, from the numerous large mounds of earth-works left by them. The remains of the works of this people form the most in- teresting class of antiquities discovered in the United States. Their character can be but partially gleaned from the internal evidences and the peculiarities of the only remains left,-the mounds. They consist of remains of what were apparently villages, altars, temples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, camps, fortifications, pleasure grounds, etc., etc. Their habitations must have been tents, struc- tures of wood, or other perisliable material; otherwise their remains would be numerous. If the Mound-Builders were not the ancestors of the Indians, who were they? The oblivion which has closed over them is so complete that only conjecture can be given in answer to the question. Those who do not believe in the common parentage of mankind contend that they were an indigenous race of the West- ern hemisphere; others, with more plausibility, think they came from the East, and imagine they can see coincidences in the religion of the Hindoos and Southern Tartars and the supposed theology of


18


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


the Mound-Builders. They were, no doubt, idolators, and it has been conjectured that the sun was the object of their adoration. The mounds were generally built in a situation affording a view of the rising sun: when enclosed in walls their gateways were toward the east; the caves in which their dead were occasionally buried always opened in the same direction; whenever a monnd was partially en- closed by a semi-circular pavement, it was on the east side; when bodies were buried in graves, as was frequently the case, they were laid in a direction east and west; and, finally, medals have been found representing the sun and his rays of light.


At what period they came to this country, is likewise a matter of speculation. From the comparatively rude state of the arts among them, it has been inferred that the time was very remote. Their axes were of stone. Their raiment, judging from fragments which have been discovered, consisted of the bark of trees, interwoven with feathers; and their military works were such as a people would erect who had just passed to the pastoral state of society from that dependent alone upon hunting and fishing.


The mounds and other ancient earth-works constructed by this people are far more abundant than generally supposed, from the fact that while some are quite large, the greater part of them are small and inconspicuous. Along nearly all our water courses that are large enough to be navigated with a canoe, the mounds are almost invariably found, covering the base points and headlands of the bluffs which border the narrower valleys; so that when one finds him- self in such positions as to command the grandest views for river scenery, he may almost always discover that he is ,standing upon, or in close proximity to, some one or more of these traces of the labors of an ancient people.


GALENA MOUNDS.


On the top of the high bluffs that skirt the west bank of the Mis- sissippi, about two and a half miles from Galena, are a number of these silent monuments of a pre-historic age. The spot is one of surpassing beauty. From that point may be obtained a view of a portion of three States,-Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. A hundred feet below, at the foot of the perpendicular cliffs, the trains of the Illinois Central Railroad thunder around the curve, the portage is in full view, and the " Father of Waters," with its numerous bayous


19


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


and islands, sketches a grand pamorama for miles above and below. Here, probably thousands of years ago, a race of men now extinet, and unknown even in the traditions of the Indians who inhabited that section for centuries before the discovery of America by Colum - bus, built these strangely wonderful and enigmatical mounds. At this point these mounds are circular and conical in form. The larg- est one is at least forty feet in diameter at the base, and not less than fifteen feet high, even yet, after it has been beaten by the storms of many centuries. On its top stands the large stump of an oak tree that was cut down about fifty years ago, and its annual rings indicate a growth of at least 200 years.


One of the most singular earth-works in the State was found on the top of a ridge near the east bank of the Sinsinawa creek in the lead region. It resembled some huge animal, the head, ears, nose, legs and tail, and general outline of which being as perfeet as if made by men versed in modern art. The ridge on which it was situated stands on the prairie, 300 yards wide, 100 feet in height, and rounded on the top by a deep deposit of clay. Centrally, along the line of its summit, and thrown up in the form of an embankment three feet high, extended the outline of a quadruped measuring 250 feet from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, and having a width of 18 feet at the center of the body. The head was 35 feet in length, the ears 10 feet, legs 60 and tail 75. The curvature in both the fore and hind legs was natural to an animal lying on its side. The general outline of the figure most nearly resembled the extinct animal known to geologists as the Megathe- rium. The question naturally arises, By whom and for what pur- pose was this earth figure raised? Some have conjectured that numbers of this now extinct animal lived and roamed over the prai- ries of Illinois when the Mound-Builders first made their appearance on the upper part of the Mississippi Valley, and that their wonder and admiration, exeited by the colossal dimensions of these huge creatures, found some expression in the erection of this figure. The bones of some similar gigantic animals were exhumed on this stream about three miles from the same place.


LARGE CITIES.


Mr. Breckenridge, who examined the antiquities of the Western country in 1817; speaking of the mounds in the American Bottom, says: "The great number and extremely large size of some of


20


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


them may be regarded as furnishing, with other circumstances, evidences of their antiquity. I have sometimes been induced to think that at the period when they were constructed there was a population here as numerous as that which once animated the borders of the Nile or Euphrates, or of Mexico. The most num- erous, as well as considerable, of these remains are found in pre- cisely those parts of the country where the traces of a numerous population might be looked for, namely, from the month of the Ohio on the east side of the Mississippi, to the Illinois river, and on the west from the St. Francis to the Missouri. I am perfectly satisfied that cities similar to those of ancient Mexico, of several hundred thousand souls, have existed in this country."


It must be admitted that whatever the nses of these mounds- whether as dwellings or burial places-these silent monuments were built, and the race who built them vanished from the face of the earth, ages before the Indians occupied the land, but their date most probably forever baffle human skill and ingennity.


It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the places of sepulture raised by the Mound-Builders from the more modern graves of the Indians. The tombs of the former were in general larger than those of the latter, and were used as receptacles for a greater number of bodies, and contained relics of art, evincing a higher degree of civ- ilization than that attained by the Indians. The ancient earth- works of the Monnd-Builders have occasionally been appropriated as burial places by the Indians, but the skeletons of the latter may be distinguished from the osteological remains of the former by their greater stature.


What finally became of the Mound-Builders is another query which has been extensively discussed. The fact that their works extend into Mexico and Peru has induced the belief that it was their posterity that dwelt in these countries when they were first visited by the Spaniards. The Mexican and Peruvian works, with the exception of their greater magnitude, are similar. Relics com- mon to all of them have been occasionally found, and it is believed that the religious uses which they subserved were the same. If, indeed, the Mexicans and Peruvians were the progeny of the more ancient Mound-Builders, Spanish rapacity for gold was the canse of their overthrow and final extermination.


A thousand other queries naturally arise respecting these nations


,


21


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


which now repose under the ground, but the most searching investi- gation can give us only vague speculations for answers. No histo- rian has preserved the names of their mighty chieftains, or given an account of their exploits, and even tradition is silent respecting them.


INDIANS.


Following the Mound-Builders as inhabitants of North America, were, as it is supposed, the people who reared the magnificent cities the ruins of which are found in Central America. This peo- ple was far more civilized and advanced in the arts than were the Mound-Builders. The cities built by them, judging from the ruins of broken columns, fallen arches and crumbling walls of temples, palaces and pyramids, which in some places for miles bestrew the ground, must have been of great extent, magnificent and very pop- ulous. When we consider the vast period of time necessary to erect such colossal structures, and, again, the time required to reduce them to their present ruined state, we can conceive something of their antiquity. These cities must have been old when many of the ancient cities of the Orient were being built.


The third race inhabiting North America, distinct from the former two in every particular, is the present Indians. They were, when visited by the early discoverers, without cultivation, refinement or literature, and far behind the Mound-Builders in the knowledge of the arts. The question of their origin has long interested archæologists, and is the most difficult they have been called upon to answer. Of their predecessors the Indian tribes knew nothing; they even had no traditions respecting them. It is quite certain that they were the successors of a race which had entirely passed away ages before the discovery of the New World. One hypothesis is that the American Indians are an original race indigenous to the Western hemisphere. Those who entertain this view think their peculiarities of physical structure preclude the possibility of a common parentage with the rest of mankind, Prominent among those distinctive traits is the hair, which in the red man is round, in the white man oval, and in the black man flat.


A more common supposition, however, is that they are a derivative race, and sprang from one or more of the ancient peoples of Asia. In the absence of all authentic history, and when even tradition is


.


.


22


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


wanting, any attempt to point out the particular location of their origin must prove unsatisfactory. Though the exact place of origin may never be known, yet the striking coincidence of physical organization between the Oriental type of mankind and the Indians point unmistakably to some part of Asia as the place whence they emigrated, which was originally peopled to a great extent by the children of Shem. In this connection it has been claimed that the meeting of the Europeans, Indians and Africans on the continent of America, is the fulfillment of a prophecy as recorded in Gen- esis ix. 27: "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." Assuming the theory to be true that the Indian tribes are of Shemitic origin, they were met on this continent in the fifteenth century by the Japhetic race, after the two stocks had passed around the globe by directly different routes. A few years afterward the Hamitic branch of the human family were brought from the coast of Africa. During the occupancy of the continent by the three distinct races, the children of Japheth have grown and prospered, while the called and not voluntary sons of Ham have endured a servitude in the wider stretching valleys of the tents of Shem.




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