USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > Leeds > History of the town of Leeds, Androscoggin County, Maine, from its settlement June 10, 1780 > Part 15
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Joseph Jr., was born in Easton, Mass., in 1763. Soon after his return from the army, in 1784, he married Eunice Carver and settled in Bridgewater. To them were born in that town, Bash-
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aby, 1784; Simeon, 1786; Charles, July 2, 1788; Joseph, Sept. 14, 1790. In 1791, the parents and' these children came to Little- borough, built their log house and hovel where the buildings on the town farm now stand, and there their other children were born, namely : John, in 1792; Elijah, 1794; Eunice, 1796; Polly, 1798 ; Stephen, Sept. 16, 1800; Ruth, 1802; Asa, 1804; Matilda, 1806; Betsey, 1808; Lucretia, 1810.
In the spring of 1792, Joseph, Sen., and his other children, followed from Bridgewater to Leeds, and settled a short distance northerly of Joseph, Jr., on the site where Barnabas Howard, Jr., later lived. This place, too, is now owned by the town.
Matilda, second child of Joseph, Sr., and Susan Packard, mar- ried Thomas Millet, a son of one of the earliest settlers of Leeds. They had no issue.
Elijah, third child of Joseph, Sr., married Patience Gould and settled in the Stinchfield neighborhood, near the town line. They had issue Pelatiah, Abial, Jane, Rhoda, Jared, Dorothea and Ward. Pelatiah married Abigail, the widow of Noah Wing, whose maiden name was Abigail Norris. To them two sons were born, namely: Abial D., whose second wife was Ella Mil- lett ; and Woodbury S., who married Rachael Greenwood, and who erected the buildings at North Leeds now owned by their only child, Willis Knapp. Pelatiah married a second time, and the issue was George Henry, who was many years conductor of a passenger train on the Farmington branch of the Maine Cen- tral Railroad; and Mary Ann, who now resides in East Liver- more, his only remaining child.
Neither Jane, Rhoda nor Dorothea married ; all dead.
Abial left home when a young man, and died without issue ; Jared married Susan Gott ; settled in Wayne, where he resided until death, which occurred in 1898. Their children were Elijah, who is a resident of that town, Miranda Ellen and Anson G. Ward married and settled in Saco, where he was many years an overseer in a cotton mill.
Ziba, fourth child of Joseph, Sr., settled where B. F. Trask resides : married Betsey Baisy, of Falmouth, Me., by whom he had three sons and two daughters, namely: William, Ziba, Cyrus, Betsey and Susan. William and Ziba went to sea and died of yellow fever; Betsey married a Mr. Redding, who was lost at sea ; later married a Mr. Morse, of Gray, but of their isstie we are not informed ; Susan married a Mr. Knight, and her hus- band was also lost at sea. She, later, married a Mr. Johnson, of whom we are no further informed.
Cyrus graduated from the medical department of Bowdoin College in the class of 1825. He married Susan, a daughter of Rev. Thomas D. Francis, of Leeds. They settled in Winthrop in 1827, where he acquired a reputation as a physician. In 1838
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he removed to Augusta, and after several years' practice there was appointed superintendent of the Insane Hospital. From there he went to Rochester, N. Y., and his fame became world- wide. Of his children, we know little more than the fact that one son became a skillful and widely noted physician.
Rhoda, fifth and youngest child of Joseph Knapp, Sr., mar- ried William Gott, of Greene, whose residence was near the line between that town and Leeds, and who in 1807, removed to Wayne and settled on the lake road near the town line, where they afterward lived and died, Rhoda, Dec. 21, 1850, and her husband, Jan. 10, 1860. To them eight children were born in Greene and six in Wayne, namely: William, Jr., b. Oct 6, 1795 ; m. Ruth Gould, of Livermore; settled in Livermore; later in Leeds; had issue Eliza, Malinda, Louisa and Joseph. Elijah, b. Feb. I, 1797 ; m. Polly Stinchfield, of Leeds ; settled on a portion of his father's farm ; had issue Elvira and Mary Ann. Sarah, b. Oct. 5, 1798; m. Stephen Knapp, of Leeds, her cousin ; settled in Leeds ; reared a large family of children. Mehitable, b. Sept. 12, 1800; m. a Mr. Harrison; had issue. Jared, b. 1802; died young. Anson and Matilda, twins, b. May 27, 1804; former set- tled in Turner ; latter m. Roland Maxim; settled in Wayne; had issue several daughters and one son, Martin V. Charles, b. July I, 1806; m. Jane Foss; settled in Wayne; issue Gardiner G., Charles S., Elijah, William and Howard C .; later m. Annie Wood, of Mercer ; issue John W., George H., John M. and Jen- nie M. Susan, b. in Wayne, July 21, 1808 ; m. Jared Knapp, her cousin. Mary, b. Oct. 31, 1810; m. Thomas Wing, of Fayette ; issue Charles Wing, M.D .; Harrison, b. 1813, d. young ; Jane, b. May 2, 1815; m. Loring Foss, of Leeds, no issue; Alfrida, b. July 12, 1817; m. Otis Howard, no issue. Aurelia, b. Jan. 15, 1821 ; m. Nathan Coffin, now of Leeds, issue Manley and Edith. The above children and grandchildren of Rhoda are given, for the reason that many of them are connected with other Leeds fami- lies.
Joseph Knapp, Sen., was a lineal descendant of William, the eldest of the three brothers who came to this country in 1630.
Returning to the family of Joseph, Jr., and Eunice (Carver) Knapp, Bashaby, their eldest child, never married.
Simeon, second child, m. Lucy Lindsey in 1806; settled in Kingfield, Me .; issue John, Levi, Louvisa, William, Irena and Statira. Simeon m. second, Jane Spear; issue Charles, Owen, Simeon, Rachael, Mary and Jane.
Charles, third child, will be mentioned farther on.
Joseph, fourth child, m. Deborah Cushman, of Leeds ; settled in Kingfield ; issue four sons and six daughters ; one of whom is Judge Cyrus B. Knapp, of Livermore Falls; another is Mrs. Lemuel Sumner, who is an aged and much respected resident of Leeds.
STEPHEN KNAPP.
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John, fifth child, m. Martha Wing; settled in Freeman, Me .; issue, seven or eight sons and three daughters.
Elijah, sixth child, m. Celia Pullen, of Kingfield, Me .; set- tled in Freeman ; issue six sons and four daughters.
Eunice, seventh child, m. Zenas Vaughn, of Kingfield, Me .; issue nine children.
Polly, eighth child, m. Noah Blanchard, of Kingfield; issue Catharine, Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Lucretia and Joseph K.
Stephen, eighth child, b. in Leeds Sept. 16, 1800; m. Sarah, daughter of William and Rhoda (Knapp) Gott, of Wayne, in 1820. She was b. in Greene Oct. 6, 1798. They first settled in the town of Anson, Me., where they resided about three years, when he came back to Leeds and lived on the farm of his brother Charles, which is the same now owned by the town, until the spring of 1831, at which time he removed to the place now owned and occupied by his son, Steven D., where he spent his remaining years, which were many. He d. April 5, 1892, and his wife April 18, 1870. He was an honest, upright and truthful man. They had issue :
William G., b. in Anson, Dec. 27, 1821; m. Cynthia Ripley ; lived first in Turner and later in Hartford ; issue, Alma A., Susan Ellen, Mary, Henry, Delphinia, William, Lillian and Stella. He d. May 3, 1901, and his wife Marchi 15, 1894.
Asa, b. in Anson Dec. 29, 1822; m. Sarah Thompson ; settled in Turner; removed to Canton and subsequently to Livermore, where he d. Dec. 5, 1896, and his widow December, 1899. He was a farmer. Their children were: Isabelle, Ella, Hattie and Mary J. Mary J., b. in Leeds Aug. 12, 1825; m. Jacob Shaw, of Lowell, Mass. Issue, one child, Ada.
Rossa, b. March 2, 1827; d. Oct. 5, 1891 ; single.
Elizabeth, b. May 8, 1828; m. first, David Kenney; issue, Charles P .; m. second, Caleb Battles ; issue Abbie and Winfield. She d. Sept. 16, 1893.
Charles, b. July 17, 1829; d. in California, Aug. 2, 1883.
Earl, b. Feb. 10, 1831; m. Eliza Berry. Both living; resi- dence, Wilton, Me .; issue, Almira, Richard, Herbert, Isabella, Edward, Ina and Margie.
Lucinda, b. June 17, 1833; m. T. A. Dascom; residence, Leeds ; issue, Anna A., Alice and George W.
Sarah F., b. April 2, 1836; m. first, Henry Dexter, of Wayne; m. second, John Fairbanks ; no issue ; d. March 19, 1898.
Stephen D., b. Nov. 22, 1839; m. Lizzie B. Moore, of Liver- more, Nov. 1, 1867. She was b. March 23, 1850. They reside on the homestead of his father at North Leeds. Issue, Frank M., Willie B., Charles R. and Rollie D. The two oldest are mar- ried.
Ann R., b. Sept. 22, 1841; m. David Berry and settled at North Leeds on the old Berry farm, now owned by Russell S.
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Gould; subsequently removed to California, where she died May 9: 1895. Their children were: Willis R., Charlie E., Fannie S. and Edith.
Ruth, ninth child of Joseph, Jr., m. Hon. Rufus J. H. Porter, of Kingfield ; issue Matherine, Elizabeth, Mary Ann and Lucretia.
Asa, tenth child, d. when 8 years old.
Matilda, eleventh child, m. Stephen Pullen, of Kingfield; issue two sons and four daughters.
Betsey, twelfth child, m. Nathan Peabody, of Freeman ; issue four sons and one daughter.
Lucretia, thirteenth child, m. John Thompson, of New Port- land ; issue two sons and two daughters.
Charles, third child of Joseph, Jr., b. in Bridgewater, Mass., July 2, 1788 ; came to Leeds with his parents when 3 years old- 1791. In 1810 he married Catherine, a daughter of William Lindsey, one of three brothers who settled in Leeds. He remained on the homestead and carried his wife there. Later he removed to the home of his wife's father, which is the farm now owned and occupied by Catherine L. Knapp. They assumed the care of her parents. There he erected buildings and spent the remainder of his life. To them were born:
Azel, May 20, 1811 ; Abigail L., March 3. 1814: Colista, May 15, 1816; Hannah L., March 17, 1818; Archibald L., Aug. 7, 1819; Charles Sewall and Catherine, Aug. 15, 1821. His second wife was Hannah, his first wife's sister. To them was born a daughter, Catherine L., Aug. 31, 1825.
Uncle Charles Knapp, as he was familiarly known both near and far, was an industrious, enterprising and honest farmer. As a boy he was always busy, never allowing an hour to pass with- out something to show for it. He commenced working out for a peck of corn per day in compensation for his labor. When he was grown and for many years after his marriage, his winters were spent in the woods in the northern part of the State, where he commanded better pay than any of his fellows, for the good reason that he earned it. Not only was his own team fed by four o'clock in the morning, but the others were gotten ready by him, while their drivers were sleeping. Such was his course through life,-always driving his work before him. By his labor and economy he acquired a goodly amount of property-such as honest toil merits. His was a home of hospitality, and seldom free from some of the many of his relatives who made it a haven if sickness or misfortune came upon them. Seconded by two of the most patient and sympathetic women Leeds ever raised, he always made them welcome and tenderly cared for them until restored to health. But no drones could long inhabit his hive; a place for them was at once found in the field or woodland, which
CHARLES KNAPP.
HANNAH L. POLLARD.
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they accepted or hunted their honey in other bowers. Work was his nature, but never was he so busy if his neighbors, near or remote, were sick, that he could not find time to do theirs. Seemingly severe on lazy people, he was tender and kind to the needy and sick, and always ready to aid those who would try to help themselves. In the cause of education was he likewise interested. His children and others whom he assisted in that most noble enterprise, were urged and required to do earnest work. His eldest son, Azel, was liberally educated and went to Missouri, where he successfully engaged in teaching in the schools of that state. He was subsequently a preacher of the gospel and died at the age of 33 years, Aug. 10, 1844.
His second child, Simeon, died when II years old, July 27, 1823.
Abigail L., the next child, m. Isaac Stinchfield Sept. 8, 1834. Her children are mentioned in the sketch of the Stinchfield family.
Colista, fourth child, m. Samuel Leadbetter May 16, 1838; settled in Glenburn, Me .; issue Mary, Lucius, Herbert, Roscoe, Charles and Horace. She died in Bangor Jan. 23, 1872.
Hannah L., next in the list, was liberally educated, and especially fitted herself for a teacher, in which work she was many years engaged in her native town and various others in the State. We recall no one who had a greater or more successful experience than she. Feb. 16, 1859, she married Barnabas Davee, and located where she now resides. He was a man of prominence in Leeds, as per records of the town, having ably discharged the duties of the various offices to which he was, from time to time, elected. He is pleasantly remembered as a teacher of vocal music, in which position he was a long time engaged. After his decease she married, Nov. 17, 1878, Lewis J. Pollard, who shared her home, ever made pleasant and enjoyable by her kind and genial disposition, witty sayings and fostering care. Although her faculties are wonderfully good, she is not so young as she used to be ; yet by no means old at eighty-three. No issue.
Arch L., sixth child of Charles, married in February, 1844, Jane White ; settled in Leeds ; later removed to Dixfield and sub- sequently to East Livermore. They had issue Flavilla, Rose Emma, Charles, Bradford and Jennie.
Flavilla. married ; resides in Farmington and has a family ; Rose Emma, married ; resides in Dakota and has issue;
Charles, married ; resides in East Livermore and has a family ; Bradford, married ; wife died; no issue ;
Jennie, married, resides in the west.
Arch L. was an honest, industrious man-a worthy son of noble parents, a kind and indulgent husband and father. He died at the home of his son, Bradford, in New Sharon, Me., May 8, 1897. His place of burial is in East Livermore.
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Charles Sewall, seventh child, had a twin sister who died in infancy or early childhood. He married Vesta A. Soule Oct. 12, 1854. He remained on the homestead of his father where he worked from the cradle to the grave. He was a man of honesty, integrity and uprightness, and commanded the respect of all who knew him. He died Jan. 5, 1892. They had issue Mary, Bart- ley and Ralph. Mary is dead; Bartley is a locomotive engineer in Wisconsin; married; Ralph is on the old homestead; twice married; widower; has issue.
Catherine L., youngest child of Charles Knapp, was highly educated and a very able teacher in many of the schools in the State. Her early years gave promise of a very successful and useful life. Possessed of a liberal endowment of executive abil- ity, a pure, powerful and progressive mind, none were better qualified or fitted for the higher pursuits of life than she. That the misfortune of others should mar or pervert a life of such promise is a matter of the greatest regret. Her family ties, her sense of duty has made hers the life of a benefactress, yes, more, a living martyr. She has grown prematurely old in the service; yet, her great sacrifice is too little appreciated by those for whom it has been made. She is a maiden lady of 75 years.
Charles Knapp died Sept. 26, 1875. His place of burial is in the Robert Gould cemetery, at North Leeds, where many of his people are reposing.
STEPHEN FOSTER.
One of the early settlers of Littleborough was Stephen Foster, a native of Winthrop. He came from that town with his family in 1786. He was the youngest of eleven children, sons and daughters of Capt. Timothy Foster, who was born in Attle- borough, Mass., May 14, 1720. The wife of Capt. Timothy was Sibler Freeman, born Oct. 29, 1723. They removed from Attle- borough to what is now Winthrop, Me., in 1765. The spot selected for his home was on the westerly shore of Cobbosse- contee Lake and about two miles from its northerly end, an exten- sive meadow, and brook running through it, close by.
His dwelling was at the southerly end of a lateral moraine, about ten rods from the Lake shore and well protected from pre- vailing winds. Here. in the wilderness, with fish and game all around him, Stephen Foster, best known as "Old Hunter Foster," was born, Feb. 28, 1766,-the clerk quaintly adding to the records these words : "The first Christian Child born in this Plantation." At the date of his birth, this was the only family in the vicinity. They were on the extreme verge of civilization. West to Lake Champlain, north to Canada line, there was no echo from the set-
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tler's axe, or smoke from his fires seen curling through the foliage. Born and reared under these circumstances, it is no wonder that he loved the woods and the excitement of the hunt and chase. His boyhood days thus spent, so hardened and toughened his muscles and matured his instincts, that he was accepted in his father's company of militia at the age of fourteen, and took part as soldier therein in the disastrous campaign against Bagaduce in 1779.
In 1785 Capt. Timothy Foster died from the effect of a blow on his head from a falling tree.
Winthrop was now getting so dense in population, its game either captured or driven back-that less hunted fields were to be sought, if "Old Hunter" was to succeed in his chosen calling. In his rovings through and about the country he could not have failed to see that in and around the waters of "The Great Andro- scoggin Lake" and particularly of Dead River, the game would thrive in abundance, and so, with a hunter's instinct, he selected this place for his future home. In previous years, when on these hunting expeditions, his camp was a hollow, giant maple tree standing on the Stinchfield cape on the northerly side of Dead River between its bends, nearly opposite the "Carrying Place." Stones and a few bricks which constituted his fire-place remain there to this day, and the spot is called "Old Foster's Camp." The log house to which he moved his wife and two sons, Stephen and John, was located on the southerly side of Foster Brook, a few rods easterly of where the railroad crosses it, at the extreme southeastern border of Androscoggin Lake. The farm he redeemed from the wilderness has since remained the property of his descendants, and is now occupied by a great-granddaughter, Mrs. Orrie A. (Foster) Davis. Farming, however, with him was incidental. Hunting and trapping in their seasons were his chief pursuits in which he was an expert and became widely known. His wife was Sally Streeter, by whom he had seven children. She died, and in 1835 he married Diadama, widow of William Johnson, of Monmouth, and for a time lived with her in her home in that town. The union did not prove harmonious, sepa- ration soon followed and he returned to his old home in Leeds.
Mr. Foster was for a time a member of the Society of Friends and conformed to their habits and dress. It is related that on one occasion he became so highly exasperated at his treatment by one of his neighbors, that his temper got the better of the peaceful tenets of the order, and divesting himself of his coat, throwing it on the ground exclaimed, "Lay there, old Quaker, till I've licked this fellow," which having executed satisfactorily, resumed his garb.
His death was the result of an unfortunate mistake. He left his home on one of the last days of March for Augusta, to collect
.
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his pension. The route was over Bishop Hill and past the resi- dence of Zadoc Bishop, one of Leeds' earliest settlers. Meeting Mr. Bishop by the wayside he must stop and have a talk. While so engaged Mr. Bishop casually remarked, "You have lived all your life in the woods and know everything that grows there, tell me what is that bush growing up out of the wall there, I've thought it might be Dogwood and would like to know." Mr. Foster replied, "I don't know what it is, bring me some. i can tell if it is Dogwood-I know Dogwood." A twig bearing red berries and dried leaves was brought. Looking it over care- fully Mr. Foster says, "No, it isn't Dogwood. I don't know what it is, but I know Dogwood and it isn't that, I am not afraid to eat it," and taking leaves and berries into his mouth, chewed them vigorously and soon drove on.
It was not long before he felt a soreness in his mouth and a sickness coming upon him, and by the time he reached the home of Enos Fairbanks in Winthrop, about four miles distant, he was violently sick. Mr. Fairbanks was an old acquaintance, born in the same neighborhood. They had always known each other and Mr. Foster was accustomed in his trips to Winthrop to call on his old friend.
He now stopped from necessity, and his condition was found so serious that medical aid was at once summoned from the vil- lage three miles distant. Nothing could avail, and after a day or two of intense suffering, the old pioneer, the adventurous and skilful hunter and youthful soldier closed his eventful life, April 2, 1842.
The funeral service was held in the Universalist Meeting- House in Winthrop village, conducted by Rev. Giles Bailey, the pastor. The services being closed, a grandson of the deceased tendered the minister the usual fee. A person who had assisted in the musical exercises standing near by, said to the minister after the grandson had retired, "Mr. Bailey, you've preached the old hunter into Heaven, with all his horses, his dogs, his guns and his traps, and you've only got ten dollars for it ; Parson Thurston wouldn't have done it short of twenty-five."
The burial was in the "Fairbanks Cemetery" in Winthrop. On this elevated spot, overlooking the home of his boyhood, the Lake now widely noted for its beauty and as a place of public resort, the hills and meadows where his youthful muscles were trained and hardened for his chosen calling, his remains were quietly laid at rest beside his kin-folks.
Years came and sped by, another generation had lived and passed away, the place unmarked and forgotten, when, after a prolonged and diligent search, it was at last discovered, a plain slab of marble erected, marking the spot and recording the fact, that here rests the remains of "A Soldier of the Revolution" and of "The First Christian Child born in this Plantation."
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[It has been known to the author several years, that diligent search for the grave of Winthrop's first-born white child and Leeds' early adopted son had, at last, been rewarded, and a memorial with a fitting inscription thereon erected thereat. Without the knowledge or consent of Winthrop's most highly esteemed historian and philanthropist, to whose favor and kind- ness the people of both towns, and especially the family are indebted for the foregoing interesting story of the adventurous life and tragic death of the "Old Hunter," and the properly inscribed memorial where his remains are reposing, I present the name of the Hon. John M. Benjamin.]
For the benefit of the descendants of Stephen Foster and others who may be interested in preserving and perpetuating a genealogical record, the following is subjoined : Capt. Timothy Foster, the pioneer of Winthrop, was b. in Attleborough, Mass., May 14, 1720, and his wife, Sibler Freeman, Oct. 29, 1723. They were m. in 1744, and to them were b. in that town ten children, and another in the year following their settlement in Winthrop in 1765. He was a member of the first board of selectmen of Win- throp and- frequently re-elected to that and various other public offices in his town. He died April 3, 1785, and his widow Dec. 8, 1813.
Their children were :
I. Timothy, Jr., b. March 21, 1745;
2. Billy, b. Sept. 24, 1747 ;
3. Eliphalet, b. July 27, 1749;
4. Susan, b. April 15, 1751;
5. David, b. May 26, 1753;
6. Thomas, b. May 23, 1755 ;
7. Stuart, b. April 8, 1757;
8. John, b. April 20, 1759;
9. Oliver, b. March 5, 1761 ;
IO. Sibler, b. April 27, 1763;
II. Stephen, b. Feb. 28, 1766.
Soon after the battle of Lexington was fought, April 19, 1775, four of the sons of Capt. Timothy Foster, to wit: Capt. 2Billy, " Eliphalet, 6Thomas and &John, repaired to the headquarters of the Provincial Army, at Cambridge, Mass., enlisted in the pri- vateering service, and never returned to their home fireside. Another of his sons, 9Oliver, we are unable to account for.
I. Timothy, Jr., married Abigail Allen and had issue : Otis, b. May 8, 1773; Daniel, b. June 3, 1775; Elizabeth, b. Aug. 29, 1777 ; Molly, b. Feb. 24, 1783 ; Hannah, b. Nov. 17, 1786.
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Timothy, Jr., died Aug. 1, 1825.
4. Susan, married Micajah Dudley (not traced) ;
5. David, married Jan. 13, 1783, Millicent Howe, born April
25, 1762, and d. Jan. 3, 1820. They had issue :
Ann, b. Dec. II, 1783;
Ichabod, b. June 9, 1785 ;
Preston, b. April 30, 1788 ;
Clarissa, b. Aug. 6, 1790;
Lavina, b. July 8, 1792 ;
Freeman, b. Dec. 30, 1793;
David, Jr., b. July 4, 1795;
Nathan, b. March 2, 1798;
John Winthrop, b. Feb. 12, 1800.
7. Stuart, married Jerusha Wadsworth. Their children were:
Wadsworth, b. Jan. 7, 1788;
Oliver, b. Aug. 29, 1789;
Sibyl, b. July 21, 171 ;
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