USA > Illinois > Mercer County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 2
USA > Illinois > Henderson County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 2
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165 49 227
McQuown, John R.
1384
McWhorter, Tyler.
618
Newspapers of Henderson county Newspapers of Keithsburg. 137
Nichols, Peter 1059
Mercer County Agricultural Board.
Noble, Mrs. Harriet.
660 865
14
INDEX.
Pardee, David . 176
Prouty, William M .. 102
Park, Cephas.
995
Preemption Township. 704
Park, Russell .
684 Presbyterian Church, Suez. . 632
Parkerson, Robert C. 478
Public Improvement, Biggsville. . 1329
Parks, John.
475
Public Improvements, Keithsburg 166
Patterson, J. B.
962
Putney, Ira, Jr 1042
Patterson, James.
997
Quaintance, James S. 739
Patterson, Moses.
471
Railroads. 62
Patterson, William T.
453
Railroads
904
Paul, John. 1214
616
Paul, M. A.
1306
Randall, Roswell P. 103S
Paul, Melzay C.
1290
Randall, Stephen.
113
Pearson, John E. 1390
Range, William L 198
Pease, A. 649
Rankin David. 1178
Pease, John A
649
Rankin, James F. 1179
Pease, Joseph
649
Rankin, Samuel S.
1180
Pease, Martin 648
1281
Ransom, Asa W.
637
Peasley, John S. 1035
Rathbun, Dr. John B
781
Peasley, Moses.
1280
Refinery, Gladstone.
1246
Pence, John A. 1011
Regan, Hugh ..
1397
Pence, Robert 1209
1288
Religion in Keithsburg.
148
Pendarvis, Lemuel A.
1189
Religious, Lomax. 1203
Religious Meetings, Eliza Tp 284
Religious, Ohio Grove Township. 442
Pepper, Hon. John C.
607
Remarkable Family 1278
1252
Pepper, William ..
456
Republican Party in Mercer County
60
Perryton Township
29S
Retherford, William
509
Peterman, Jacob C.
1010
Retzer, Jacob ..
1302
Peterson, Peter. .
470
Revolutionary Heroes
1410
Petrie, Cornelius L ..
773
Reynolds, Gov.
25
Petrie, Hon. Alexander P
767
Reynolds, Hugh A ..
1088
Pfanstiehl, A. A.
1114
Phelps, Nelson H ..
1156
Reynolds, J. Warren .. 778
Phelps, Stephen Sumner 966
Reynolds, William D. 188
Rezner, Eli. 1388
Pickup, G. W. 266
Rice, John H. 1157
Pinkerton, Albert M. 678
695
Richey, Cornelius Springer
828
Pinkerton, John C.
687
Richey, R. W.
994
Pinkerton, Joseph.
686
Richey, T. G.
1185
Pinkerton, Wallace W.
693
Richland Grove Township.
732
Pinkerton, William M.
683
Riddell, S. HI
255
Pioneer Log Cabin .. 41
Riggs, H. M.
238
Riggs, William H.
229
Pioneers of Bedford
1102
Rivoli Township.
742
Plat of Oquawka .
936
Roads, Eliza Township.
281
Plummer, Samuel G.
1365
Robb, Thomas S. .
455
Pogue, Eleazer
1000
Roberts, Henry H.
100
Pogue, Jolm. .
1174
Robinson, George L. F.
686
Pogue, William G.
Robinson, William
1306
Political Parties.
886
Roderick, M. L.
1302
Pollock, James
1043
Rodman, Robert 1050
Pollock, Samuel
518
Rodman, William H. 1050
Poor Farm.
911
Rogers, W. A 1307
Rose, Hiram 981
Postlewait, Matthew S ..
779
Rosenberry, Dr. James S. 742
Rosenbum, Andrew J. 777
Rowley, John 1153
Powley, James P
116
Rubert, John. 261
Pratt, John.
97
Ruberts, R. W. 1297
Pratt, John.
297
Ruple, Samuel H. 987
Prentiss, S. V
92 Russell, 1 1153
1223
Pence, Thomas F.
Pendarvis, William G.
1188
Penny, W. H.
1122
Pepper, John C
834
Renwick, Andrew .
Reynolds, Hugh R .. 1386
Physicians, Walnut Grove 1164
Rice, William C. . ,999
Pinkerton, George W.
Pioneer Settlements of Millersburg 207
Porter, Alexander L.
1253
Potter's Clay in Greene Township 654
Poull, Jacob .. 1408
1176
Rankin, Thomas. 1180
Peasley, James F
Relics, Southı Henderson
Ramsey, James H.
15
INDEX.
Russell, Samuel E .. 689
Simonson, Garret. 1126
Rural Places in Eliza Township. . 282
Simpson, Jonathan . 965
Ryason, James. 1271
Simpson, William H. 640
Sage, Gideon. 1275
Sixteenth Illinois Infantry 1017
Salter, John .. 1369
Sloan, Adam. 1385
Salter, Paul D. 1372
Sapp, George B. 203
Sloan, Henderson. 1266
Schenck, Cornelius 1116
1115
Slocumb, Charles G. 203
Schenek, William J
1116
Smith, Alfred H. 337
Schirmer, Herman
1002
Smith, Alexander M. 1010
991
Schmitt, John 1085
Smith, D. C. C.
467
Schools of Biggsville. 1338
284
Smith, George.
727
Schools of Greene Township. 667
Smith, Hugh,
194
Schools of Keithsburg.
144
Smith, John B.
693
Schools of Millersburg. 228
Smith, Lucius E.
698
Schools of New Boston
S5
Smith, Nathan P. 784
Schools of Olena Township
1031
Smith, Samuel H. 1087
Schools of Oquawka .. 959
Schools of Preemption Township. 713
Smith, Thomas C.
1002
Schools of Rivoli Township 749
Smith, Warren L.
697
Schools, Walnut Grove.
1163
Smith, -William E.
1157
Schrader, August.
293
Smith, William H. H 477
Scott, Notley
817
Societies of Aledo. 581
Scott, Samuel ..
197
Societies of Keithsburg. 155
Scudder, Lyman H.
114
Soldiers of Eliza Township. 282
Seastone, John
110
Soldiers' Monument
837
Seat of Justice, Mercer County
572
Soldiers' Monument. 1410
South Henderson Township. 1216
Southern, Charles W. 696
Spangler, Jacob 1080
Secret Orders, Terre Haute Tp. 1278
89
Sedwick, Dan. W.
634
Spicer, Reuben H. Sr. 763
Spicer, Thomas. 638
Seventh Illinois Cavalry 1096
Sprowl, Samuel. 475
Stanley, Wyett. 1120
Steam Mill, Greene Township
670
Steele, Cyrus W. 1041
Sexton, Roswell C.
694
Shafer, Aaron P.
258
Sharer, Christian. 468
Shaw, Clinton 776
Shaw, Lee W.
1210
Shearer, George A. 634
Stewart, Samuel M. 1365
Stewart, William L. 644
Stone Quarry, Gladstone 1247
Storms and Floods 945
Stratton, J. D ..
251
Streeter, Hon. AAlson J. 769
Strong, Luke. 616
Stuart, William. 685
626
Shook, Dykeman 1359
Shook, George W 1358
Shook, James 1187
Short, Abner. 1379
Short, Isaac C. 1353
Shroyer, A. P. 786
Signor, George H 117
Signor, Willard I. 1257
Simmons, Samuel 1210
726
Shields, William .. 291
Shingledecker, P. D 263
Suez Postoffice.
Suez Township. 623
Swafford, Jacob H. 99
Swanson, John. 1156
Swartwout, Cornelius. 331
Swezy, Jerome A . 187
Taliaferro, C. W 1081
Talliaferro, Benjamin Coleman 830
Tenth Illinois Infantry 1013
Terre Haute Township.
1277
569
St. Joseph Catholic Church .. 711
Stevens, John H .. 1045
Stewart, James G .. 1375
Shearer, Nicholas. 472
Sheese, Samuel 500
Sherer, A. A. 254
Sheriff, Paul .. 173
Sherrard, David .. 739
Sheyler, Dr. James H
523
Seaton, Duncan
Seaton, John. 459
Seaton, John J .. 524
Sparrow, Charles. 1209
Secret Societies of New Boston . . .
Speculators, Eliza Township. 279
Sedwick, George W . 620
Seventh Missouri Cavalry. 1141
Seventy-eighth Infantry 1063
Sexton, John G. . 774
Steele, David A .. 246
Stephens, Prof. Alex.
Sloan Family 1296
Schell, Charles F. 1009
Sloan, James 1357
Sloan, James. . 1397
Schenek Family.
Schlotz, Justice
1002
Smith, Asa.
Smith, Eli W 1370
Schools of Eliza Township.
Smith, Stephen 745
16
INDEX.
Terry, William. 696
Walter, George. 313
Tharp Family 1125
Walters, John. 1156
Tharp, William 1132
War of 1812. 1410
Thede, C. F. 608
War Record of Greene Township. 670
Thirtieth Regiment 791
Thomas, Isaac. 1385
Thompson, Benjamin F 621
Thompson, William P 1192
Werts, George W
469
Thornton, H. W. 235
West End Creamery, Millersburg White, James R.
583
Thornton, J. D. 245
Timber in Eliza Township 282
White, Snowden K
Tolman, James Cary
1276
Towns of Henderson county.
887
Townsley, Benjamin F.
594
Whiteman, David A. 1398
Townsley's Tile and Briek Factory
583
Tracy, Victoria C. M ..
783
Tragedies in Keithsburg.
162
Trask, Andrew. 638
Wiegand, William. 1386
Wild animals, Walnut Grove. 1159
Turnbull, Rev. Thomas B.
617
Tweed, Hiram Sylvester.
1270
Tweed, John ... 1263
Willis, J. M. 621
97
Twenty-eighth Illinois Infantry. 1019
Willits, Isaiah.
171
Udolpho, Rufus. 1269
Willits, Levi.
583
Unangst, Jacob Wilson.
605
Willits, Mary D.
101
United Brethren, Richland. 734
Willits, Milton L.
96
Willits, Mrs. Sarah G.
527
Willitt, Thomas
114
Van Arsdale, S. B.
1134
Willits, Thomas T.
836
Vance, James.
524
Willits, William M.
523
Vance, William R
474
Wilmerton, William.
714
Vandalsem, W. C ..
335
Wilson, David.
741
Van Doren, William J. 1194
Wilson, James McCormick.
829
Van Tuyl, W. E. B.
1377
Wilson, John A
1353
Vater, George. 503
Wilson, William A.
94
Vaughn, Charles. 1211
Winchester, W. A.
526
Venable, Joseph
182
Winders, William.
596
Vernon, Caleb.
505
Wirt, Martin.
176
Vernon, James 239
Wolf, George S.
823
Vetter, Michael. 328
Wolfe, Jacob.
181
Villages of Millersburg. 211
733
Viola, Greene Township
661
Wood, Newton 1409
Wood, W. A .. 345
Vogt, George H. 1152
Woodard, Alonzo 1275
786
Voorhees, Henry D. 1119
Woods, Alexander M.
608
Voorhees, Jaques. 1131
Woods, James H.
1409
Wade, Josephus. 176
Woods, Richard H 1087
Wadleigh, Luke. 992
Woodside, Hugh G. 1137
Wagy, Abraham 1056
Wordin, Charles C. 599
Wagy, Lemuel 1059
Wright, George A 607
Wait, F. G. 330
Wright, James C. 596
Wait, Meigs. 324
Walker, William C. 1405.
York, Charles. 240
Wallace, William B. 1387
Young, Jacob and H. V 1125
Wallbaum, August. .. 1261
Zentmire, Wilson P .. 257
Walnut Grove Township. 1157
Watson, Abram. 746
Watson, Hezekiah. 1392
Webster, Hammond. 458
1007
Whitehall, Thomas. 605
526
Whiteman, Henry Miller 1259
Whitham, Kenneth M. 608
Whiting, George 197
Whitsitt, John. 715
Trask, E. H .. 1303
Wilkins, Samuel. 1378
Williams, James M. 1290
Twelfth Illinois Cavalry 1139
Willits, Dr. T.
United Presbyterians, Suez Town- ship 629
Valentine, William 257
Wilitts, Thomas.
254
Wolff, Reuben S. 1152
Village of Swedona. .
Wood, J. W. 246
Viola Vineyard. 668
Volkel, Fred. 508
Woodhams, T. G.
Wycoff, J. P .. 192
HISTORY OF
MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS.
THAT our readers may have a full understanding of the history of Mercer and Henderson counties, it will be necessary to take them back, not merely to the time of their earliest settlement by the whites, but a time far anterior to that. This part of the State of Illinois has at different periods been in the possession and under the dominion of various persons and powers, whose acts play an important part in the history of this section. Of course we fully realize that, to the present population, the present history will prove much more interesting than that which precedes, but as the foundation of the house is much less appreciated by the occupants and is yet one of its very important parts, so that part of history which forms the basis for what follows must necessarily be of the utmost value as a foundation or root on which to develop the complete work.
Though but a little more than half a century has passed since the soil of this part of the Mississippi valley was occupied and cultivated by white men, three times that length of time had elapsed since its first discovery. During that 150 years it was occupied by various tribes of Indians, and was under the dominion of several powerful governments, who contended for' its possession with varying success, with but little apparent design of occupation other than for the purpose of trading with the original owners, in furs and such other natural products as they could easily gather, and their simple and indolent habits required. Indeed the fur trade seems to have been not only the chief object, but eventually to have led to the peopling of the country with those who added to the industry of fur catching that of agriculture.
The first white men to visit Illinois with a view of making extended explorations were Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette, their travels in this state beginning in 1673.
Joliet was born at Quebec in 1645, and educated for a priest of the
2
18
HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
Roman Catholic Church, but at the time of which we write had aban- doned his profession, and at the age of twenty-eight was engaged in the fur trade.
Father Marquette was born in France in 1637. He was also a priest of the same church and of the order of Jesuits. It was with a view to promulgate the doctrines of his church that he left comparative comfort in his native country, crossed the Atlantic and braved the western wilderness, hundreds of miles beyond the boundaries of civili- zation, to convert the Indians to the faith lie professed, in which, by his kindness, he made many enduring friendships.
These two men, with their several objects in view, set ont from the Jesuit Mission on the Strait of Mackinaw with five other French com- panions on their journey, May 17, 1763, their objective point being the Mississippi river, of which they had but a vagne idea. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, they reached Green Bay, on the west side of the lake, and the mouth of Fox river, in Wisconsin. Up this river they pushed their canoes as far as the depth of the water would permit. Having reached the head waters of the Fox, it was but a few miles to the waters of the Wisconsin, which flows thence into the Mississippi. Across this stretch of prairie they carried their small boats and scanty outfits, and again launched them. On the 17th of June, just one month after their embarkation at the Mackinaw, they found themselves on the broad bosom of the Father of Waters (mean- ing of the Indian words composing the name Mississippi). Down the river they glided rapidly and easily, touching frequently at different points on either shore, and doubtless the soil of these counties was pressed, for the first time by white men, by the feet of Joliet and Mar- quette and their companions. On landing at one place their journal shows that they went ashore and remained several days with the natives. This could not have been far from this part of the river's course-probably near Rock Island on the west side. They were treated kindly by the Indians, and given all the supplies at their dis- posal for the further prosecution of their explorations. They continued their course until they came near the mouth of the Arkansas river, where, finding Indians who showed some signs of hostility, they deemed it expedient to return. They now entered the mouth of the Illinois river, up which they toiled to Lake Michigan, whose western shore they followed to Green Bay, where they arrived the latter part of September. In this journey they had spent about four months and traveled nearly 3,000 miles. Joliet had accomplished his purpose of discovering a route to the great water thoroughfares and opening up friendly relations with the inhabitants along their shores, and Father
19
DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS.
Marquette had made known the gospel to those with whom his brief visits brought liim in contact.
The formal occupation of the Mississippi and Illinois valleys was. accomplished in 1680, in the name of the French, by Robert La Salle, who came, with about thirty followers, for the purpose of building forts: on the Illinois river at different points, and establishing trading points with the natives in the name and for the benefit of the French govern- ment, which he represented. Even at this early date the English and French were disputing the rights of each other to the trade of these valleys, and this expedition was watched with suspicious eyes by the former. Not only so, but the enterprise which bid fair to be popular and profitable was jealonsly viewed by the order of Jesuits, who had been excluded from it, and their rivals of the Recollet order selected as spiritual counsel and companions. Of the last was father Hennepin, after whom, 150 years later, was named a town on the Illinois river. Owing to these, and unfaithful members of the expedition, treacherous guides and hostile Indians, with many unforseen mishaps, the story of La Salle's travels sounds more like fiction than truth. Often, almost alone, he traveled for many days through the wilderness in the dead of winter and almost without a mouthful of food. His forts and trading posts were built and destroyed and rebuilt by turns, until at last, having formally taken possession of the country and traversed the Illinois river from Lake Michigan, the Kankakee to its junction therewith, and the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, he was basely assassinated by his own followers in January, 1687. In taking possession of the country he gave it the name of his reigning monarch and called it Louisiana, so that what is now Mercer and Henderson counties and Illinois was once called by that name.
Very much that would be interesting to the general reader concern- ing La Salle's voyages must necessarily be omitted, as our work has not so much to do with the State of Illinois and the great water-courses explored by him as with the locality under immediate consideration. Father Hennepin, whose name has already been mentioned, made by La Salle's order an excursion from the mouth of the Illinois up the Mississippi as far as the Falls of St. Anthony, and may have touched at points bordering on this section. Henry Tonti, one of La Salle's companions, figures largely in the early explorations of this part of the country. He spent over twenty years in establishing posts and build- ing fortifications for their protection. Under his command was all of the territory from the Allegheny to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico as far north as imagination could carry.
Although the French had, as noted, taken possession of this large
20
HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
tract of country, it was not an undisputed occupation. The English, having settled the Atlantic coast, were gradually pushing their settle- ments toward the west, and finding the fur trade a profitable source of revenue to individual enterprise and also to the government, disputed with the French who inhabited the shores of the great lakes, the right to the monopoly. To carry out their plans it became necessary for either to enlist the Indians in their schemes, as from them they were to derive their profit. Accordingly, the natives of the Alleghenies and the Ohio valley were naturally arrayed against each other and many and bloody wars were the consequence. In the mother countries the French and English were engaged from time to time in combat, which naturally extended to the colonies of America, and thus were the strug- gles for the fur trade, which might otherwise have been confined to active competition, transformed into long-continued and bloody conflict. These wars in history are termed the French and Indian wars, and lasted for a period of more than fifty years. At last, in 1763, at a treaty between these nations, all that portion of the Mississippi valley east of the river was ceded to England, and thus for a time, until the war of the revolution, this section of country remained a province of Great Britain.
The great struggle of the colonists, commencing in 1775 and ending with their independence in 1783, though mostly confined to the shores of the Atlantic were not wholly so, for while a fierce conflict was going on at the east, the valleys of the Mississippi, Wabash and Ohio were receiving some attention from both the English and Americans. At the beginning of that war the whole northwest was in the possession of the British.
The brilliant achievements which wrested these beautiful valleys from English rule were brought about by Gen. George Rogers Clarke, of Virginia. He well understood the relations existing between the Indians and the mother country, and though the natives had been stirred up to jealousy by the rapid encroachments of white settlers upon their domain, he wisely judged that if the British posts and forts could be wrested from them, the subjugation of the Indians would be a com- paratively easy matter. Accordingly he applied to the authorities of Virginia for men and means for the accomplishing of the enterprise, and though they could at that time ill be spared, they were granted, and Clarke set out upon the undertaking. Though many hardships conse- quent upon hunger and fatigue had to be endured, the whole line of forts, including Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Vincennes, was taken with scarcely a show of resistance, the inhabitants of the posts apparently being -desirous of coming under the new government. In February, 1777,
21
DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS.
Vincennes was taken, and thus hostilities for this region, not only between the Americans and English, but for the time being between the Americans and Indians were terminated, and the possession of the northwest made secure. But for these brilliant strokes of Gen. Clarke it is hard to conceive what would have been the history of this part of the country. Possibly a union of all the tribes from Maine to Florida might have been effected, which in conjunction with foreign foes, though then somewhat discouraged, would have retained possession of the whole Mississippi valley even to this time.
The close of the war of independence left this portion of the country under the government of the United States, and as a part of Virginia. In 1778, the legislature of Virginia formed, from the ter- ritory under that dominion, all of the country now embraced in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, the county of Illinois, so that what is now embraced in Mercer and Henderson counties was once a part of Virginia. Illinois continued a part of Virginia until March 1, 1784, when that state ceded it with all other territory north of the Ohio river to the United States.
In 1787, the whole country under consideration was, by an ordinance passed by the government, set apart and named the Northwestern Ter- ritory. After a while the territory was divided into smaller territories, and what is now the state of Illinois fell into that portion called Indiana Territory as one of its counties, with its old name of 1778- Illinois county.
In 1809, the country now known as Illinois and Wisconsin was erected into a separate territory with the name of Illinois Territory. The population of this vast region was then only about half that of Mercer and somewhat less than Henderson county, being all told 9,000. Many of the oldest citizens of this region, but then residents of other states, doubtless remember, if not the event itself, many incidents of as early a date. Now there are 102 counties in the State of Illinois, few of which contain a smaller population than did both these great states only seventy-five years ago, one of which has residing within its limits a population sixty times as great. At the time of which we write, the territory was divided into two counties-St. Clair and Randolph.
Though the valley of the Mississippi was a part of the United States, and though it belonged to the government, it was occupied almost exclusively by the Indians, and they claimed it as their rightful possession in which to live and derive support, not from the cultivation of its soil, but from its natural products. In 1804 William Henry Harrison, authorized by the general government, made a treaty with
22
HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
the chiefs and head men of the Sac and Fox nations who were then the occupants of all this region, whereby all the country on both sides of the Mississippi and including all the country west of the Illinois, was given up to the government for purposes of settlement by the whites. Out of this treaty, a number of years later, grew what is known as the Black Hawk war.
GENERAL HARRISON.
In 1816 all that portion of the state between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and extending from the mouth of the latter about 170 miles north, and including the counties of which we now write, was surveyed by the government and subsequently set apart as bounties to soldiers of the regular army who had served in the war with Great Britain, and which had just preceded the date just given. The whole traet contained 207 entire townships and several fractions. These land grants or bounties became a kind of currency in this part of the coun- try, and were used not only by actual settlers in making homes for themselves, but large numbers were bought by speculators for a trifling part of their face value. From misunderstandings as to their real value and of their validity, many claims were put in jeopardy, and much litigation in regard to the land titles in the parts of the counties embraced by the military traet have been the result. Whoever has held successfully a disputed title in the Bounty lands, from bitter expe- rience has learned the history of these land schemes and speculations better than any but the attorneys engaged in unravelling them can know or care to learn.
23
BLACK HAWK WAR.
In 1818 the territory now embraced in Illinois became a separate organization and was admitted into the Union as a State. As yet but fifteen counties had been formed in the state and all of these in the southern part. None had been formed in the military tract, nor indeed was there much necessity for such organizations, as there was scarcely a family permanently established. However, a few years later, Pike county, embracing all of the wilderness of Warren, Mercer, Henderson and a number of other counties, was organized.
.
From and after the Black Hawk war, settlements were quite rapid west of the Illinois river, and new counties were accordingly as rapidly authorized. The army which went forward to suppress the uprising of the Indians under that chief in 1832 had much to do in settling the section between the mouth of the Illinois and Rock Island. It was then discovered by many of the soldiery that the garden of Illinois lay along that line of march. Many of them profited by their experience by themselves selecting homes in the section under consideration. Information sent by others to friends in the east and south brought many more, so that in 1825 the county of Warren, embracing all of the territory now included in Warren and Henderson, and Mercer with its present limits, were formed and attached to Peoria for political pur- poses. Subsequently, Warren county was organized and Mercer was attached to Warren for a few years. In 1835 Mercer was organized, and in 1841 Henderson with its present limits was cut off from the west side of Warren and immediately organized. This then brings us to the consideration of the several counties as separate organizations, and as such we shall refer to them as separate items of historical interest.
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