Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I, Part 104

Author: Crane, Ellery Bicknell, 1836-1925, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 824


USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. I > Part 104


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(IV) Jonathan Bliss, son of Thomas (3) and Mistress Ide Bliss, born in England about 1625, was made a freeman of the Plymouth colony 1655. He


was "way warden" at the town meeting in Re- hoboth May 24, 1652, and May 17, 1655, was on the grand jury. He was a blacksmith. He was made a freeman in Rehoboth, February 22, 1658, and drew land June 22, 1658. He was one of the eighty who made what is called the North Purchase. He married, 1647-48, Miriam Harmon (probably a sis- ter of his sister's husband). He died 1687. The inventory of his estate was sworn to May 23, 1687. The magistrate was the famous governor, Sir Ed- mund Andros. Their children were: I. Ephraim, born 1649. 2. Rachel, December 1, 1651, married, October 28, 1674, Thomas Manning, of Swansea, Massachusetts. 3. Jonathan, March 4. 1653, died 1653. 4. Mary, September 31 (sic), 1655. 5. Eliza- beth, January 29, 1657, married June 25, 1684, James Thurber. 6. Samuel, June 24, 1660, died August 28, 1720. 7. Martha, April, 1663. 8. Jonathan, (sometimes recorded Timothy) September 17, 1666, died October 16, 1719. 9. Dorothy, January 27, 1668, married, June 26, 1690, James Carpenter. IO. Bethia, August 1671, married, April 15, 1695, Daniel Carpenter, died February 27, 1702-03. Her hus- band was son of William Carpenter and Miriam Scarles, of Rehoboth, born October 8, 1669.


(V) Ephraim Bliss, son of Jonathan (4) and Miriam Bliss, was born at Rehoboth, February 5, 1649. He resided at Braintree, Quincy, Scituate, Rehoboth and Providence, Rhode Island. Their children were: Jonathan, born at Braintree about 1672-73; Mary; Thomas; Ephraim, married Mary , resided at Rehoboth (she was born 1702, died November 14, 1730) ; and Daniel.


(VI) Jonathan Bliss, son of Ephraim (5) and Bliss, was born at Rehoboth, 1672-73. All his children died young without issue except John. They were: Hannah, Thomas, Mary, John, born I7II, died June, 1752; Nathaniel, and Ephraim.


(VII)_ John Bliss, son of Jonathan (6), was born at Rehoboth, 1711. He married on Thanks- giving Day, 1735, Rebecca - -, a very capable


and energetic manager, history tells us, who with great prudence and thrift cared for her property after the death of her husband. He died 1752. Their children were: Nathan, born December 19, 1736, died December 3, 1820; Elizabeth, April 5, 1738; Anne, April 1, 1740; William, June 6, 1742, died 1822; Rebecca, December 20, 1744; John, August 21, 1747, died March 12, 1825; Abigail, April 28, 1750; Ke- ziah, born November 26, 1752, died 1793-94.


(VIII) Nathan Bliss, son of John (7) and Re- becca Bliss, was born at Rehoboth, December 19, 1736. He was a farmer at Rehoboth. He married, December 26, 1760, Joanna Bowen, who died March 10, 1823. He died December 3, 1820. Their children were : 1. Nathan, born December 19, 1761, died Janu- ary 31 .1852. 2. Abel, December 22, 1763, was a farmer at Rehoboth, captain in the militia, married Olive Briggs, of Dighton, who died May 17, 1823; he married (second) Hannah Horton, died without issue, November 13, 1843, (she died March 7, 1859, aged sixty-six years). 3. Olive, October 2, 1765, married, January 4, 1786, Samuel Goff. 4. Joanna, July 25, 1767, married, January 18, 1787, Shubael Horton and - Payne. 5. Sylvanus, July 9, 1700, died June 23, 1859. 6. Rebecca, July 12, 1771, married May 23. 1793, Sylvester Goff, of Rehoboth. 7. John, born September 1, 1773, died August 29, 1859. S. Thomas, October 17, 1775, died 1855. 9. Anna, September 17, 1777. 10. Cromwell, March 17, 1779, died February 7, 1848. 11. Ezra, June 17, 1780, died May 11, 1857.


(IX) Nathan Bliss, son of Nathan (8) and Joanna Bliss, was born at Rehoboth, December 19, 1761. He removed to Royalston, Massachusetts, be-


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tween 1770 and 1775, and married Ruth Briggs, at Dighton, Massachusetts, who died at Royalston, November 28, 1862. She was born at Dighton, December 22, 1705. He died at Royalston, Jan- uary 31, 1852. Ile was a farmer. Their children were Annie living at Royalston, unmarried; Abel born August 23, 1785, died July 4, 1852; Ruth 1795, married James Buffum, who lived in Keene, New Hampshire. She died 1856; Sally, born 1806, mar- ried Benjamin Buffum, of Royalston.


(X) Abel Ballou Bliss, son of Nathan Bliss, Jr. (9), was born at Royalston, August 23, 1785. He was a shoemaker. He married Nicena Ballou, who was born March 6, 1788, and died April 7, 18.47. He died July 4, 1852. Their children were: Nathan, born September, 1808, married Emily Lovett, 1832; Abel Ballou, February 21, 1811, died August 4, 1852; Harrison, October 9, 1812, married Sarah H. Howe; Russell, December 5, 1815, married Mary May, March 8, 1835, died June 15, 1852; James July 16, 1818, married Julia Drury, died January 16, 1842; Nicena J., December 12, 1823, died Jan- uary 7, 1845, unmarried; Olive Lucian, July 3, 1825, married May 9, 1847. Charles C. Balch, car- penter, resided at Shirley, Massachusetts.


(XI) Harrison Bliss, son of Abel (10) and Nicena Ballou Bliss of Royalston, was born at Royalston, October 9, 1812. What education he got in school was obtained in his native place. He started out at the age of eighteen to make his own living. He landed in Worcester, as he used to say with just seventeen cents in his pockets.


He went to work first at the very place where he afterward bought one of the finest houses in the city, where his son, William H. Bliss, now lives. His employer was Dr. Oliver Fiske. That was in 1830. He worked for four years in the Worces- ter Post Office when Deacon James Wilson was postmaster in the present Union Block, and under Jubal Harrington in the old Central Exchange Building. He went into business with Deacon Alexander Harris in the Salisbury Block in Lin- coln Square, dealing in groceries and in flour. Later he took Joseph E. Gregory as partner. He sold his interest in this store in 1850 and later opened a flour store in partnership with T. and J. Sutton under the name of Bliss, Sutton & Co., on Mechanic street, and in 1857 sold out to his partners. From that time to his death he was occupied with his real estate and banking business. He started Hon. H. A. Blood, of Fitchburg, in business. Mr. Blood was in his employ in his store in Worcester.


Mr. Bliss was president of the New Bedford and Taunton branch of the Boston, Clinton & Fitch- burg Railroad Company, and vice-president of the Framingham and Lowell branch, both of which are now operated by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company.


Mr. Bliss and the late Hon. Francis H. Dewey founded the Mechanics National Bank in 1848. He was president from 1860 to his deathi in 1882. Ile was interested in the Mechanics' Savings Bank from its organization in 1851. He was on the board of investment. He was president from 1864 to his death. He was largely interested in the old Music Hall Company, the successor of which owns the Worcester Theatre. He was interested largely in the Bay State House corporation. He was a rep- resentative to the general court in 1855, 1865 and 1874. He was an Alderman in 1861, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1875 and 1876. He was chief owner of the Oriental Powder Company, manufacturing gun powder near Portland, Maine. During the Franco-Prussian war he made a snug sum of money selling powder to the belligerents. The house in which his son-in-


law. Francis H. Dewey, lives, he said was built from the profits of the sale of powder at that time. He sold out to advantage later. He married Sarah Il. llowe, April 5, 1836, daughter of William Howe, of Worcester. ( See Howe family.) A brother of his wife, Rev. William Howe, of Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, is still living (1905), and will be one hundred years old May, 1900. Her father was a contractor. He had the contract for the building of the Worcester Turnpike over which for some distance the cars of the Boston & Worcester Electric Railroad run. He lost money and was ruined by the contract. Mrs. Bliss died July 24, 1882, a few weeks after her husband. She was a very capable woman and famous for her charities. He died July 7, 1882. Their children were : 1. Harrison, Jr., born July 30, 1843, married Amy Brown, of Dighton, November 6, 1864, died May 12, 1868. 2. Sarah, September 22, 1845, died Novem- ber 18, 1849. 3. William Howe, September 23, 1850. 4. Pamelia Washburn, May 21, 1854, died Septem- ber 9, 1854. 5. Lizzie Davis, March 12, 1856, mar- ried Francis H. Dewey, December 12, 1878, at Wor- cester. They have one son and one daughter. (See Dewey family and Bullock family.)


The mother of Harrison Bliss ( II), was Nicena Ballou. She married Abel Bliss, in Richmond, New Hampshire. She was born March 6, 1788, in Richmond; he was born August 23, 1785, at Reho- both, and when six weeks old was carried on horse back in his mother's arms from Rehoboth to their new home in Royalston. The Ballou family is widely scattered but many Worcester county fami- lies are related to the Ballous.


(1) Maturin Ballou, the emigrant ancestor, married Hannah Pike, daughter of Robert and Cathi- erine Pike, probably of Providence, Rhode Island. 1646 to 1649. He died February 24, 1661, to Jan- uary 31, 1663. Their children were: John, born 1650, married Hannah Garrett; James, born proba- bly at Providence, 1652, married Susanna Whit- man, 1683; Peter, 1654, married Barbary -; Hannah, 1656, died unmarried; Nathaniel, 1658, died young; Samuel, 1660, drowned June 10, 1669.


(II) James Ballou, son of Maturin (1), was born at Providence, Rhode Island, 1652. He mar- ried Susanna Whitman, daughter of Valentine and Mary Whitman (or Wightman), who was born in Providence, February 28, 1658, married July 25, 1683. James was a large owner of land. With what he in- herited and bought he had fully a thousand acres. Their children were: James, born November I. 1684, married Catherine Arnold, January 25, 1714; Nathaniel, April 9, 1687, married Mary Lovell, December 7. 1716; Obadiah, September 6, 1689, mar- ried Damaris Bartlett, January 5, 1717, second Salisbury ; Samuel, January 23, 1692, married Susannah Arnold, second, Mary Smith ; Susanna, January 3, 1695, married John Inman, and Richard Sayles; Bathsheba, February 15, 1698, married Daniel Arnold, October 16, 1720: Nehemiah, January 20, 1702, married Mary Holt and Abigail Perry.


(111) James Ballou, son of James (2) and Su- sanna Ballou, was born in Providence, afterward called Smithfield, now Lincoln, Rhode Island, No- vember 1, 1684. He married Catherine Arnold daughter of Elisha and Susanna (Carpenter) Arnold, in Providence, January 25, 1713. She was born in Wrentham, later called Cumberland, Rhode Island, February 28, 1690. He was one of three pioneers to cross the Blackstone river and settle Cumberland. The Cooks and Ballous, two of these families. often intermarried. They were Baptists of the Roger Williams sort. The little church built in or about 1745, still standing at Cumberland, was


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known as the "Elder Ballou Meeting House." James


Ballou died February 10, 1764. Their children were: Sarah, born November 15, 1713, married Uriah Jillson, 1733; Ariel, November 18, 1715, mar- ried Jerusha Slack, 1740; Bathsheba, November 26, 1717, married Michael Keith and Elisha Newell ; Martha, October 6, 1720, married Elder Nathaniel Cook, January 27, 1742; James, December 10, 1723, married Tamasin Cook, June 7, 1744; Elisha, No- vember 15, 1726, married Hepsibah Thayer, Novem- ber 30, 1748; Priscilla, November 6, 1731, married William Cook, 1753.


(IV) James Ballou, son of James (3) and Catherine Ballou, was born in Wrentham, near Cumberland, Rhode Island, December 10, 1723, mar- ried Tamasin Cook (Daniel (3), Nicholas (2), Walter (I) ), born June 16, 1725, married June 7. 1744. He was made a freeman of Cumberland, April 19, 1749. In 1774 he moved to Richmond, New Hampshire, with other Rhode Island associ- ates. He and other Ballons settled on what has since been known as Ballon Hill. The town was divided in factions later owing to a schism in the Baptist church caused by "the New Lights," in which James was interested but later abandoned. His wife Tamasin, died April 25, 1804, and he married, second, Huldah Carpenter, widow of Joseph Car- penter, June 19, 1806. He died January 21, 1812. His children were: I. Seth, born February 20, 1748, married Margaret Hilton. 2. Olive, May 13, 1751, married Preserved Whipple. 3. Silas, Feb- ruary 24, 1753, married Hannah Hilton, April 17, 1774. 4. Susannah, June 16, 1755, married Nathan Harkness, June 4, 1775. 5. Oziel, July II, 1757, married Hannah Robinson, December 7, 1790. 6.


Tamasin, June 29, 1759, married Ebenezer Swan, February 15, 1778. 7. James, April 25, 1761, mar- ried Mehitable Ingalls, November 5, 1786. 8. Russell, July 11, 1763, married Henrietta Aldrich and -. 9. Aaron, September 25, 1766, married Catherine Bowen, September 8, 1786. 10. Daniel, May 26, 1768, married Mary Hix, April 8, 1787. II. Priscilla, January 3, 1772, married Nathan Bullock, February 28, 1790.


(V) Russell Ballou, son of James (4) and Ta- masin, was born at Cumberland, July II, 1763. / He married Henrietta Aldrich, daughter of Jonathan and Patience Aldrich, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who was born August 20, 1764, certified, (married) February 23, 1783. All their children were born at Richmond, New Hampshire. He removed in 1804, to Royalston, Massachusetts. His wife Hen- rietta died June 8, 1827, aged sixty-seven, and he married, second, Mrs. Beebe Mellen, of Swansea, New Hampshire, widow of Joel Mellen, April 16, 1827. He died at Swansea, New Hampshire, Novem- ber 10, 18.47; she died 1854. His children were : Betsey, born October 6, 1783, married Royal Bland- ing, November 18, 1802; Amey, October 27, 1785, married Stephen Parks; Nicena, March 6, 1788, married Abel Bliss, 1806 (see Bliss Family) ; As- quire, May 8, 1792, maried Arathusa Maynard, May 29, 1816: Russell, September 9, 1794, married Lucy D. Norton, January 29, 1816; Luther, September 7. 1797. married Clarissa Davis, December 3, 1818; Priscilla, June 25, 1800, died unmarried, May 8, 1814: Olive, born August 29, 1803, married Jacob Boyce, 1829; Russell, died in infancy.


HOWE FAMILY. Ezekiel Howe, son of Thomas Howe (3), grandson of Thomas, and great- grandson of John Howe, of Sudbury, was born in Marlboro, Massachusetts, January 29, 1720. He married Elizabeth Rice, of that town, May 10, 1740, and their first child Patience was born in


Marlboro, but recorded also at Worcester whither the father moved about 1742. Their children were Patience, born June 10, 1742; Elizabeth, February 12, 1741; Ebenezer, November 4, 1746; Joel, Novem- ber 2, 1748; Jotham, June 17, 1750; Lney, April 20, 1752; Rebecah, April 3, 1754; Ezekiel, March 20, 1756.


(V) Ezekiel Howe, son of Ezekiel (4) and Elizabeth Howe, was born at Worcester, March 20, 1756. He married December 21, 1773, Mary Young. She was born in Worcester, May 14, 1757. William , died in 1820. Their children were: William, bap- tized July 20, 1783; Mary, baptized July 20, 1783; Asa, baptized July 20, 1783; Ezekiel, baptized Sep- tember 28, 1783. These records are from the Old South Church. They were born between 1774 and 1783.


(VI) William Howe, son of Ezekiel, Jr. (5) and Mary Howe, was born at Worcester about 1780, and died in 1820. He married Sarah Gould, December 22, 1805. Their children were: Will- iam, born March 25, 1806, now living ( 1905) ; John, born August 7, 1808; Rufus, born July 27, 1812; Sarah H., born June 30. 1814, married Harrison Bliss. (See W. H. Bliss, Bliss Family.)


(VII) William Howe, son of William Howe (6), was born May 25, 1806, so if he lives till his next birthday he will be one hundred years old. He is the oldest clergyman living in the United States. Although always in close touch with the members of his family in Worcester, he has made his home in Cambridge, Massachuestts. In appear- ance Dr. Howe is no older than he has been for the past ten years. His sight and hearing have failed but his intellect is clear and his memory ex- cellent.


His youth in Worcester at the home of his parents, town of Holden, and Market street, Worcester, is rich with anecdotes that after nearly a century are full of interest. At that time Worcester was a country village around the court house, and ex- cept for a few stores even Main street was the location of farms. It is a marvelous thing to re- member events a hundred years ago. When he was fourteen his father died and his mother had the care of three younger than he. She managed her af- fairs which were somewhat tangled at the time of her husband's death in a way to win praise from the most astute financiers of the town who knew the problems that she had to meet. William was fitted for college and entered Waterville (now Colby) College, which is a favorite Baptist in- stitution. There were thirteen men in his class, nine of whom graduated. Needless to say he is the oldest living graduate of Colby. He was educated for the ministry at Newton Theological Seminary, and it was while he was there that he began the work that he continued for over half a century, that resulted in the establishment of four Baptist parishes growing out of his mission work. This work he began in Boston as city missionary, walk- ing to Boston from Newton, some ten miles every Saturday and Monday to carry on the work. In a sail loft on Charlestown street he started the first mission and Sunday school that grew into the pres- ent Merrimac Street Union Baptist Church. He established seven others and carried on the eight missions simultaneously. From a Commercial Street Sunday school grew the Baptist Bethel Church on Hanover street.' The Union Baptist Church united with the Tremont Temple Church, and has be- come the most important Baptist church in Boston and probably the best known in the country. From another Sunday school developed the Harvard Street Church, and from still another the Bowdoin Square


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Church. Dr. Howe himself was the first pastor of the Merrimac Street Church, the building being dedicated in 1846, and he remained pastor till 1858 when the union with Tremont Temple took place. In 1863 Dr. Howe accepted the pastorate of a chapel on Harvard street, Cambridge, and under his hands this chapel grew into the parish of the Broadway Baptist Church. Since he was seventy he has been living in retirement at 910 Massachu- setts avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He inar- ried in 1832, Angeline Ammidon, of Boston. She was one the first women to form an anti-slavery society when the abolition movement began in Massa- chusetts. She died in 1883. They had no children. He was one of the founders of the Associated Charities of Boston, and was at one time a mem- ber of the Boston school board. He knew personally Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Rufus Choate, and other famous men long since dead. He has always been interested in the Spell- man seminary for colored girls at Atlanta, Georgia, and in that city he has erected a meinorial chapel to his wife.


JOHN E. BRADLEY. Among the most im- portant factors in the industrial world is recognized the Bradley family, whose name is particularly identified with railway development in the United States, and as pioneers in the great business of building stage coaches and subsequently the manu- facture of steam and electric railway cars.


(I) The Bradley family in America was founded by Daniel Bradley, who sailed from England, April .8. 1635, and settled at Haverhill, Massachusetts, Iater resided at Ipswich. He married Elizabeth Ayer and they had sons, Daniel and Joseph. He was killed by Indians, August 13, 1689.


(II) Joseph Bradley, son of Daniel (1), mar- ried Hannah Heath, April 4, 1691, and their children were: Mehitable, Joseph, Martha, Sarah, David, Nehemiah, Samuel and William.


(III) William Bradley, son of Joseph (2), mar- ried Mehitable Emerson. Their children were: Susan, Sarah, Abigail, Hannah, Mehitable, Joseph, Jonathan, William, Moses, and Nancy.


(IV) Jonathan Bradley married Sarah Osgood, of North Andover, June 17, 1773. Their children were: Thomas Osgood, born September 28, 1774; Sarah, Mary, William, Elizabeth, and Jonathan.


(V) Thomas Osgood Bradley, son of Jonathan, married Mehitable Carlton, and had children: Os- good, born January 15, 1800, died May 11, 1884; John and Frederick.


(VI) Osgood Bradley, son of Thomas (5), was born January 15, 1800. He received a high school education, and early entered upon an active career. His life affords a striking example of the great results attainable through industry and well directed effort. Beginning as a carriage maker, he prose- cuted his labors with such success that at the time of his death he was held in honor as the oldest of the pioneer car builders in America. He learned the carriage-making trade in Framingham, coming in 1822 to Worcester, where he began the making of coaches and carriages in an old wooden building in the rear of the "Green Store," but subsequently removed to other and larger quarters as business expanded. In 1826 he began the making of coaches for the large stage line operators in New York and New England, and for years built the majority of those in use in that region. At the dawn of the railway era in 1835 he turned his attention to the building of railway coaches, and in 1837 sold out his carriage business to become exclusively a railway coach builder, constructing the pioneer cars


for many of the carly castern roads, maintaining one manufacturing location for a full half century. For a decade prior to 1849 lie was associated in busi- mess with Edward B. Rice. During the civil war Mr. Bradley entered into large contracts with the government for the construction of gun carriages for field, sea-coast artillery, fully maintaining the high reputation of the Bradley works and receiving the cordial appreciation of the War and Navy de- partments.


Mr. Bradley was a splendid representative of his residential city. Progressive and enterprising, lie was a leading factor in its upbuilding, and used his influence and means without stint for its advance- ment in moral and intellectual as well as in ma- terial affairs. He was a man of great nobility of character, of strict integrity and the highest moral worth, and was held in esteem by the entire con- munity. He was prominently connected with the Plymouth Congregational Church, and aided ef- ficiently in promoting its interests and usefulness. In 1845 he bought the fine mansion which stood on the site of the present Chase building, where he lived for many years, and where he died, May II, 1884, in his eighty-fifth year. Nearly ten years be- fore his demise (on January 15, 1875) he there cele- brated his seventy-fifth birthday. This was one of the notable events of the day, being the occasion of a remarkable gathering of men whose heads had become whitened with the frosts of many a winter, among the number being many railway magnates from various sections of the country.


His first wife was Fanny Sanger, by whom were born: I. Elizabeth Mehitable, born September II, 1824: married George A. Hamilton. 2. Maria San- ger, September 29, 1826, married John B. Wyman, in 1843; he became a prominent military man in the civil war period. 3. Henry Osgood, see forward. 4. John, April 10, 1831. 5. Daniel Sanger, Febru- ary 9, 1834. 6. Osgood, December 26, 1836. 7. Sarah Olivia. November 2, 1839. Mr. Bradley, after his first wife's death, married Sarah J. Makepeace, by whom was born one child, A. Jeannie, who re- sides in Worcester, and is unmarried.


(VII) Henry Osgood Bradley, third child and eldest son of Osgood (6), was born September 17, 1828. He received a liberal education, and early in life became associated with his father in busi- ness affairs, becoming the office manager and gen- eral accountant of the Bradley works, and displaying the same sterling qualities which characterized the sire. He was a man of unusually broad informa- tion, his mind well expanded not only through liberal reading but by much travel. He was just of age (in 1849) when the California gold-seeking voyagers set out, and he went on the first vessel sailing from Boston, remaining away a year. He became familiarly acquainted with the United States, and twice made a tour of Europe, visiting the industrial and art centres, solely for purposes of recreation and mind improvement. With quiet domestic tastes, he was devoted to his family, and would attach himself to no societies whatever. He bore a full share in pro- moting every community interest, but with entire want of personal ambition, and would not enter upon any public career. He supported the princi- ples of the Democratic party.


Mr. Bradley married (first) Sarah L. Stock- bridge, of Hanover, Massachusetts, and of this mar- riage were born two children, Fanny Sawyer and Jolin Erving. Mrs. Bradley died November 22, 1867. For his second wife Mr. Bradley married Alice Wetherell, of Providence, Rhode Island, who died in February, 1895. Mr. Bradley survived her until October, 1901 ..




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