USA > Massachusetts > Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 80
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(VI) Ruth, elder daughter of Richard (2) and Mary (Learned) Moore, was born March 12, 1749, in Oxford, and married, April II, 1774, Salem Towne, of that town (see Towne, VI).
(The Parkhurst Line).
This family, which is of English origin, takes its name from the locality in which a remote ancestor dwelt, a park containing a hurst, or grove. In New England and New York numer- ous scions of the family have been men of
prominence, and it was early identified with the development of New Hampshire.
(1) George Parkhurst, emigrant ancestor, came from Ipswich, in the county of Suffolk, England, about the year 1640, and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. He married, about 1645, Susan, widow of John Simpson, of Watertown, and about that time he removed from Watertown to Boston. In 1642 he was proprietor of a homestall of twelve acres and five other parcels of land in Watertown. On October 4, 1645, being then a resident of Bos- ton, he sold to John Coolidge and Thomas Hastings a lot of land which he had purchased from Hugh Mason. On December 20, 1648, he sold to his son-in-law, Thomas Arnold, thirty acres of dividend land in Watertown. On March 5, 1649, he sold to William Page ten acres near the great pond. He sold on June 13, 1655, ten acres which had been grant- ed to John Simpson. He was admitted a free- man at Watertown, May 10, 1643. Daniel Parker, who was baptized in the first church of Boston, in 1649, was probably his son. He was the father of seven children.
(II) George (2), son of George (1) Park- hurst, was born in 1618, in England, and re- sided in Watertown, probably upon his father's original homestead in that town on the east side of Beaver brook, and north of the county road. He married (first), December 16, 1643, Sarah Browne, born in England, daughter of Abraham and Lydia Browne. She died in 1649, and he married (second), September 24, 1650, Mary Pheza (Veazey), daughter of Rob- ert Veazey, a proprietor of Watertown in 1637. The first wife was the mother of the son and daughter, the latter of whom, born 1649, died young.
(III) John, only son of George (2) and Mary (Veazey) Parkhurst, was born June IO, 1644, in Watertown, and died September 12, 1725, in that town. He married, about 1670, Abigail Garfield, born June 29, 1646; died October 18, 1726, daughter of Edward and Rebecca Garfield, and granddaughter of Ed- ward Garfield, an early resident of Watertown. Children : John, mentioned below ; Abigail, born September 10, 1674; Sarah, November 26, 1676; Rachel, December 30, 1678; Eliza- beth, September 18, 1681 ; Mary, December 23, 1683 ; George, January 3, 1686 ; Samuel, April II, 1688 ; Hannah, April 17, 1690.
(IV) Deacon John (2), eldest child of John (I) and Abigail (Garfield) Parkhurst, was born February 26, 1672, in Watertown, and
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settled in Watertown Farms, now Weston, where he was an original member of the church, and was elected deacon, January 4, 1710. He married, about 1695, Abigail Morse, born Au- gust 6, 1677 ; died May 3, before 1760; daugh- ter of John and Abigail (Stearns) Morse. Children: John (died young) ; John, born April 29, 1697; Abigail, June 20, 1699; Lydia, July 21, 1701 ; Elizabeth, April 5, 1704; Isaac, July 9, 1705 ; Josiah, mentioned below ; Mary, July 15, 1710; Jonas, August 20, 1712 ; Jemima, June 5, 1715.
(V) Josiah, third son of John (2) and Abi- gail (Morse) Parkhurst, was born February 9, 1707, and resided in Weston, where he mar- ried, October 23, 1735, Sarah, daughter of Daniel and Sarah Carter. She was baptized an adult, May 25, 1728. Children: Josiah, Nathan, Mary, Sarah, Amos and Lydia.
(VI) Sarah, second daughter of Josiah and Sarah (Carter ) Parkhurst, was born Septem- ber 21, 1747, in Weston, and was married, April 15, 1770, to Isaac Flagg, of Weston ( see Flagg, XI).
DAVIS The name of Davis has been a familiar one in the annals of this country. It has been a numerous family and many of its members have held positions of distinction in all walks of life, and their ancestry can be traced to the earliest immigrants who came from England. The ancestor of the family, whose history and genealogy is given in the following sketch, was one of the latest comers to the United States, arriving here about the middle of the nineteenth century.
(I) Thomas George Davis came from Eng- land in 1821, first settling in Nova Scotia, where he married Margaret Ann Davison in 1847, at Halifax, where she was born October 20, 1824. They removed soon after their marriage to Portland, Maine, where their first child was born in 1848, and later in that year they went to Woburn, Massachusetts, and made that town their permanent home. Mr. Davis died while in San Francisco, California, in 1882, but his widow survives and is living with a son in Dorchester, Massachusetts, at the age of eighty-five years. Mr. Davis was a carpenter and joiner and an exceptionally skilled work- man. During the construction of the splendid edifice, the First Congregational Church, of Woburn, he was engaged on the fine interior and other finish work, and for fifteen years or more was employed by the Boston & Lowell Railroad Company, doing the finish work in
car construction. He was a member of Mount Horeb Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Woburn, of which he was worship- ful master in 1866-67, this position being held by his son, William Frederic, just twenty years later. Children: 1. Henry Newton, born Jan- uary 16, 1848, at Portland, Maine ; died March 18, 1872, at Woburn, at the age of twenty-four years, unmarried. 2. William Frederic, De- cember 12, 1849, at Woburn ; see forward. 3. Arthur George, October 23, 1852, at Woburn ; married, June 24, 1890, at Boston, Ella Au- gusta Smith, born November 4, 1856, at Can- ning, Nova Scotia, daughter of M. Bennett and Eunice Smith. Mr. Davis is a compositor on a leading Boston daily newspaper, and re- sides in Dorchester. His mother is passing her declining years with him. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have one child, Anna Margaret, born June 4, 1891, at Boston. 4. Annie Maria, August 28, 1854. at Woburn; died September 8, 1879, at Boston ; unmarried. 5. Charles Palmerston, November 7, 1859, at Woburn. He is treas- urer and general manager of the Educational . Press Company, of Springfield, Massachusetts, publishers of the educational weekly news- paper called Current Events. This newspaper is unique in itself, and has a wide circulation of a quarter of a million subscribers among pupils of the public schools throughout the country, and is published only during the school term of forty weeks in each year. He married, November 24, 1887, Minerva Porter, daughter of the late Harvey Porter, of Aga- wan, Massachusetts, and a direct descendant of one of the immigrant settlers of New Eng- land. whose family included Admiral David D. Porter. They have two children: Emily Porter and Preston. The former born Sep- tember 24, 1888, is a graduate of Smith Col- lege ; the latter was born August 20, 1900. 6. Herbert Thomas, September 29, 1866, at Wo- burn ; died at Springfield, Massachusetts, April 6, 1894, after a short illness, from pneumonia. He was a travelling salesman and was unmar- ried.
(II) Hon. William Frederic, son of Thomas George and Margaret Ann (Davison) Davis, was born December 12, 1849, at Woburn, Massachusetts ; married, October 5, 1874, at Woburn, Velma Jeannette Barker, born April 5, 1853, at Medford, Massachusetts, daughter of Joshua and Sarah Brooks (Norwood) Barker, of Medford. Mr. Davis was educated in the public schools of Woburn, and in the Warren Academy at Woburn, a leading and very popular educational institution of its time, hav-
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ing pupils from all the surrounding towns and cities as well as from a distance. He finished with a business course at Comer's Commercial College, at Boston. Like many of the young men of former years in Woburn, he began life as a currier, or leather dresser, in one of the leather factories of that town, the tanning and finishing of leather being then, as it has ever since been, the principal industry of the town. He worked at this trade during the years 1865 to 1869, and then entered the employ of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, in Boston, as a clerk, and has remained with that company thirty-nine years. From June, 1888, until February, 1907, he was cashier of the company and since then has been assistant secretary. He is well known in life insurance circles.
Mr. Davis is one of Woburn's foremost citi- zens, always earnest in forwarding the best interests of the city and upholding her good name, and has been prominent in civic, social, church and charitable affairs for many years. Although a Republican in politics, he voted for Grover Cleveland for president in both his elections, and was always his staunch sup- porter and admirer. During a number of years previous to Cleveland's first election, Mr. Davis had been secretary of the Republican town committee of Woburn, and an active worker for the party. In 1891-93-98 he served his city faithfully and honorably as a member of the board of aldermen, and was chosen presi- dent of this board in the two latter years. As a citizens' candidate he was elected mayor of the city for the years 1899-1900, and for the year following was also nominated by the Re- publicans and again elected. To be chosen for three successive terms was an exceptional com- pliment, Mr. Davis being the first to enjoy this distinction, but had he consented to accept it he could have received a fourth nomination and election. Always fearless in the perform- ance of his political duties as he saw them, and endowed with a high sense of honor, he gained the entire confidence and respect of his fellow citizens. Perhaps the most important pub- lic question in the minds of the people of Wo- burn for many years has been that of licensing the sale of intoxicating liquors, and previous to the election of Mr. Davis as mayor it had been generally believed that the sentiment of the majority was in favor of license, and that for this reason the law could not be enforced under no-license, but Mr. Davis contended strenuously that it could be, and as mayor in a no-license year he succeeded in demonstrating
his belief beyond question. He was outspoken and uncompromising in his opposition to the open saloon and the influence of the liquor element in Woburn political affairs, and is unquestionably entitled to the credit of having developed the fact that the majority of the citizens are of the same mind as he and will vote for no-license when they have confidence that the law will be enforced by the mayor, upon whom this duty devolves. Mr. Davis is now president of the No-License League, and has been at the head of several other civic associations organized for the good of the city. In religion Mr. Davis is a Unitarian, and is prominent in the First Unitarian Church, of Woburn, being chairman of the parish com- mittee and secretary of the trustees of the permanent funds of the church. For six years he was superintendent of the Sunday school. In charitable work he is president of the Wo- burn Visiting Nurse Association, and a mem- ber of the board of trustees of the Woburn Charitable Association, organized to maintain the Charles Choate Memorial Hospital. He has been prominent in Masonic circles, being a member of Mount Horeb Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Woburn, of which he was worshipful master in 1886-87. He was also deputy grand master of the sixth Masonic district of Massachusetts in 1891-92, and senior grand warden of the Grand Lodge of Massa- chusetts in 1905. At the present writing he is president of the Towanda Club, of Woburn; member of the Innitou Canoe Club, of Wo- burn ; member of the Exchange Club, of Bos- ton, and member of the Mayors' Club of Mass- achusetts, of which he has been secretary since 1901. He is vice-president and director of the Woburn Co-operative Bank, life trustee and member of the Corporation of the Woburn Public Library, and trustee of the Rumford Historical Association, of Woburn. As an honorable, useful and faithful member of all the organizations with which he is now or has been connected, he commands the greatest con- fidence and esteem.
Mr. and Mrs. Davis have one son, William Frederic Davis, Jr., born in Woburn, Septem- ber 28, 1879, and educated in the public schools, graduating from the Woburn high school in the class of 1898. He afterwards studied law at the Boston University Law School for three years, has been admitted to the Suffolk and Middlesex county bars, and is now in the prac- tice of his profession with offices in Woburn and Boston. Although active in social life. he remains unmarried. He is a member of
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Mount Horeb Lodge, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and the Towanda and Innitou Canoe clubs of Woburn. He is prominent in political work, being a member of the Repub- lican ward and city committee, and an election officer of the city, as clerk of the board of election officers of ward I.
Mrs. Velma Jeannette ( Barker) Davis, wife of Hon. William F. Davis, is a member of one of the oldest families of Massachusetts, being descended from Robert Barker, the first men- tion of whom is found in the Colonial Records of Massachusetts, under date of June 20, 1632, he being at that time bound out to a John Thorp. Later he was bound to William Pal- mer as a carpenter's apprentice, and his time was out with him April 1, 1637. This was probably when he attained his majority, so that he is supposed to have been born in 1616. In 1641 he with others bought from Jonathan, son of Elder William Brewster, a ferry and one hundred acres of land at Marshfield, Mass- achusetts, and in 1643 he was a member of a military company in that town, under Lieu- tenant Nathaniel Thomas. He held the office of surveyor in the town in 1645-48, constable in 1646, and was admitted freeman in 1654. About this time he removed to Duxbury, where he was a surveyor in 1654-55-56-72-77-79, and grand juryman in 1684-85. The court at Plymouth granted him nine and one-half acres of land at Robinson's creek, North river, Dux- bury, March 5, 1667-68. He died in 1691. He married Lucy Williams, and they had chil- dren : Robert, Francis, Isaac, Abigail and Re- becca.
(II) Robert (2), son of Robert ( 1) Barker, was born in Duxbury, February 27, 1650-51, and died September 25, 1729. He married (first) Alice - -- , by whom he had eight children, and (second), October 7, 1705, Phebe Marsh, widow of Jonathan Marsh, of James. town, Rhode Island. He began his career as a soldier, and was made a lieutenant under Major James Cudworth, October 4, 1675, but during King Philip's war he abruptly terminated his connection, it is thought because he had be- come convinced of Quaker principles. He carly utilized the water power of a brook, own- ing a saw mill there. Farming and blacksmith- ing to some extent also occupied his later years, and he held the office of constable in 1685 and surveyor in 1687.
(III) Caleb, son of Robert (2) Barker, was born in Duxbury, May 24, 1685 ; died August 25, 1772; married Ann Carr, of Jamestown, Rhode Island, born 1689; died May, 1769, at
Pownalborough, Maine. He was a founder in Scituate, Massachusetts, in 1719, in Han- over in 1732 and 1751, and at Harpswell, Maine, in 1763. In the Boston Gazette of Jan- uary 15, 1754, he advertised: "Cast bells for meeting houses, from a smallereven to a greater, even to one of two thousand weight." They had nine children, of whom Gideon Barker was the fourth in the lineage to Mrs. Davis.
(IV) Gideon, son of Caleb Barker, was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, December 22, 1721, and died in January, 1798. He married Rachel Hodges, born April 3, 1755; died July 6, 1849, daughter of Robert and Rachel Hodges, and they had eight children. He was a ship blacksmith.
(V) Ira, son of Gideon Barker, was born July 19, 1790; died May 14, 1870; married, July 23, 1812, Deborah Bryant Sylvester, born April 9, 1793 ; died July 17, 1869, daughter of John and Bathsheba Sylvester. Like his father he was a ship blacksmith at Scituate, Massa- chusetts, and bears the distinction of having forged the anchors for the famous frigate "Constitution."
(VI) Joshua, son of Ira Barker, and father of Mrs. William F. Davis, was born August 6, 1820, at Scituate, and is still living at Wo- burn, hale and hearty, at the age of almost eighty-nine years. He married, April 23, 1843, Saralı Brooks Norwood, born July 23, 1819; died March 5, 1879, daughter of William and Betsey (Skinner) Norwood, of Lynnfield, Massachusetts. He is a ship carpenter by trade and has followed that and other carpenter work during his whole life. He had a brother. John, who in his young days was an intimate friend and chum of Grover Cleveland, in Buffalo, New York, and this friendship con- tinued throughout their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Barker had four children, Mrs. Davis being the only survivor.
WHITE There were six early immigrants of this name, but most of those bcaring it are descended from John White, of Salem, Massachusetts, 1638, or from William White, of Ipswich, 1635. Both were progenitors of a multitude of descend- ants, and among them are numbered many of the most active and prominent participants in the social, religious and civil affairs of the communities and commonwealths in which they have lived.
(I) William White was born 1610, and tradition says he came from Norfolk county,
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England, to America. For a time he resided at Ipswich, Massachusetts, but very shortly removed to Newbury, which was ordered laid out the year of his arrival. In 1640 he located at Haverhill, being one of the first company of twelve settlers and one of the six grantees of the Indian deed made by "Passaquo" and "Saggahew." This instrument is said to have been written by him, and he was one of the thirty-two landholders of record November 15, 1642. At the town meeting held October 29. 1640, he was chosen selectman, again in 1673, and is listed as one of those who shared in the second division of plow lands laid out June 7, 1652, his portion being seven acres. In 1680 he built a second house near the site of his original residence, and this was standing in good preservation as late as 1889, and has never been occupied by any other than a de- scendant until 1874, being owned in 1889 by a descendant, Samuel White. The farm is west- erly of the burying-ground, on what is now Mill street, in early days known as the "great road" from the village. The estate included a large tract extending northerly, and William White owned a farm in Newbury as late as 1650. His estate was valued at fifty pounds in 1643. In 1659 he had nine acres on the great river, and received five acres in 1667 as his share of the "accommodation" land. With others he received a grant December 15, 1661. to build a mill, and in the succeeding year they were granted not exceeding four score acres, as long as they kept the mill in use. The first regular deed recorded in the town was one given to William White, October 11, 1659. In 1662 he was elected captain of the first military company in the town, and he was among the firmest supporters of the church from its or- ganization. He died September 28, 1690, and his property was inventoried at five hundred eight pounds, ten shillings, a large estate in that day. By his will, made 1683. he gave to Rev. Mr. Ward, his teacher in Haverhill, ten shillings in silver : made bequest to the church of implements loaned by him and then in use for the communion table, and provided for a girl given him by her mother "to breed up." His first wife, Mary, died September 22, 1681, and he married (second ) September 21, 1682, Sarah, widow and second wife of Reginald Foster, an early resident of Ipswich, to which place she removed after the death of William White, and died there in 1693.
(II) John, only recorded child of William and Mary White, was born about 1639-40, in Newbury, and resided in Haverhill, where he
died January 1, 1669. His will indicates that he was possessed of a good estate, and makes provision for his only child, his widow being made executrix, the son to be reared by Will- iam White in case the widow married again. He seems to have made quite a study of short- hand writing, and samples of his skill in that line are still preserved. He married, Novem- ber 25, 1662, in Salem (recorded in Salisbury as November 26, in Haverhill, 25), Hannah, daughter of Edward and Ann (probably Good- ale) French, of Salisbury. Slie married ( sec- ond) September 22, 1669, Thomas Philbrick of Hampton, with whom she lived in the latter town until his death, after which she re- turned to Haverhill, and there died at a great age.
(III) John (2), only child of John ( I) and Hannah ( French ) White, was born March 8, 1664, in Haverhill, where he died November 20, 1727. He was a man of much influence in the community, and accumulated a good estate by trade in merchandise, being able to leave to each of his sons a farm. These were located in Haverhill and Plaistow. He was one of the town officers appointed by Sir Will- iam Phipps, first governor under the new prov- ince charter in 1692, was town clerk in 1694 and proprietors' clerk in 1701. He was cap- tain of the military company, a magistrate of the county court, and represented Haverhill in the general court in 1700, 1702-3, 1708, 1713. 1715-16 and 1719. In 1694 Captain John White owned and commanded a garrison house near the "White house," on Mill street, and at a town meeting, October 14, 1699, he was granted permission, with seven others, to erect a pew in the new meeting house, at his own expense. In 1706 he erected the first fulling mill in the town, on Mill brook, near his house. His home seems to have been the temporary home of those who supplied the pulpit when no regular minister was settled. On two oc- casions when the celebrated George Whitefield visited Haverhill, he stayed at the house of Deacon John White. On the occasion of the first visit Whitefield did not preach because of the great opposition to his use of the meet- ing house. On his second visit he preached to a large congregation in the open air opposite Deacon White's house on Mill street. The authorities on this occasion warned him out of town, but he gave his discourse and read the warning at its end, and at the same time gave notice of another sermon at sunrise the next morning, which was delivered to a good audi- ence. John (2) White married, October 24.
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1687, Lydia, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Trueworthy) Gilman, of Exeter, New Hampshire, and granddaughter of Edward (2) Gilman, great-great-granddaughter of Edward (1) and Rose (Rysse) Gilman, of Caston, England. Edward (2) Gilman was the immigrant ancestor of a numerous and noted family. Hon. John Gilmen, father of Lydia White, came from England in 1638 and settled some years later at Exeter. He was councillor in 1680 and speaker of the New Hampshire house in 1693. Children of Dea- con John White: John (died young), Mary, Hannah, William, Samuel, Nicholas, Timothy, Elizabeth, James, John, Joseph, Abigail, Lydia and Joanna.
(IV) William (2), second son of John (2) and Lydia (Gilman) White, was born Janu- ary 18, 1694, in Haverhill, and died December II. 1737. in that town. He was an influential citizen, deacon of the church and also called "Esquire," and is said to have been represen- tative of the town in the general court in 1733-4. He was a clothier, and had leave, with his brother Samuel, to set up a fulling mill on Sawmill river. The supply of water was often short in Mill brook, and the mill was removed to the new site granted. It is said that Deacon William White planted the first potatoes in Haverhill, in 1718, and raised four bushels. He knew not how to dispose of so large a quantity, and gave much of them to his neighbors. His estate was valued at four thousand seventy pounds three shillings, of which more than half was in real estate. He married, June 12, 1716, in Boston, Sarah, daughter of Samuel (2) and Mary ( Emerson) Phillips, of Salem, born January 28, 1692. Her father was second son of Rev. Samuel (I) and Sarah (Appleton) Phillips, and grandson of Rev. George Phillips, who was the first settled minister at Watertown, Massachu- setts, born about 1593, at Raynham, St. Mar- ton's, county Norfolk, England, and came to America in the "Arabella" in 1630. Sarah Phillips was sister of Rev. Samuel (3) Phil- lips, who espoused Hannah, elder sister of Deacon William White, and resided in Ando- ver, being pastor during life of the south par- ish. Children of Deacon William White: William, Samuel, John, Nathaniel, Sarah (died young ), Timothy, Mary, Sarah, Phillips, Ebe- nezer and Anna.
(V) John (3), third son of William (2) and Sarah ( Phillips) White, was born Febru- ary 7, 1720, in Haverhill, and died in Methuen, Massachusetts, July 11, 1800. He was a large
man, about six feet in height, with powerful voice, of open and generous nature, and was known as "Gentleman John" White. Always a farmer, his home was in his native town until 1754, when he removed to Dracut, and re- mained a short time, returning to Haverhill. in 1770 he purchased a large farm in Methuen, bounded on the north by the Spicket river and south by the Merrimac, now included in the city of Lawrence, the central part of the city being about the center of the farm. He could not endure willful waste, but was not close about disbursements so long as they went to do some good. His easy ways and large fam- ily came near reducing his estate, but the death of a childless brother brought him a legacy which kept his fine farm in his old age and en- abled him to educate liberally some of his chil- dren. His only public service seems to have been in the capacity of captain of militia. In 1766 Rev. Hezekiah Smith began the forma- tion of a Baptist Society in Haverhill and Cap- tain White and his wife became identified with it. He was one of Mr. Smith's most resolute friends and accompanied him on a tour into the middle states. Having no faith in preach- ers who relied upon their learning rather than the spirit, he was impatient with those who preached from notes or "read" sermons, as he termed it, and when Methuen authorities taxed him to support orthodox preaching he remarked to some of them that "If they wanted reading instead of preaching, he would himself read to them, and with a good loud voice, better sermons than they had and for half the price they paid." He married ( first) Miriam, widow of Richard Hazen, of Haver- hill, and daughter of Robert and Mary (Cur- rier ) Hoyt, of Amesbury. She was born June 25, 1720, in Amesbury, married (first) Octo- ber 23. 1744. Richard Hazen, and died in April, 1765. She was mother of John (3) White's first six children: William, Moses. Miriam. Elizabeth, Sarah and Lydia. He married (second) February 18, 1767, Eliza- beth Haynes, born March 21, 1748, died April 16, 1836, having lived a widow nearly thirty- six years. She was a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Clement) Haynes, of Haverhill, and granddaughter of Thomas and Mary ( Harriman) Haynes, of that town. Thomas was a son of Jonathan Haynes, who was born May 27, 1670, son of Thomas Haynes and his wife, Martha Barnard; he was slain by the Indians at Haverhill, February 22, 1698. Jo- seph Haynes was born January 25, 1716, in Haverhill, and lived to be eighty-six years old.
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