USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Gloucester > Notes and additions to the history of Gloucester : second series > Part 13
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lights (which I look upon as a term of reproach, as of old the term puritan was) and as little about opposers ; the mentioning of which is irritating, and tends to widen the breach, and ferment divisions, contentions and separations. As to visions we had enough of them, until such time as in a lecture sermon I declared my sentiments con- cerning them ; and so far as I can understand, there has never been one since. Our congregation has been disturbed and interrupted by outcries, but I labored to suppress them. I would add, that as I believe there have been scores savingly wrought upon, who were strangers before that happy day, so much as to the form of godliness, so some professors who rested in the form, and were but legalists or self righteous have seen that they built upon a sandy foundation, and were greatly distressed under conviction ; and by an earnest application unto Christ for wisdom and righteousness, have had a further discovery of Jesus Christ, and have been encouraged to venture upon him for the complete salvation of their souls; and have had their hearts filled with joy in be- lieving. So, also, there have been scores of persons who had truly closed with Christ in times past ; but have walked in darkness, by means of the withdrawal of the spirit, the weaknesses of their graces, and prevailing of their corruptions, and have been for a long time past as in a wilderness. These have been anointed as with fresh oil; their hearts have been made glad, enlarged, quickened and comforted by renewed and con- tinned supplies of grace, have been enabled with enlarged hearts to run the ways of God's commandment. One thing more I see cause to add : that altho' properly speaking, we have had but one itinerant preacher with us, yet several eminently able and zealous servants of the Lord, settled ministers, have occasionally preached to our congrega- tions ; and have been greatly assisted in promoting the good work. God has blessed their labours among us. And it is my hearty desire that the kingdom and interest of our Lord may be promoted, and converts multiplied altho' by other hands. Thus I have made an impartial relation of what God has done amongst us in the methods of his grace. And to him be the glory, who is the anthor of grace, and not to the instru- ments. Suppose a Panl may plant & an Apollo water, yet 'tis God that gives the in- crease. To him, therefore, be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Your most obliged humble servant,
JOHN WHITE.
1743 .- John Dane ( Hist. 324). The children of this settler were : John, William, Daniel, Joseph, Abigail, Return, Lydia and Joshua. Abigail Dane, his widow, died Aug. 24, 1804, aged seventy-nine. John, the oldest son, died a bachelor, March 14, 1814, aged seventy. Wil- liam married, Hannah, daughter of Col. Peter Coffin. She died Oct. 4, 1836, aged eighty-two, leaving no children. Joshua married Sarah -. She died Dec. 4, 1857. Lydia married Thomas Mason, and died May 27, 1791, aged thirty-two.
John Inghalls and Hannah Marshall were married April 18, and had Joseph born in 1744 ; John, 1746; Hannah, 1748 ; Ruth, 1751; Sarah, 1753 ; and Nathaniel, Oct. 4, 1755.
1744, May .- Mr. Thomas Allen had leave "to remove the old school house to any place adjoining his own land (as it now doth) between the place where said school house now stands and within twenty feet of the end of the lane that goeth from the Meeting House Green to his own
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house." In May, 1746, several persons in the Fourth parish had liber- ty to fit up this okl school house and improve it for a school ; but it is very doubtful if it was ever again so improved, for, in March, 1749, in answer to the prayer of Jemima Millet, it was given to her, with the condition that it should be removed from the Meeting House Green. The History (page 233) gives its dimensions and cost ; showing that it was not an imposing structure, even in the days of small things.
Ebenezer Cleaves ( Hist. 324) from Beverly, and wife Anna, had Ebenezer, born in 1747 ; Anne, 1748 ; Edmund, 1750; Nathaniel, 1752; Willard, 1757; Mary, 1759; Samuel, 1761 ; and Abraham, 1763.
John Botten, of Wenham, married Mary Andrews Oct. 2, and had a daughter Mary, born Feb. 15, 1745.
James Millens and Hannah Glover were married July 9, 1744, and had Susanna, born in 1745; and James, 1747.
Samuel Morgan and wife Lydia had John, born April 25, 1744; and the following children baptized at the Second Church : Jerusha, Nath- aniel, William, Joel, Betty, Isaac, Hannah, Nathaniel and Mary.
William White and Rachel Omee were married Nov. 22, and had Mary, born in 1745; and Rachel, 1747 ; both of whom were baptized at the Third Church.
Thomas Edes and Lucretia Day were intending marriage Oct. 13. According to the records, they had Thomas, born in 1746; Joseph, 1747 ; James, 1749; Gideon Day, 1752 ; and Benjamin, 1754. Tradi- tion relates that one of this family, probably the son Thomas, served eight years in the revolutionary war, came home after he was discharged, and was drowned in the same year, leaving a widow who lived to the age of ninety-three. The son Joseph settled in Freeport, Me., about 1779, and is said to have been lost at sea in 1807. Gideon also settled in Freeport whence several of his descendants removed to Guilpool. Benjamin, youngest son of Thomas Edes, was lost at sea, on a voyage to the Banks in 1774.
1745, July 24 .- Nathan Millet, one of Capt. Byles' company at the siege of Louisburg, died in the morning and was buried in the evening.
Robert Honnors and wife Naomi had son Robert baptized this year, and daughter Mary, March 18, 1753. Capt. Robert Honnors died in 1763. His son Robert married Martha Gilbert, April 11, 1769.
Thomas, son of Rev. Richard Jaques, and Sarah Haskell were mar- ried April 9, and had Judith, born in 1746 ; Mary, 1751; Richard, 1761 ; Theopolus, 1764 ; and Sarah April 1, 1766.
Richard Palfray of Boston and Sarah, daughter of Capt. Andrew
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Robinson were married Oct. 17, 1745, and had Sarah, born in Boston ; Richard, baptized in Gloucester, Jan. 22, 1749 ; Susanna, born July 18, 1753 ; and Abigail, baptized Oct. 26, 1755. He was a sail maker, and was buried July 7, 1757. His widow married William Elliot.
John Whiting of Haverhill and Rebecca Gardner were married Jan. 26, 1745, and he was married to widow Sarah Row, Nov. 16, 1752. His children were Rebecca; John, baptized in 1753; Sarah, born in 1754, Joseph, 1756 ; John again, baptized in 1758 ; and Sanders, 1761.
1746 .- Sept. 22, Companies are raised in all the towns and marched to Boston for fear of an invasion by a French fleet. Salem, Marble- head and Cape Ann are in great distress, sending away their effects.
June 20. A petition of the Selectmen was presented to the General Court showing that the battery raised for the defence of the harbor is not complete and that ammunition as well as a parapet for four great guns and pallisades to enclose the said battery are wanting. They pray this court to give order that the fortifications be made useful. The General Court refused to make a grant in answer to the petition or to send a committee to view the works.
Thomas Worley, from North Carolina, and Mary Foster were mar- ried Jan. 14, and had Thomas, born in 1748; Joshua, 1751; Joseph, 1752; Josiah, 1754; Mary, 1756; Esther, 1758; James, 1761; and John, 1765. It is said that three ot these sons, Joseph, Josiah, and James were lost at sea in the "Gloucester" privateer, in the revolution- ary war.
Zaecheus Welcome, peruke maker, appears this year with wife Alice, and is on the record as intending marriage with Susanna Mannaken of Newburg, July 14, 1760. His children were Michael, born in 1746; Zaccheus, 1749 ; Stephen, 1754, lost at sea on a fishing voyage in 1774 ; Alice, 1759 ; and Sarah, 1771. The son Zacchens married Agnes Penny, Oct. 22, 1772.
John Hale ( Hist. 324) had the following children : Samuel born in 1746; John, 1748 ; Benjamin, 1750; Ebenezer, 1752; Jane, 1754 ; and Hannah, 1757. The name was perpetuated in Gloucester by Benjamin only. He married Martha Woodbury in 1772, who died in 1777; and he next married Lucy Tarr, Jan. 13, 1778, who died about 1822. He died May 15, 1806, aged 56. His son Benjamin was the founder of the First Baptist Church in Gloucester. See Hist. 508. He married about 1804, Miss Judith White, with whom he became acquainted on a voyage to Sligo, Ireland. She survived her husband many years, and
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died in Charlestown in May, 1853, aged about 72, leaving several chil- dren.
1747 .- June. A sloop belonging to Cape Ann, Mark Parsons, mas- ter, bound from thence to Maryland was taken about a fortnight ago, near the Cape, in five fathoms of water, by an armed boat, full-manned, which came from a large ship, supposed to be the Don Pedro, then on a cruise. Upon the boats coming towards the sloop, the master and men quitted her and got ashore in the boat.
Stephen Greenleaf, of Newbury, and Mary Davis were married Jan. 24, and have on our records, Stephen, born June 1, 1750; Thom- asine, Oct. 30, 1752 ; Elias Davis, Jan. 13, 1754 ; and Ephraim Mower, March 26, 1755.
Richard Holland and Sarah Cunningham were married Dec. 11, 1747, and had Michael born in 1748; Lydia, 1750; Richard, 1752; Sarah, 1754; Mary, 1756, died 1757; Mary, 1758; and Elizabeth, 1760. Perhaps he had for second wife Abigail Gould of Ipswich.
James Phips and widow Abigail Goodwin were married in Novem- ber, and had Mary, born in 1749; Sarah, 1751; and Rebecca, 1754.
1748 .- John Powel, of Boston, and Martha Winslow intended mar- riage June 11, 1748, and had daughter Sarah born Dec. 25, same year.
Joseph Clough married Susanna Tarbox Feb. 4, 1748 ; Abigail Stacy Sept. 4, 1760 ; and Martha Honnors Dec. 31, 1761. By his three wives he had the following children : Susanna, born in 1748, died soon ; Susanna, again, 1751 ; Anna, baptized in 1753; Mary, 1755; Abigail, 1759 ; Joseph, 1761 ; William, 1764 ; and Benjamin and John, twins, 1766.
Dr. Caleb Rea and widow Abigail Sargent were married Nov. 14, 1748, and had a daughter Abigail, born Aug. 23, 1749, and the mother died Sept. 2, following. He next married Ruth Porter of Wenham, and had Ruthy, born April 9, 1752; Pierce Rogers, April 24, 1754; and Mary, May 6, 1756. Aaron Rea died May 25, 1756, aged about sixteen years, and Dr. Rea and his wife Ruth were dismissed from the First Church to the church in Danvers, Aug. 14, 1757.
Joseph Everdean ( Hist. p. 325) and Anna Broome were married July 12, 1748. His children were Anna, born in 1749; Joseph, 1750; Hannah, baptized 1753; William, baptized 1755; James, baptized 1758 ; James, again, 1760, and Hannah, again, baptized 1764.
April 5. Moses Ring shows that on the 12th May, 1746, he split
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his gun in an engagement with the Indian enemy under Capt. Thomas Henderson, at Pleasant Point, in St. George's River, and prays the General Court for an allowance. Ordered that a good Firelock be delivered to him out of the Province store.
1749 .- Thomas Rand and Sarah, his wife, had a son Thomas, born in Charleston, March 23, 1747 ; Sarah, born in Gloucester, Nov. 11, 1749; Hannah, in 1751; William, 1753 ; and Henry, baptized May 9, 1756. Thomas Rand died Aug. 31, 1762, and a Sarah Rand died in 1763. Thomas Rand, jr., married Judith Row, May 24, 1770, and died Jan. 12, 1806, leaving children, one of whom, Mary, died unmarried Nov. 11, 1867, nearly ninety-three years.
Paul Hughes, sojourner, and Sarah Foster were married Nov. 30, and had James, 1754.
John Noble and Hannah Foster were intendiag marriage Nov. 25. They had Benjamin, born Dec. 6, 1750, and John, July 30, 1752 ; both of whom married in town and perpetuated the name.
James Paterson and Abigail Cradock were married Dec. 26, and had Abigail, born in 1752; James, baptized in 1753; Mary, 1754; and William, May 30, 1756.
Henry Newcomb and Mary Coas were married Nov. 14, and had Mary born in 1750; John, 1752; Elizabeth, 1754; Robert, 1757; William, 1759 ; Joanna, 1762 ; and Anna, 1764, in which year, in June, the father died of consumption. His widow died Dec. 16, 1817, aged eighty-seven. The daughter Elizabeth married, first, Samuel Elwell, and next William Hardy.
1750 .- June 9. A petition of Jethro Wheeler, of Gloucester, to the General Court, showing that his sloop in the month of February, 1744, was impressed by the Committee of War into the service of the Prov- ince ; that he advanced sundry sums of money for fitting her out and has had no allowance for said sums, he prays the consideration of the Court thereon. Referred to the next session.
Edward Gearing and Mary Dimmock were married June 22, 1750, and had the following children baptized at the First Church : Edward in 1751; Mary, 1752; Jabez, 1755; Mercy, 1756; Joseph, 1758; Daniel, 1761 ; and Jabez, 1765. The son Edward married Molly Rowe, April 14, 1771, and died in February, 1806. His widow died in April, 1836, aged eighty-six.
William Younger, sojourner, and Lucy Foster were married March 6, 1750, and William born in 1750; Thomasine, 1753; and Willard and Levi, in 1756.
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James Bishop, of Ipswich, and Sarah Millet were married Dec. 13, 1750, and had Sarah born in 1753 and James, 1756.
William Newman and Anna Steward were married Nov. 29, and had William, born in 1751 ; Elizabeth, 1753 ; Robert, 1755 ; and Deborah, 1757.
John Oakes and wife Jemima came from Marblehead and settled in the Harbor parish. He had a son John, born Jan. 11, 1759; and a son William, April 6, 1769 ; and died Dec. 4, 1815, aged eighty.
William Manning, sojourner, and Elizabeth Stone were married Aug. 24, and had a daughter Betty, born Ang. 22, 1751 ; and a son William, Aug. 11, 1754.
Samuel Leighton and Patience Grover were married Jan. 9, and had Patience, born in 1751 ; Edmund Grover, 1752; Patience, 1754; Sam- uel, 1755 ; Judith, 1757; William, 1760; William, 1762; Daniel, 1764 ; and Patience, 1766. Edmund Grover Leighton made his will in Philadelphia, July, 1791, and his widow Abigail sold, Aug. 11, 1796, real estate in Gloucester bequeathed to her by her husband.
1751 .- Of a Province Tax of £1000, the county of Essex pays £187.15.2. The Town of Newbury pays £28.16.7; Salem, £26.5.2; Ipswich, £22.9.7; Marblehead, £17.3.3; Gloucester, £13.1.7.
1752 .- June 18. Jonathan Coates of Newbury and Sarah Becket were married. He seems to have become a resident of Gloucester and certainly had several children baptized at the First Church, one of whom, Sarah, baptized July 17, 1757, was probably the subject of the follow- ing notice copied into the Gloucester News of July 3, 1850, from the Boston Post - "100 years, 11 months, and 17 days was the age of Mrs. Sarah Welch, who died in this city on Thursday at 107 Pleasant street. Her maiden name was Coates and she was born in Gloucester." She was not a centenarian. Her age was probably exaggerated three years at least and possibly seven.
Ang. 24. Capt. John Prince was paid £2 for attending at the gate near the Cut, in order to prevent the small-pox from spreading in the town. Daniel Sargent was paid for attending at the Battery for the same purpose. In the next year Deacon Isaac Parsons was paid for putting up a fence and gate at the Cut to keep out the small-pox.
1754 .- Feb. 27. Samuel Ingersol was buried; probably son of the first Samuel and upwards of seventy. Capt. William Ingersol, of this family, died of fever at sea, in 1763. He was probably son of Josiah, born in 1719, and the same who married Anne Ellery, Nov. 23, 1749. Solomon Ingersol, who, I must think, was also son of the first Samnel,
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died of apoplexy Feb. 19, 1777, aged seventy-eight. Mrs. Bethial, wife of Josiah Ingersol, died Feb. 3, 1778, in her fifty-third year.
Dec. 16. Constantine Joslyn was buried. His age was about sixty- three. His widow Agnes was one of the town's poor in 1775, then, of course, very aged. Their son Henry, born Sept. 26, 1731, married Rebecca Davis, April 29, 1751, and had a daughter Rebecca, but no other child known to me. Dec. 13, 1769, in a deed not recorded, he sold to the town for £70 his " dwelling-house standing at Fresh Water Cove." He was then sick and had received supplies from the town which paid in 1772 for digging his grave. An Abraham Joslyn died at the work- house June 23, 1838, aged ninety. (See History, page 109).
1755 .- January 11. James Day is licensed by the Court of Ipswich as a retailer of spirituous liquors, tea, coffee, &c.
January 13. Died John Gardner, probably son of the first James, and, if so, about seventy-seven years old.
September. Several fishing vessels returned to Cape Ann, having been fired upon by a privateer, but as she was a dull sailer they escaped.
October. "Very hard thunder; struck Josiah Grover's house and a boy, and struck 'Squam meeting-house, and struck and split a vessel's mast as she lay in the cove near Capt. Robinson's wharf."-Private Records.
November. "Half-past four in the morning was the most shocking earthquake as ever I knew. It shattered a great many chimneys in this town and in other towns."-Private Records.
Nov. 22. "Between 8 and 9 o'clock at nite was a very great shock, but not so great as the former, and many shocks have been heard sev- eral times."-Private Records.
Daniel Fuller, master of Capt. Bennet's schooner, set out for a fall fare and returned no more. Isaac Somes, Benj. Hadlock, Daniel Ring and John Rutford were on board of her. These all lived in West Parish.
1756 .- January 7. Wives of deacons of the Fifth Church are ex- empted from contributions for supporting charges for communion table.
September 12. Widow Poland had a son Joseph baptized at the Fourth Church. The father Joshua, was drowned, having had before this date, two other sons, Joshua and John.
1757 .- Capt. Elwell arrived at Cape Ann in fifteen days from Bar- badoes.
Neutral French. Feb. 21. The Selectmen are allowed expenses re- lating to the French that came last from Nova Scotia. John Low what
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he advanced for the Nenter-French that came last from Nova Scotia to this town by order of the government, which was allowed the town by the province. March 10, 1759, Selectmen received a note from the Province Treasurer for £6 being the rent of the French-Neuter House in this town.
June 25. Moses Ring, of Gloucester, who is proprietor of a grist mill in that town, much frequented by people of the neighboring towns, who oftentimes stand in need of refreshment while there, but there be- ing no house of public entertainment near, suffer great inconveniences for want thereof, prays that the Court of Sessions may license him as an inn-holder. Read and ordered that the petition be not granted.
The mill here mentioned stood on the spot now occupied by the grist mill in Riverdale, and Ring's house is still standing on the Main road, a short distance from the mill. With or without a license it was kept as a tavern a hundred years ago.
1758 .- March 16. General Court resolves that there be paid to Thomas Riggs £2. 6s. 8d. in full of the half pay he was entitled to, on his re-enlisting in the service in the last Crown Point Expedition.
April. A vessel arrives at Cape Ann from Lisbon.
May 20. Jacob Bailey, teacher of the grammar school, writes to a friend at Hampton, N. H. : "My school continually increases and I have already between 20 and 30 misses, who come to school dressed in sacks and ruffles. They make a very pretty appearance. We conclude at evening with singing one of Dr. Watts' hymns or else his Sapphic Ode, and the house being built in such a manner nothing can equal the mel- ody, order and decency which attends it."
1759 .- April 12. Arrived at Cape Ann, the schooner Industry, Jas. Babson, master, in five weeks from Lisbon.
Aug. 18. The house of the widow Saunders was struck by light- ning and received considerable damage. Several persons that were in the house were knocked down and stunned for some time, but all of them recovered.
1760 .- Peter Emons and John Brown had their taxes abated, "having been cast away and taken." James Tyler and Abraham Williams also had theirs abated, "having been cast away."
1761 .- Jan. 13. John Walhlate of Gloucester petitions General Court, setting forth that in the year 1756 he was a soldier in the Pro- vince service at Lake George, went out on a scout under Capt. Hodges with about fifty men, who were attacked by 400 or 500 French and In-
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dians. He was taken captive and was detained till Montreal was taken. Allowed £10 for loss of time and sufferings.
Feb. 12. Ebenezer Collins is paid for his vessel going to Boston to carry Samuel Pool's family. Others were paid for services about Pool's family on account of small pox.
A leaf of an old account book has the following : "Memorandum of the drouth in the year 1761 ; we had a great rain in May the 4th day, it held from Monday morning till Saturday and we had no more of any vally at all till August the 23d day it rained a great deal."
Sept. 18. Hannah, wife of John Hadley, jr., died, about 70 years old. A John Hadley, her grandson probably, died June 11, 1809, aged seventy. A Nabby Hadley died Nov. 12, 1823, aged seventy.
Samuel Davis died this year in prison, "among the French."
1762 .- Feb. 15. Mr. David Plummer is paid 18s. 8d. for 6 pairs of gloves for one of the poor of the town-(probably for the bearers at the funeral).
April. Died, Mrs. Sarah Riggs, an aged woman.
April 17. John Rowe petitions General Court, setting forth that his son Jabez Rowe, a minor, served on board his Majesty's ship Nep- tune in the expedition against Canada in 1759, and on his return home was taken sick, that he was a great expense for doctors and nurses, and praying an allowance. Ordered that the sum of £3, exclusive of the doctor's bill, be paid to Thos. Sanders, Esq., for the use of the petitioner in full.
May 10. Died, the widow Hilton, aged eighty years.
May 13. Last Thursday night a small schooner belonging to Bev- erly, and bound to Pownalborough, having a number of passengers on board, in a squall of wind was cast away upon a ledge of rocks off Cape Ann, when the master and five men were drowned.
1763 .- March 21. Capt. Allen in a schooner from Martinico to Cape Ann, was taken a short time after he left that place, by a Spanish pri- vateer, but the men soon after rose upon the Spaniards and carried the vessel into St. Kitts, and she is since arrived at Cape Ann.
June 2. A vessel arrived at Cape Ann fifty days from Lisbon.
1764 .- Dec. 10. The overseers admit a family into the work house. They agree to supply Mrs. Anna Elwell some wood, molasses and corn to support her during the winter, provided she behave herself soberly and well.
Dr. Noyes is paid twenty-seven shillings for journey from Andover to see the sick of the small pox.
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Schooner Molly, owned by Daniel Rogers, was lost this year.
From a memorandum attached to an almanac, in the handwriting of Rev. John Rogers, we get a glimpse of the commerce of the town this year. From May, 1764 to May, 1765, this minister sent twenty-one adventures of fish in quantities of one to four quintals each, principally to Bilbao and the West Indies. In the same year he records eleven ventures to Virginia comprising W. I. rum, molasses, cash and a beaver hat. In a previous year he made shipments to Lisbon, Cadiz, Bilbao and Virginia, one to the latter being a pair of black silk stockings valued at £7.10. He enjoyed unusual facilities for these small business tran- sactions, for his brother Daniel was one of the chief merchants of the town, and many of his parishioners were mariners.
1765 .- March 8. Died, widow Sarah Douce, aged eighty.
Dec. 19. Last week two fishing vessels arrived at Cape Anm from the Grand Banks. They inform that great numbers of French ships were fishing on the banks, who were very insulting, and did consider- able damage to many of our fishermen by running foul of their vessels, etc. They also inform that on Tuesday se'en night they met with a very violent gale of wind in which they had the misfortune to have two men washed overboard from each of their vessels, among whom was the skipper of one of them. On the fourth, at night, a fishing schooner be- longing to Marblehead, from the banks of Newfoundland, ran ashore on the Cape. As soon as she struck, the men, nine in number, took to the boat. The surf running high, the boat overset and all perished. A boy left on board was found dead next morning, forward of the wind- lass.
A spire was built on the meeting house of the first parish this year, the old spire having fallen "by the wind." Oct. 23, 1761, the town paid £4 for a weather-cock for the new one.
1766 .- March 15. A store with a sail-loft was consumed by fire, with between twenty and thirty pieces of duck partly made up, and sundry other articles that were therein.
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