USA > Illinois > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson County, Illinois > Part 37
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In 1840, the principal event was the building of the new court house. The old one never was really finished till now. It had long been considered unsafe, but the county court would not undertake a new one. But one bright, still morning in 1839, after " a calm, still night," it was found that the house had partly fallen down. There was a hole in one side big enough for a wagon to drive through. Nobody seemed to know how it had happened, but there was no doubt now; it had to come down. So every - body in town got out with ropes, which they ran in at one window and out at another; everybody pulled and halloed, and soon it was only a pile of rubbish. The town was full of dust and noise and fun. The coun- ty court thereupon, March 7, 1836, made the following order:
"Ordered the Clerk advertise in the West- ern Voice at Shawneetown and the State Register at Vandalia that this court will at
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
the next June term receive sealed proposals for the building of the brick court house on the public square in Mount Vernon. and that Noah Johnston, John W. Greetham, Down- ing Baugh and A. M. Grant, who in connec- tion with the Clerk of this court, shall con- stitute a committee whose duties shall be to superintend the advertising, planning and building of said house, subject at all times to the direction of the court and liable to be removed by said court."
Still the Commissioners, Barton Atchisson, James Sursa and William Bullock, did not fully surrender their authority to " said com- mittee." They all mounted horses and rode to Carmi, examined the court house there, thought it good enough, and in spite of the earnest protest of the committee, determined to take it as a pattern. So that, June 5, 1836, it was " Ordered by the court that the Clerk shall advertise in the Shawneetown newspaper that they will let on the 20th of July the building of a court house in Mount Vernon on the plan of the court house at Carmi, Ill., and of the same size and finish." William Edwards got the contract at $5,500. He was an Englishman, married Sarah Hyde in London, came to Washington, there got ac- quainted with Gov. Casey, bought land of him in Grand Prairie and moved out just in time to get this contract. He was a Method- ist preacher; of his family let us further say, that Francis H., his oldest son, finished his education here, became a physician, mar- ried Miss M. E. Hicks and died recently at Sandoval. Joseph, the youngest son, also a physician, married Miss Higgins and lives at Mendota; and the daughters married Will- iam Kidd, William McLaughlin and William Gibberson. The court house was finished in 1840. But the county was hard run to pay for it. Orders were issued for small sums, but these were not quite satisfactory. In De-
cember, 1840, the Legislature was petitioned for authority to borrow money, and in May, 1841, the Clerk, F. H. Ridgway, was au- thorized to make a loan of $2,200 at the Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown. But not till October 14, 1841, was the final settle- ment made. It then appears that Edwards had drawn in orders $3,061.61; he took notes on different parties to the amount of $474.86, and four bonds due June 8, 1846, for the remainder. This settlement did not settle. In September, 1842, Edwards re- turned the orders and bonds and took five $500 bonds, boaring 12 per cent, due June 8, 1848, 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852. This court house was forty feet square, square roof, cupola supported by pillars and surrounded by railing, court room below, Judge's seat on north side, stairways in southwest and southeast corners, floor, half brick outside bar, bar cut off by railing with gates, four rooms for offices above, front door south, plain doors east and west. Cattle and sheep used the old house all through vacations, but by the efforts of Dr. W. S. VanCleve, the public square was now fenced for the first time, and the bushes and weeds cut. So it looked well.
About the time of the court house excite- ment, the Methodist Church was finished, the old Academy was built and the town was incorporated, but these will come up under the heads of churches, schools and city gov- ernment. It was in the time of this prosper- ity, all in five or six years, that Jonas Eddy, Castles, Baltzell, Phelps, Dr. Short, Schanck, Hinman, Thomas, Clement, Dick Nelson, Haynes, Robert Wingate, Shaffner, Scates, Dr. Caldwell, Dr. Roe, Dr. Gray, Rahm, Stephenson, Palmer, Barrett, Tromley, Alex- ander Barnes, and many others located in Mount Vernon. Then followed nearly ten years with much of the slow and heavy move-
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ment of the olden times. The pulse quickened a little when the Central Railroad Company was chartered, but became irregular again as soon as it was located. Among the acces- sions to our population worthy of note were Dr. Green, Tanner, Mills, Thatcher, Preston, McAtee, Bogan and Condit.
There is not much to add respecting the general history of Mount Vernon. Most of what remains to be told is included in the various sub-headings that follow, or is suffi- ciently set forth in the biographical and other departments of this work. A general outline reaching up to the present may be given in few words. The most conspicuous improvments in 1854 were the Johnson House and the Methodist Episcopal Church. Johu N. Johnson came to town a few years before, with little means, practiced medicine a while, got a small stock of goods, managed with eminent judgement, won everybody's confidence, built up rapidly, and by a very large purchase of hogs in the fall of 1853, made about $5,000. With part of this money he built the hotel that bore his name for several years, but has been most recently known as the Commercial Hotel. He died the next winter, and the business, the church, the lodge, the town, the whole coun- try, felt the loss. In 1857, Strattan and Pavey came out from Ohio, bought the farm of John Johnson, the writer's father, south- east of town, traded it to Thorn for a very large stock of goods, and from that time to the present, Strattan & Pavey, in conjunction with Fergerson, Allen, Taylor, Westbrook, and other associates, have occupied a very large space in our little business world and contributed largely to the growth of the town and the development of the country. Strattan & Fergerson built the store now oc- cupied by J. D. Johnson in 1859, and Strat- tan & Johnson the three-story block south-
east of the public square in 1872, both the Johnsons just named being sons of John N. Johnson above mentioned, and the last named, Alva C., being Strattan's son-in-law. Pavey & Allen built the store now occupied by Hudspeth, Taylor & Company, in 1875, and Strattan his residence in 1873. George H. Varnell was the next important accession to the ranks of business-proving indeed an accession to the town and the entire vicinity. He is brother-in-law to John S. Bogan, who has been so intimately connected with our history for thirty years, and came from Washington City in October, 1861. In the winter of 1862-63, Joseph J. Hollomon came from near Humboldt in Tennessee. He had bought of Mr. Elder, of Gibson County, Tenn., thirteen tracts of land in Franklin, Jefferson and Washington Counties, contain- ing about 1,300 'acres, for something over $13,000. He erected a tobacco warehouse east of town, now inside the city limits, and did a lively business here until it was burnt down in 1864. He and Varnell built the " New York Store," northeast of the public square, in 1863, and the mill now owned and run by Hobbs & Son in the same year. Hol- lomon sold out to Varnell in 1865 and returned to Tennessee. Varnell pushed along. He built the Continental Hotel in 1877 to 1880, and the block north of the Episcopal Church in 1872. Henry W. Seimer came earlier than some of those just mentioned, built up a fortune gradually, and has contributed much to the improvement of the town and the activity of its business. A tailor by trade, he has shown himself fitted for other kinds of business, and has succeeded in all. In March, 1869, the old court house was burnt, and the officers found rooms in the Phoenix Block, and the court a room in the Presbyte- rian Church. At the September term, 1870, the Board of Supervisors ordered an election
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on the question of building a new court house to cost not over $30,000; and in April, 1871, a contract was made with W. E. Gray, of Alton, at $29,315. The Build- ing Committee were G. W. Evans, Q. A. Wilbanks, Samuel Johnson, D. H. Warren, John C. McConnell and Henry Breeze, and the house was to be finished by March 1, 1872. The rest of its story is well known. The new jail was erected in 1872-73. The town received a wonderful impetus from the railroad as long as it was a terminus, over seventy houses being built in as many weeks.
The township was known in land descrip- tions, but had no political existence for many years. In August, 1841, James Sursa, Aaron Yearwood and Armstead W. Bruce were appointed Trustees of school lands in the township, like Trustees being appointed at the same time for all the townships.
The growth of townships as political divis- ions was very gradual. For twenty years at all general elections, everybody voted at Mount Vernon. But it was necessary to have districts for magistrates and constables, and for these officers to be elected within the districts. In a preceding chapter, these different divisions are given from the forma- tion of the county down to the time of town- ship organization.
September 10, 1869, S. F. Grimes pre- sented to the county court a petition for township organization, as stated in the chapter on organization of the county,
and an election was ordered for No- vember. The result was 1,330 for, and 633 against, out of a total vote of 2,182. D. C. Jones, William Kirk and G. L. Cummins were appointed Commissioners to lay off townships. At the March term, 1870, they reported Grand Prairie, Rome, Field, Farrington, Casner, Shiloh, Webber, Blissville, Allen, Bald Hill, Anderson, Spring Garden, Moore's Prairie, each includ- ing an exact township; Mount Vernon, in- cluding Township 2, Range 3, and all of Township 3, Range 3, west of Muddy; and Pendleton, Township 4, Range 3, and all of Township 3, Range 3, east of Muddy. At the next June term, Anderson was changed to Elk Prairie and Allen to McClellan; and at the September term, Dodds was formed of Township 3, Range 3. The first Board of Supervisors were Jacob Breeze, S. V. Bruce, W. S. Bumpus, G. L. Cummins, W. A. Davis, G. W. Evans, E. B. Harvey, Samuel Johnson, W. A. Jones, John C. McConnell, J. R. Moss, M. A. Morrison, J. B. Ward, D. H. Warren, Q. A. Wilbanks, and after Dodds was formed, R. D. Roane.
The Supervisors of Mount Vernon have been, 1870-71, D. H. Warren; 1872-73, 1876 and 1877, J. D. Johnson; 1874, G. H. Varnell; 1875, T. H. Hobbs and J. D. Rob- inson; 1878, John Klein; 1879, John Gib- son; 1880, 1881 and 1882, W. H. Herdman; 1883, T. E. Westcott.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
CHAPTER V .*
MOUNT VERNON-ITS RELIGIOUS HISTORY-THE METHODISTS, THE PIONEERS OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE COUNTY-A LIST OF MINISTERS-THE FIRST CHURCH-PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-
BAPTISTS-CATHOLICS AND OTHER DENOMINATIONS-CHURCHES OF THE
TOWNSHIP-SCHOOLS IN AND OUT OF THE CITY, ETC., ETC.
" God attributes to place
No sanctity, if none be thither brought By men who there frequent."-Milton.
A T the conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church which met in the fall of 1819, David Sharp was sent as Presiding Elder, with five circuits in this State-Illi- nois, Okaw, Cache River, Wabash and Mount Carmel. On the Wabash was Thomas Davis, and he included the church at Old Union in his work. The next year, fall of 1820, two circuits were added to the Illinois District-Sangamaugh and Shoal Creek. Davis went to Cape Girardeau, and Hacha- liah Vreedenburg and Thomas Rice came to Wabash. In the general minutes for 1822. Mount Vernon first appears upon the record: Illinois District, Samuel H. Thomp- son; " Wabash and Mount Vernon, Josiah Pattison and William Smith." These were followed by Smith and Ruddle in 1823; these by William Moore in 1824; he by Orceneth Fisher in 1825 for part of the year, Philip Cole a few months and John T. Johnson for the remainder of the year. In 1826, Thomas Files was sent to the Mount Vernon Circuit, Charles Holiday being Presiding Elder of the Wabash District. For several years we were in the Wabash District, then for several in the Kaskaskia District, before a Mount Vernon District existed.
The following is a very nearly correct and
complete list of the Methodist preachers here from 1825 to the time Mount Vernon Station was formed in 1854; the date given being that in which the conference year began, in autumn: 1826-27, Thomas Files; 1828-29, John Fox; 1830-31, John H. Benson; 1832, Simeon Walker; 1833. James Walker; 1834, Warren L. Jenkins; 1835, -- Collins, one round, or month, and Joshua Barnes for the rest of the year; 1836, William Mitchell; 1837, David Coulson; 1838, James M. Massey; 1839, John Shepherd; 1840, William T. Williams; 1841, James M. Massey; 1942. James H. Dickens; 1843, James I. Richardson; 1844, Allison McCord; 1845, Reuben H. Moffitt; 1846-47, Arthur Bradshaw; 1848, David Blackwell and John Thatcher; 1849, I. C. Kimber; 1850, John Thatcher; 1851, James A. Robinson; 1852, John H. Hill; 1853, Thomas W. Jones; 1854, Norman Allyn.
For many years the Methodists had no house of worship in Mount Vernon. The ministers preached at Old Union, and the people walked out from town. Sometimes services were held in the court house, some- times in private houses. In 1834, I think my father's and Downing Baugh's were the only Methodist families in town; but very soon re-enforced by James Ross. They determined to build. September 8, 1835, James Gray conveyed what is now Lot No. 1 in Block 19 - the Episcopal Church lot-to John John- son, Thomas M. Casey, Joel Pace, David
* By Dr. A. Clark Johnson.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Hobbs, Downing Baugh, Joseph Pace and James Ross, as Trustees, etc. Here they built a small, plain house, with no pretense of a steeple or bell, and with very plain benches to sit on. It had one coat of plas- ter and a small box of a pulpit. But preach- ing was had here monthly, the Sunday school and prayer meeting sometimes, and occasion- ally some other kind of meeting. We had no Sexton, so the house was not very well kept, and the first one to come, on preaching days, generally swept the house and made a fire. One very cold winter morning we found the door standing open-and it may have been open a week, for it was out of town and nobody passed that way -- and the first act in the drama was to drag a dead calf out. It had taken refuge from the storm within the open door, and died there, perhaps several days before. The roof was of boards, and soon warped, so as to let in some rain and a good deal of snow. This made it bad on us, especially in winter. John Van Cleve once came to hold quarterly meeting. It had snowed. Jndge Baugh had a big dog. Mckay was a tall, lank, sickly, weak-minded fellow, dressed in rags; and Bangh's dog had a mortal hatred for McKay. That morning both were at church. As the room got warm, the snow overhcau melted, and chunks of plaster fell. Baugh's dog thought it was Mckay, so he bristled up and growled. Other chunks fell, and the dog got up, looked daggers at Mckay and growled. At the third racket, the dog jumped up, barked furiously and made for Mckay in a way that made him stretch his long legs over the benches with a very unusual show of activity. It almost broke up the meeting, as the peo- ple all smiled very loud.
In 1840, funds were raised to fix up this church, adding ten or twelve feet to the east end, putting a belfry on it, a new roof, etc.
Before it was done, Circuit Court came on, and as the old court house had fallen down, court was held in the still unfinished church-the only room in town big enough. While the court was in session, Abraham Lincoln and John A. McClernand, Presiden- tial Electors, Whig and Democratic, came to address the people. McClernand occupied the noon hour or two intermission, but when Lincoln's turn came, politics were summarily put out, and court began. Scates, the Judge, and Bowman, the Sheriff, were Democrats; perhaps this was why. But Mr. Kirby said he was " for fair play, even in a dog fight;" so he invited Lincoln and everybody to the shade in front of his hotel, got a huge goods box, Lincoln mounted it, and the crowd lis- tened and laughed and swore at him for an- other hour or two. Court over, the house was finished, having, besides the improve- ments named, a much larger pulpit, and here a large variety of meetings were held, besides the regular services.
At length, a desire sprang up for better quarters. The church resolved to build. July IS, 1853, a deed was obtained from Ambrose C. Hankinson, of Peoria, to the Trustees-Downing Bangh, Darius C. War- ren, William J. Stephenson, Lucilius C. Moss, John N. Johnson, Joel F. Watson and Charles T. Pace-conveying Lots No. 65, 66, 71, 72, the present site of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The church was erected in 1854, at a cost of over $4,000. So it re- mained, with minor improvements from time to time, till they put an end to it-in fact, put two ends to it and a new steeple in 1881-82, at a cost of over $4,000 more.
In September, 1854, the Southern Illinois Conference met at Mount Vernon, and at this session the society at Mount Vernon became a station, with eighty-four members and eleven probationers. John H. Hill was Pre-
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
siding Elder of the district, and James Lea- ton was appointed to the station. This man Leaton was an Englishman; a thorough scholar; had been a hard case in youth; had later been Professor in McKendree College, and was the most lucid speaker and the most perfect pronouncer we ever heard. He still preaches up North. The official members were John Johnson, L. E .; Zadok Casey, L. D .; John H. Watson, H. Davisson and Samuel Schanck, Class Leaders; and the Stewards first elected were Zadok Casey, Joel F. Wat- son, John N. Johnson, Charles T. Pace and Downing Baugh. At the first quarterly con- ference, the Sunday school report showed seventy-five scholars, ten teachers. The al- lowance for the Presiding Elder was $41.40; for the preacher in charge, as salary, $272; table expenses, $150; traveling' expenses, $50. In August, 1858, the quarterly con- ference discussed the subject of a return to the circuit, but action was postponed. The question came up again at the fourth quar. terly conference, 1861, and the church here again become a part of Mount Vernon Cir- cuit. So it remained till the annual confer- ence of 1865, when it again became a sepa- rate station, and continues.
The stationed preachers here have been- coming about September each year-1854, James Leaton; 1855, Norman Allyn; 1856. Ephraim Joy; 1857, James Leaton; 1858, Thomas A. Eaton; 1859-60, R. H. Manier; 1861, M. House; 1862, G. W. Hughey, who left early in the spring because the place was, politically, too hot for him, and was succeeded by John Ellis; 1863-64, John H. Hill; 1865, D. Chipman, whose health failed in six months, and Thomas H. Herdman took his place: 1866-67, B. R. Pierce; 1868. John Leepor; 1869-70-71, Joseph Harris; 1872- 73, D. W. Phillips; 1874, N. Hawley; 1875- 76-77, C. E. Cline; 1878-79-80, C. Nash;
1881-82-83, John W. Locke. The Presiding Elders, most of whom removed to Mount Vernon, have been John H. Hill, George W. Robins, James A. Robinson, J. P. Davis, Z. S. Clifford, B. R. Pierce, L. C. English, J. Leeper, B. R. Pierce again, C. E. Cline, C. Nash. The most prosperous period in the history of this church was when C. E. Cline was pastor. The former parsonage, on Lots No. 24 and 21-east half of 21-was trans- ferred to the circuit September 19, 1855, and the site of the present one, Lots No. 64 and 73, Block 11, was bought of Dr. Dixon March 23, 1867. The present parsonage was built in 1877; cost, $1,100. The church now has about four hundred members enrolled. two hundred scholars and nineteen teachers in the Sunday school; pays its pastor $1,000, and expends about $1,000 on other religious and benevolent objects; pays $100 on the Presiding Elder's salary.
The Presbyterian Church .- The growth of the Presbyterian Church in Illinois has been more gradual-perhaps, also, more solid- than that of some others. Up to 1829, the Presbyterians were included in the Missouri and Wabash Presbyteries, each of which lay mostly beyond the State lines. October 28, 1828, the organization of Central Presby- tery was authorized, and it was organized in January, 1829. It was central because it lay between the Missouri and Wabash. In Sep- tember, 1831, the Synod of Illinois was formed, with Presbyteries of Illinois, Sanga- mon, Kaskaskia and Missouri, Kaskaskia Presbytery, to which this part of the country belonged, having been formed in 1830. In 1'38, the division of the Presbyterian Church into Old and New School took place, Mount Vernon Presbyterians, the few that were here, being of the Old School. B. F. Spill- man organized a church here in 1841, with ten members and two Elders. This church
G.D. Jones
LIBRARY H1 THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
was served, more or less regularly, by Mr. Spillman, Alexander Ewing, Blackburn Leffler, and others, Leffler residing for sev- eral years in Mount Vernon. The Kaskaskia Presbytery held its spring session here in 1846; Judge Scates and Jonas Eddy were the principal members. But the church never became strong; and in April, 1852, upon the request of the members, the Pres- bytery-of Kaskaskia-dissolved the church, and the members transferred their member- ship to the Church of Gilead, at Rome. Thus ended the Old School organization at Mount Vernon.
Alton Presbytery. New School, now gave us some attention, and February 21, 1854, Robert Stewart effected an organization. The first list of members included Warner and Eliza White, John S. and Louisa M. Bogan, George and Hannah Mills, John C. and Juliana Gray, Sarah A. Tanner and William D. Johnston. The Elders were Miles, White and Bogan. Other Elders: T. Condit, April 29, 1855, died April, 1861; .James F. Fitch; Samuel Gibson and W. B. White, January 2, 1870; S. B. Kelso, De- cember, 1874; James M. Pollock, July 25, 1876. The pastors have been Samuel R. H. Wylie, a native of Logan County, Ky., who took charge July 13, 1854, and died August 11, 1854, aged forty-three; in 1855, William H. Bird, also a native of Kentucky. and brother-in-law to Wylie, died 1877; 1856, Hillery Patrick, a native of Virginia: 1858, Charles Kenmore, an Irishman, who went South, and died, in 1871; 1858, after K.'s brief stay, Johu Gibson, also an Irishman, who died 1869; 1869-70, R. G. Williams; 1870-73, Gideon C. Clark; 1873-74, Solo- mon Cook; 1874-76, Adam C. Johnson; 1876, for three months, M. M. Cooper; 1876 -78, George B. McComb; 1878, J. J. Graham, employed in June, installed August 16. In
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the interval between 1858 and 1869, the church was without a settled pastor, but the Presbytery's missionary, Joseph Gordon, made many visits, and other ministers came occasionally. In the meantime, the members worked, the Sunday school and prayer meet- ing went on. The church was organized at Dr. Gray's house. The public services were in the basement of the old Odd Fellows Hall. Rev. Eben Muse has been pastor since Decem- ber, 1882.
The Odd Fellows, with their usual gener- osity, gave the church the use of their hall gratis; but the members desired to be inde- pendent, and at once prepared to build. The first design was a one-story house; but Judge Scates and Mr. Condit, especially Scates, wanted it two stories, and promised to see the extra $2,000 raised to have it so. The plan was changed, and they saw the money raised-but saw Mills and Bogan and Dr. Gray raise it. The house was finished, almost, at a cost of $4,000, and August 6, 1856, Zadok Casey conveyed Lots No. 7 and 8, in Casey's Addition, to George Mills, John C. Gray and John S. Bogan, Trustees. To finish paying for the house, the Trustees now got a loan of $500 from the Church Erection Fund, which was not finally settled till 1871. The church now numbers 100 members, pays its pastor $700, and has a Sunday school of 130 members and twelve teachers.
The Baptist Church .- We have already noticed the earlier Baptist Churches. We always had Baptists in Mount Vernon, but no permanent church before the present. " The First Baptist Church of Mount Ver- non" was organized August 6, 1868; Rev. J. W. Brooks, Moderator, Daniel Sturgis, Clerk of the meeting. R. A. Grant, D. Sturgis, G. J. Mayhew and G. W. Morgan were chos- en to carry letter to Salem Association, ask- ing for recognition as a church. September
13
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
21, 1868, J. W. Brooks was elected Pastor, and G. J. Mahew and R. A. Grant, Deacons. After being some time without a pastor, the church called I. S. Mahan, for a quarter of his time; but for some reason he rejected the call, June, 1871. The following July, D. W. Morgan was called, and served as pastor for one year. July 31, 1872, J. F. James was called, and remained till after the first Sabbath in January, 1873. In May, Mr. Wilson, then Principal of our public school, consented to preach for this church while he remained here. W. Sanford Gee was the next regular pastor, from March 4, 1874, to June, 1876. Then MIr. Crawford was eui- ployed for three months, and in October Crawford and Calvin Allen were invited to preach on alternate Sabbaths. In April, 1879, Allen resigned, and Charles Davis was elected. W. W. Hay was employed Febru- ary 1, 1880, and W. B. Vassar in February, 1881. After an interval, the present pastor, Mr. Medkiff, was employed, February, 1883.
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