USA > Illinois > Stephenson County > History of Stephenson County, Illinois : a record of its settlement, organization, and three-quarters of a century of progress > Part 17
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY
Barber, Joseph Green, C. Miller, John Fisher, John Glover, Nathan and Isreal Sheet, left Union County, Pa., April 18, 1837. They came via Pittsburg, Wheeling, followed the National road through Janesville and Columbus, Ohio, and through Richmond and Indianapolis, Indiana, crossed the Wabash at Coving- ton and then passed through Danville, Peoria, over the Kellog trail, through Buffalo Grove, then through Crane's Grove and Freeport, to Cedarville and Rock Grove. The party was seven weeks on the road. In 1839, Henry S. Barber brought out fourteen teams from Pennsylvania. George J. Bentley, father of C. N. Bentley, was born in Massachusetts, moved to New York in 1829 and came to Shannon, this county, in 1853. He moved to Winslow and made a trip to Des Moines, Iowa, returning with a yoke of oxen and one horse. Mr. E. Bentley of Eleroy came from Somerset County, England, to America in May, 1824, and worked on farms and in factories in various parts of the east, finally locating in Harlem Township. Henry Burkhard, a farmer in Harlem Township, was born in Baden, Germany, and came to America at the age of ten. He went on vari- ous trips to Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee, but at last settled in Stephenson County. Mr. Henry Hill is a native of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany. Martin Lawless, Damascus, was born seven miles from the City of Dublin, Ireland, in 1822. He came to New York in 1848 and worked his way west, arriving in Freeport in 1853 and located on a farm in Harlem in 1865.
Mr. Joseph McCool, a native of Virginia and father of O. P. McCool, came to Stephenson County in 1840. The family came by boat from Pittsburg, Pa., and located first at Kiethsbury and then at Lancaster and later in Harlem. John Martin came to Harlem from England. In 1849 with his family he drove in a wagon from the east, through Chicago, to this county. Smith W. Pickard, born in New York in 1795, served in the War of 1812, and came to Stephenson County in 1838 with his son Jonas L. Pickard.
John H. Stout, whose grandfather came from Holland, was born in New Jersey and came to this county in 1846. Frederick Watson left Nottinghamshire, England, at the age of thirteen and worked his way west to this county in 1845.
Sometimes people came to Stephenson County in large groups. In 1843, a party of about sixty started from Union County, Pa. In this party were Samuel Barber's family of five; John Barber's family of ten; James W. Barber's family of ten ; John Van Dyke and sons family of eleven; Samuel Wright's family of five; Jacob Gables family of six ; Robert Badger's family of seven, William and John Wright. They drove through Mercer County, Pa., crossed the Allegheny River at Franklin, through Warren and Cleveland, Ohio, through Adrian and Janesville, Michigan, through South Bend, Indiana, Chicago and Rockford to Freeport, arriving here after an arduous journey of five and a half weeks. The party had divided at Rockford, one division coming on to Freeport, July 4, 1843. They stopped at the Main Hotel which then stood on the site of the old Pop Factory, now the out-door grounds on Walnut Street. .
Frederick Wagner came from Sondershausen, Germany, in 1862, locating on a farm in Kent in 1871. Charles Waterman of Herkimer County, N. Y., came west and with his brother laid out Sycamore, Ill., in 1838. He was a prominent leader in doing away with the "Driscolls," the notorious band of
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY
horsethieves of that day. In 1840, he came to Freeport and in 1844 to Loran Township.
Robert Baker left Yorkshire, England, in 1830 and located in Canada. In 1860, he moved to Jefferson Township, Stephenson County. Peter Kerch, born in Wurtemburg, Germany, came to New York in 1846; to Pittsburg in 1848 and to Jefferson Township in 1855. Simon Tollmeier, Simon Schester, Jacob Offenhiser and John Koch, all of Germany, settled in Jefferson Township.
George D. Babbitt is a typical representative of the westward migration. He was born in Goshen, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, 1799; in 1802, the family moved to Otsego County, New York; to Susquehanna County in 1820, where he learned the trimmers trade; to Pike, Allegheny County in 1825, where he was married and had five children; to Centerville, five years; to Niagara County ; to Canada; to Branch County, Michigan; to Ogle County, Illinois; to Sugar River, Winnebago County, Illinois; and settled at last in Erin Township in 1854. Daniel Gilman moved from Center County, Pennsylvania, to Eleroy in 1840.
From Old Virginia came Aaron Griggsby. He moved first into Kentucky and then to Indiana. Then he moved on into Edgar County, Illinois, in 1829; to Iroquois County in 1835; and to Stephenson County in 1836. John Manlove, of Montgomery County, England, came to Canada in 1841; to Chicago in 1845 and then on to Stephenson County, buying a farm of Thomas Hotchkiss, a leader of a band of horsethieves. Dr. E. H. Plasch left Germany because of revolutionary troubles in 1845 and after teaching and practicing medicine in Jo Daviess County, settled in Eleroy.
B. P. Bellknap, born in Vermont in 1811, came west in 1839, walking from Milwaukee to Monroe, Wisconsin, and to Gratiot. In 1841, he settled in Oneco Township, where he taught the first school in that township. Michael Bolender came from Union County, Pennsylvania, to Orangeville in 1840, with John Kleckner, Michael Gift, and George Mowry. The Clarnos of Oneco Township came from France to Virginia, from Virginia to Ohio, then to Tazewell County, Illinois, and to Stephenson County in 1838. Jacob Fye drove from Center County, Pennsylvania, to Oneco Township in 1839. Lewis Gibler was born in Shenandoah County, Virginia, moved to Ohio in 1802, came west and worked in the mines and settled in Oneco Township in 1839. Emanuel Musser came from Center County, Pennsylvania, to Oneco Township in 1857. William Raymond came from Canada in 1843. Daniel Sandoe came from Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, in 1847. L. D. Van Metre came from Jo Daviess County to Oneco Township in 1836. Wm. Wagenhalls, of Wurtemburg, Germany, came to America in 1836 and to Orangeville in 1847. Ira Winchell of Erie County, New York, settled in Oneco in 1843.
C. T. Barnes, born in Prussia, followed the seas as a sailor four years and settled in West Point Township in 1852. Mr. R. Baysinger was born in Ken- tucky, came to Edgar County, Illinois, in 1833 and to Stephenson County, Illi- nois, in 1846, settling in West Point. Jacob Burbridge, born in Butler County, Pennsylvania, lived a while in Kentucky, coming to Springfield, Illinois, in 1829 and to Stephenson County in 1837. William Corning, born in Rockingham County, New Hampshire; moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, 1836; to Jo Daviess
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY
County in 1842; to West Point Township in 1848. Thomas Davis came from Sussex, England, in 1844; Frederick Damert from Prussia; George W. Delgate from Maine; Samuel Dodds from Logansport, Indiana; Anthony Doll from Canada; B. Doll from Baden; A. F. Foll from Bedfordshire, England; J. D. Fowler from Rutland County, Vermont, in 1838, coming by way of canal and lake, being 21 days on the way; D. W. Frisby from New York City; John Har- rington from Ireland in 1846; Joseph Hicks from Ashtabula County, New York, in 1840; Hon. Andrew Hinds from New York; Adam Krape from Center County, Pennsylvania, in 1846; H. Loomis from Litchfield County, Connecticut, in 1840; W. W. Lowis from Lincolnshire, England; John Masters from Mary- land in 1857; Dr. W. P .- Naramore, Seneca County, New York; John Reeder from Frankfort-on-the-Maine, 1856; Captain John Schermerhorn from Fulton- ville, New York; A. H. Stahl from Perry County, Pennsylvania, to Ogle County in 1859 and to Lena in 1863; Jo Daviess, Waddams from Galena; Charles Walz from Kaiserslantern, Germany; and William Yeager from Germany.
Edward Barker came from Franklin County, Vermont, to Rock Grove Town- ship in 1842. Samuel Chambers and Thomas Chambers rode through on horse- back from Union County, Pennsylvania, to Jo Daviess County in 1835 and set- tled in Rock Grove in 1836. C. J. Cooper, born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, moved to Clark County, Illinois, came through Stephenson County as a soldier during Black Hawk's War in 1832, and lived in Crawford County till he moved to Rock Grove in 1844. W. L. Cooper came from Delaware by way of Pennsyl- vania and Crawford County, Illinois. Jacob Fisher came here from Pennsyl- vania in 1839 and entered a claim. Ole O. Gardner, born ninety miles from Christiana, Norway, in 1815, came to New York in 1842, then to Wisconsin and to Rock Grove Township in 1848; C. T. Kleckner, from Northampton County, Pennsylvania, in 1840; Henry Kloepping from Prussia in 1852; George Maurer from Pennsylvania in 1840; Edward Pratt, stage driver for Fink and Walker, from New York; Lewis and L. W. Schradermaeier from Lippe-Detmold, Ger- mony, in 1852; Col. Geo. Walker, made the wagon trip from Pennsylvania to Rock Grove with his family, in five weeks in 1849, and Geo. Zimmerman came from Union County, Pennsylvania, in 1849.
J. B. Angle came from Franklin County, Pennsylvania, to buck Eye Town- ship, in 1844, settling first on Richland Creek. John Bender came from Baden, Germany, and John Boals from Donegal County, Ireland; John Heser from Ba- varia ; Robert Jones from Kent County England ; Ensebius Schadle from Wurtem- burg, Germany, and William Stewart, Andrew and John Wilson from Donegal county, Ireland. Josiah Clingman and family came to Illinois in 1835, settling in Peoria and La Salle Counties and moving to Stephenson near Cedarville in 1837. Rev. Geo. J. Donmeyer, a graduate of Pennsylvania College, drove through to Ste- phenson County, enduring all the hardships incident to pioneer travel and preached his first sermon May 12, 1850, in a school house, three miles North of Lena. The father of James Folgate, with a family of ten children; made the trip from Pennsylvania to Stephenson County and settled in Buck Eye Township in 1841. Jacob Jones came from Maryland, Daniel Kostenbader from Pennsylvania by flat boat down the Ohio and up the Mississippi to Savannah, then on foot to Cedarville, and John and Thomas Pollock from Ohio. George
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY
Trotter, born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, came to Sangamon County, Illinois, in 1826, passed back and forth through Stephenson County, during Black Hawk's War and took a claim in Buck Eye Township, in 1836.
In 1843, Thomas and Robert Bell rode on horseback from Pennsylvania to Stephenson County, settling in Lancaster Township. Corad Dambman came from Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, without a dollar and in a few years owned over 250 acres in Lancaster. I. N. Mallory of Belmont County, Ohio, settled in Lancaster in 1836, and William Smith of Canton, Ohio, in 1835.
A. O. Anderson left his native home in Norway and settled in Rock Run Township in 1839. Michael Blinn came from Bavaria in 1854. Uriah Boyden came from New York in 1839. Frederick Buticofer, a carriage maker, came from Switzerland in 1854 to Rock Run Township. Louis Germain is a native of France; Martin Gillen and John Glynn from Ireland; C. B. Johnson from Norway; Charles Haas and John M. Kaufman from Germany; Charles J Lilliquist came from Sweden and Halleck and Thueston Kundson from Norway. S. B. Leach was a native of Maine and John Long of New York. Alexander Niblo of Glasgow was an early settler in Rock Run Township. S. Olsen came to Rock Run from Norway in 1842. Jacob Orth came from Hesse Darmstadt. John Weber came from France in 1844. A large number of settlers in Rock Run came from Pennsylvania.
One of the early settlers of Dakota Township was W. R. Auman, who came here from Pennsylvania in 1839. Jacob Dubs and family came to Dakota in 1852. His wife died on the journey from Europe. Martin S. Lapp came from Canada in 1842. William McElhiney came from Pennsylvania, with his parents in 1829, settling first in Edgar County, Ill. In 1837, the family moved into Stephenson County. Robert F. Mitchel, of Center County, Pennsylvania, came into the county in 1842. In 1844, John Nelson and his wife, Mary Nelson, emigrated to Dakota Township from the north part of Ireland to Dakota Township. Mr. B. Schmeltzer, of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, made a year's trip through Illi- nois and Iowa in 1850 and settled in Dakota Township in 1866. Colonel Geo. Walker made the journey from Center County, Pennsylvania, in wagons in 1849, being five weeks on the road. Charles Wilson from Ireland and John Wirth from Wittenburg, Germany, came to Dakota in 1852. -
The parents of G. S. Babcock came to Ridott Township in 1836. Michael Bardell came from Alsace to America in 1841 and in 1845 to Ridott Township. Mrs. Bardell was a native of Reubier, Germany. Ulrich Boomgarten came from Hanover, Germany, in 1850. Henry Borchers came from Hanover, in. 1852. Seth Cable came from Ohio in 1844, and Asa Carey from New York in 1852. Christian Clay came from Stark County, Ohio, in 1839. Bearnd Groeneveld came from Hanover in 1852. Philo Hammond, born in Vermont, went to New York, then to Chicago and settled in Silver Creek in 1837 and to Ridott in 1848. John Heeren, born in Aswaisraland, Germany, and settled in Ridott in 1849. Peter Hermann, born in Baden Baden in 1836 and came to America, settling in Ridott in 1852.
Mr. Thomas Hunt came from Nottingham, England, in 1842. He settled in Silver Creek and later in Ridott Township. Jacob Molter came from Baden in 1850; John Rademaker from Germany in 1855; Henry Scheffner and John
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY
Scheffner from Baden in 1852. In the same year Charles Rohkar came over from Hanover; Michael Van Iosterloo came from Hanover in 1849; H. P. Waters settled at the mouth of Yellow Creek in 1836. He came from New York. David Wilter came from Maryland in 1853. W. G. Woodruff, of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, went to Connecticut, to New York, to Car- roll County, Illinois, to Rockford, and finally settled in Ridott Township.
Mr. Fred Bohlender, in 1844, came overland from Union County, Penn- sylvania. It was a journey of six weeks, with four horses, two wagons and buggy with provisions and cooking utensils for camping by the wayside. They brought with them their household furniture. The family of Alpheus God- dard drove through this county from the Green Mountain State. They were six weeks on the journey, enlivened by many interesting incidents. John Baum- gartner and wife and four children drove in a one horse wagon from Columbia County, Pennsylvania, to northern Illinois, often through a country unmarked by wagon tracks. They sold some of the bedding on the way to raise funds for immediate use. He gave the horse as a first payment on a tract of land in Loran Township. Martin Doll, wife and six children, with three horses, a yoke of oxen and two wagons, drove to this county from Canada. They brought household goods and provisions for camping by the wayside, sleeping in the wagons. They were seven weeks on the way and arrived in Stephenson County with a cash capital of 50 cents. Isaac Dively and family came by way of Ohio, Mississippi and Fever Rivers in 1837. From Galena they came in wagons to the Pecatonica, where he built a cabin, the first in that section to have the luxury of a floor of sawed lumber. Wm. Dively, his son, hauled oats and barley to Galena and returned with lumber. Samuel and John A. Wright came overland from Pennsylvania to Buckeye Township in 1843. Fourteen teams with several families came out together. Thomas Jonas, was born in Paris, France, in 1801. He came to America and learned the blacksmith trade in Buffalo. In 1839, with wife and four children, he came to Milwaukee by way of the Great Lakes and hired two teams to haul his family to Freeport. He settled in Waddams Township. Levi Robey, one of the earliest settlers at the age of four, came from Maryland over the Appalachian Mountains on pack horses with his father's family. They settled on the Sciota River, Ohio. They came on west to Brewster's Ferry. in 1834. At Dixon, the Indians freightened the oxen and one broke away from the wagon. He settled on a claim in Wad- dams Township, Section 1, in 1835, February 14. While in Ohio, he taught school and peddled clocks. His father located near Cedarville after running Brewster's Ferry for two years.
Frederick Gassmann, wife and child left North Germany in 1843. They crossed the Atlantic in a small sailing vessel in eighteen weeks, and landed at Baltimore. They then went to . Wheeling, West Virginia, and from there by boat down the Ohio and up the Mississippi to St. Louis. At St. Louis, in company with Charles, John, Henry, Christian and Frederick Rosenstiel, they started overland to Freeport. They hired a team to bring them through for $40, but when half way the driver struck and demanded $40 more which, ow- ing to the conditions, they had to pay.
A TYPICAL LOG CABIN
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY
Silas Gage came from Pennsylvania. He came down the Allegheny and the Ohio on a raft and by steamer on to Galena. He walked finally into the county and settled at Winslow in 1836.
Ezra B. Gillett of Brooklyn, New York, was an early settler of the county. In 1827, at the age of 21, he came to the lead mine regions. He was success- ful, but took the cholera which was epidemic in the lead mine country in 1832. When he had recovered, he traded his mine for flour and sold the flour, and bought a pony on which he intended to start to his home in New York. Black Hawk War was on, and he felt that he had little chance to get through. He placed his money in the bottom of his powder horn, and with an old musket across his saddle, he started on his pony across the country to his home. He arrived safe, and having married, returned to Stephenson County to take a claim in 1834. His first stop was at Reitzell's now Buena Vista, where he built a mill on Richland Creek. He then built a mill at Bowertown, now Orange- ville, and in 1837 built a board cabin on his claim in Section 20.
Mr. John Rotzler, at the age of eleven, came with his parents in 1852, and landed in Savannah, Georgia. Not liking the climate, the family came to Free- port in 1854, by boat from Savannah to Albany, New York, and by railroad to Freeport. The Rotzlers came from the same part of Germany as the Wagners. Mr. John Rotzler, Sr., met Mr. William Wagner, who had returned for his family, and it was Mr. Wagner's praise of America that led the Rotzlers to come out in 1852.
In the fall of 1839, George S. Cadwell, Alfred Cadwell and Z. U. Harding came to Oneco from.Orange County, New York. They walked from Detroit, Michigan, through Chicago and Freeport. After taking a claim in Section 32, they walked to Milwaukee and took a boat for New York. In 1841, George S. Cadwell married and came west to settle on his claim.
In a measure the above sketches give an idea of the racial elements of the people of Stephenson County, and afford some conception of the courage neces- sary for men and women to brave the hardships of pioneer travel.
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FRONTIER CONDITIONS.
THE LOG CABIN-INDIANS-POISONOUS SNAKES-FISH AND GAME-MURDER.
THE LOG CABIN.
It was the day of the log cabin. The carpenter's tools were usually no more than an ax and auger. Some may have possessed an adz and a fro, for hewing the logs and riving and splitting the clapboards. The earliest cabins were built of rough unhewn logs. The cracks were filled with clay mud. The roof was covered with thatch or clapboards held in place by poles laid on top. Nails were unknown. The floor was laid with puncheons (split logs) or with bark. Augers bored holes into the log walls and into these pins were driven. On the pins, bark or split logs ewre placed and these served as shelves for kitchen utensils, clothing, bedding, etc. Bunks were often constructed in the same way. Home- made bedsteads, and chairs were common. The settlers were skilled in prepar-
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY
ing elm and hickory bark which they wove into chair seats. In the same way they made their baskets, and muzzles for horses to prevent them from eating the corn while plowing. The fireplace was occassionally made by laying slabs of rock. Chimneys were often built by using sticks instead of bricks. Clay filled the chinks and held the sticks together. The inside of the chimney was then daubed with clay. Fireplaces were made unusually large and in winter a great roaring fire was a necessary and cheerful part of the pioneer life. A door made of puncheons, hung on wooden, home-made hinges, until replaced by a door of sawed lumber. Windows were small. At first there was but one window, sometimes none, and that one admitted light through greased paper. Glass was a luxury that came later. Blocks of wood set against the wall were used for chairs, and a slab or two of these made a settee. Tables were made of slabs supported by pegs, driven into auger holes.
These first homes were one room homes. There was often to be found a loft, where things were stored and where members of the family slept. Snow and rain could not be kept out and many a morning when the pioneer and his family awoke, they found their bed clothing covered with snow. The cabin was usually about 12 or 14 feet long and 10 or 12 feet wide and about 7 feet high. In the earliest cabins, cooking was done on the fireplace. The cooking utensils consisted of heavy iron tea-kettle and skillet, a coffee pot and maybe a boiling or stew pot. These with contents were placed over red coals of the fireplace, supported by pieces of stone or andirons and occasionally a crane would be found swinging a steaming pot over the fire. Simple and plain? Ah, yes, but what savory meals were thus prepared and set on the rude table! Food for strong men and women who had the world's work to do. Venison, pork, squirrel or wild turkey, potatoes baked in the ashes, corn pones, and coffee, We breakfast food eaters must envy them.
The one room home presents a beautiful picture. Here, porch, parlor, sit- ting room, library, bed room and kitchen were crowded into one. It is all seen at a glance. The rough-hewed logs, clap-board roof, the plain furniture, bed, cooking utensils, provisions, pieces of half dried venison and pork, and seed corn hanging from the loft; the beds, ax and rifle and powder-horn; the mother knitting or darning; the father mending chairs or repairing his flintlock and about them children, usually six or more, and all lighted up by the roaring blaze of the great fireplace, throwing upon the sometimes beautiful white- washed walls a warmth of color and good cheer that make homelife devoted and happy. Life then, as now, had its lights as well as its shadows.
At first, provisions were scarce. Markets were 40 and 50 miles away at best and money was scarce. A patient industry cleared away a little patch about the house and planted it in grain and garden. The hoe was much in use. The farmer made his own plow and drag; in fact, all his farming implements. Grain was threshed out with flails, or clubs, or tramped out by horses. The grain was cut with sickles, scythes and cradles. There were no mills in the county, and have the grain ground into flour and meal meant a long, tiresome and dangerous journey over unbroken roads to Gratiot, Dixon or Galena or Peoria. At times this was out of the question and the settlers prepared meals in most rude and primitive ways, to meet with immediate necessities. One
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Brown's Mill in Early Days
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IKC
Scioto Mills
Epleyanna Mills, Rock Run
DH
Brown's Mill at present
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY
method was to cut down a large oak tree and build a fire on the center of the stump to burn out the heart of the wood. A hole was then chopped into the top of the stump, making a simple mortar, which would hold about a peck of grain. An ax or an iron wedge was used as a pestle to crush the corn. Occa- sionally a "sweep" similar to the old well sweep would be prepared and the iron wedge fastened in the end of the rod made a simple crusher. The coarse broken grain was sifted in wire or deer-skin sieves, the chaff was blown out, and a coarse meal was prepared which made the famous corn pommes that were baked in the ashes. Another method was to scrape the corn on "grit- ters," which were pieces of tin with holes punched in it. Scraping the corn over the rough edges produced a coarse meal which was baked in "dodgers" or "pones."
The farmer made his coat and pants and shirt from the skins of deer shot in the vicinity and tanned at home. Coon and fox furnished ample material for his caps. Tea and coffee often ran low in supply and peas, wheat and barley were used as substitutes. There were periods when game was scarce and a bare existence was all that was to be had. Often the hunter would be out all day and return empty handed. There are reports that in times when meat was scarce, men were glad to get pork enough to grease a griddle. One man made a hearty meal on meat rinds that had done service in this way. The same man said he had worked hard for weeks at a time on no other food than corn meal mixed with water.
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