USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > History of Hillsdale county. Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 62
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Livingston Co., N. Y., furnished a large number of the earlier inhabitants of Hillsdale County. Among those who ventured to locate in Moscow were Charles and Ben- jamin Fowle, who emigrated in 1833,-the latter with a wife and one child. Their brother James had settled at Blissfield, Lenawee Co., in the spring of 1830.
Charles Fowle was the next to leave the old home, com- ing to Michigan in the fall of 1830, and helping his brother James on the river Raisin until the spring of 1831, when he returned to New York, and stayed there until his removal to Michigan in 1833. This trip was made on foot the greater part of the distance through Ohio. Benjamin came by water. Charles stopped with his brother at Blissfield and helped him plant his corn, and then pushed on to Mos- cow, where he boarded at the log hotel of Silas N. W. Ben- son. He purchased land early in June, 1833, on sections 1, 11, 12, and 14, and is still residing upon a portion of it '(section 12). In the winter of 1833-34 he built a log house on his place, having been to New York and married in October, 1833.
In June, 1833, Benjamin Fowle bought of Silas Benson, for $1400, the 80 acres upon which he afterwards laid out the village of Moscow. He moved upon it in August fol- lowing, and during his residence on the village site occupied
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
the log tavern which Mr. Benson had built in 1830. In 1834 he purchased government land just above the village (where his son, Harmon Fowle, now lives), built a log house, and lived in it until 1839, when he erected the frame house now occupied by his widow and his son, Dr. Orrin Fowle.
The wife of Benjamin Fowle aided in making the fence which inclosed the first fair-ground of the first agricultural society in the county. This was done by sewing strips of factory cloth together and placing them around the grounds like the walls of a tent.
The first death of an adult in this township was that of an aged lady,-Mrs. Brown,-the mother of Maj. Daniel Aiken, an early settler here and afterwards a resident of Jonesville. Mrs. Brown's death occurred in 1834, and she was the first person buried in the Blackmar Cemetery. The box which held her remains was made by Charles Fowle.
In the latter part of June, 1833, an infant child of Samuel Benson died and was buried on his place. This was prob- ably the first death of a white person in the township. Mr. Benson was a brother to S. N. W. Benson.
William Benson was also an early arrival, and of one of the men of that name a good story is told. It was in the year 1843, his daughter had just been married, and in the evening a crowd gathered to serenade the bridal couple after the fashion of the day. The noise of horns and various other instruments grew louder and louder, and became al- most unbearable. An appeal was made to some one to " repel invaders." Finally Mr. Benson, who was a strong, stalwart man, sallied forth with his equally stalwart sons, and in a few minutes the uproar was ended and the premises cleared of the mischievous crowd. The "horning" was stopped, and the father and sons returned to the house with the flush of victory on their brows.
Possibly the first marriage in the township was that of Wolcott G. Branch, of Somerset, and Miss Alvira Rounds, daughter of Parvis Rounds, an early settler. The lady is now Mrs. Weatherwax, of Somerset Centre.
The first white child born in Moscow was probably Lucy Fowle, a daughter of Benjamin Fowle, whose birth occurred about the latter part of 1833. She is now Mrs. Charles Hollingsworth.
Among the first settlers in the western part of the town- ship was Jacob Kesselring, from the town of Henrietta, Monroe Co., N. Y. (originally from Germany), who came to Michigan in September, 1835, and located in what is now Scipio, two miles westward from his present residence in Moscow. There he purchased forty acres of government land, having but five dollars left after paying for it. He had earned his money working by the day in the State of New York. He was accompanied to Michigan by his wife, four sons, and a daughter. Two of the sons went afterwards to California, where one died. One resides at Three Rivers, St. Joseph County, and five of the children are living in Moscow.
When Mr. Kesselring came he endeavored to get work at Marshall at his trade of baker and brewer, but failed, and in lieu of other work, chopped wood at Jonesville at the rate of two shillings per cord. In the fall of the same year he was paid five shillings and sixpence per cord ; yet with provisions scarce and pork two shillings a pound, it
required much ingenuity to secure sufficient for the use of his family, and the same was the case with many others. The supply was many times unequal to the demand, and more than once did the settlers have to practice the strictest self-denial in their consumption of food in order to subsist equally for a given time. The most of the merchandise was brought in by way of Tecumseh. This portion of the township was not settled rapidly, and for a supply of meat it was only necessary to kill a deer or a bear, both of which abounded in considerable numbers.
After living two years in Scipio, Mr. Kesselring moved into Moscow in the fall of 1837, locating on the farm now owned by his son, Daniel B. Kesselring, afterwards on the place he now occupies, on the south side of the road from his son's place. His land in Moscow he purchased from John Jermain, but made the first improvements upon it himself. Mr. Kesselring is now in his eighty-second year, and, like many others who have passed more than twoscore years in this region, has witnessed its steady development from an almost trackless wilderness to a mighty " power in the land."
Israel Buck, living east of Mr. Kesselring's, has been a resident of the State and township also more than forty years. Upon his farm is a small lake which has been given his name.
Wallace H. Godfrey settled in the township, with his wife and daughter, in 1838, and became quite prominent therein. He was from Livingston Co., N. Y. For sixteen years he was a justice of the peace in the town, and served as supervisor three years. He died Aug. 20, 1868, aged sixty. The old farm is now owned by his widow and his son, Wilbert. J. Godfrey .*
Peter Atwell, now living in the north part of the town- ship, was a very early settler, and was present at the first township-meeting, in 1835.
S. A. Whittaker, who settled about 1835-36, was a son- in-law of James Fitten, who settled at the same time.
It is said that the Fowles, Littles, and others who resided early in the northeast part of town, were accustomed to going one and a half miles north for water, to a large spring a short distance over the line in Jackson County. There were no wells yet dug in their own neighborhood, neither did any springs exist. Charles Fowle rigged a forked piece of tim- ber in such manner that a barrel of water could be drawn upon it, and with that hauled water for his use.
# Wilbert J. Godfrey furnishes the following items : "Wallace H. Godfrey was born to Seth and Mary P. Godfrey, in Saratoga Co., N. Y., Aug. 12, 1808. At the age of three years he, with his father's family, removed to Cayuga County, and at the age of six years to Liv- ingston Co., N. Y., and there remained until the year 1838. Having, in 1834, married Clarissa P. Elmore, he, with his wife and one daugh- ter, Juliette, aged two years, again removed to the township of Mos- cow, county of Hillsdale, Mich., where he bought of William Y. Baker acres of land with no improvements, paying $6 per acre. This is the west half of the northeast quarter of section 30. In 1850 he bought of William Benson 40 acres,-the southwest quarter of southeast quarter of section 19,-and afterwards 20 acres of Daniel Kessel- ring,-north half of northwest quarter of southeast quarter,-all of which is at present in the possession of the wife and youngest son, Wilbert J. Godfrey. He held the office of supervisor for three terms, justice of the peace sixteen years, and many other responsible posi- tions. He died at his home in Moscow, Aug. 20, 1868."
MRS. HORATIO N. ROWLEY.
HORATIO N. ROWLEY.
RESIDENCE OF H. N. ROWLEY, MOSCOW, MICHIGAN.
245
HISTORY . OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Leonard Miller, now of Jonesville, came to Moscow, in 1839, from Seneca Co., N. Y., and was at that time a young man of nineteen. His uncle, Lewis T. Miller, who was also an uncle of Hon. William H. Seward, so well known as one of the country's greatest statesmen, settled in the township in 1834, and was a delegate to the first Constitu- tional Convention, in 1836. Leonard Miller was a member of the State Legislature in 1861.
Cornelius L. Traverse was one of the pioneers of the township, and died within quite recent years, aged over ninety years.
The first practicing physician in the township, and one of the first in the county, was Dr. William J. Delavan, who settled in 1834. He owned a large farm on Moscow Plains, and enjoyed a very large practice in Hillsdale and Jackson Counties. He died at Jonesville, Jan. 23, 1875, at the age of seventy-two.
Dr. Stillman Ralph was probably the next to locate in town, but soon left it and settled in Scipio, afterwards changing his residence to Jonesville, where he had an office at least as early as April, 1839, for in the first issue of the Hillsdale County Gazette, bearing date April 13, 1839, his card appears, announcing that he has an office in the Man- ning and Munro block, on the corner of Chicago and West Streets.
Dr. S. C. Merwin, from Genesee Co., N. Y., settled in Moscow village, July 22, 1838, where he has since resided and enjoyed an extensive practice.
Thompson Wallace, from Ireland, a school-teacher by profession, settled on a farm in Moscow, June 20, 1842.
Daniel Rowley, Jr., was a soldier of the war of 1812, and for his services received a land warrant for 160 acres of land. He was a native of Washington Co., N. Y., his father, Daniel Rowley, Sr., having been a native of the State of Connecticut. The latter served in the patriot army du- ring the Revolutionary war. Daniel Rowley, Jr., came from the town of Wales, Erie Co., N. Y., with his family of three sons and three daughters, and settled in Moscow on the 16th of September, 1836. He died, of apoplexy, April 2, 1865, at the age of eighty-six. His son, Horatio N. Rowley, is now a resident of Moscow township, and a prominent and respectable citizen thereof. He is a native of Erie Co., N. Y.
Asa Little, at present living in the township of Somerset, settled in the northeast part of Moscow in November, 1835, and was from Cayuga Co., N. Y.
Warren M. Baker, from Ontario Co., N. Y., settled Nov. 1, 1840, and followed the business of farming.
A. G. Mosher, from the town of Greenfield, Saratoga Co., N. Y., came to Moscow, June 26, 1846, and removed to Adams township Nov. 3, 1843.
Norman D. Howe and his brother Erastus, from the town of Scipio, Cayuga Co., N. Y., located on a farm in Moscow on the 10th of June, 1835. The former is now deceased and the latter has removed from the county.
James O. Blackmar, the second son of Hon. Lyman Blackmar, who has been mentioned, is now living in Jeffer- son township. He came with his father from Wales, Erie Co., N. Y., and settled in Moscow in September, 1831.
Jonathan and Lorenzo Benson, now living in Moscow
township, are sons of William Benson, who came here with his family from Springfield, Otsego Co., N. Y., in 1835. William Benson was a cousin to Silas N. W. Benson, the first settler in the township.
Stephen and John Kies, brothers, from Cayuga Co., N. Y., settled in the township very early, the former in 1832. The son of one of them, Francis Kies, is still one of its citizens. .
Robert Engle, from Canandaigua, Ontario Co., N. Y., came to Moscow in 1834, and is now residing in Pulaski, Jackson Co.
Benjamin F. Pierce, whose widow is living in the town- ship, came here from New York in June, 1846.
Daniel McNabb emigrated to Michigan in May, 1835, from Johnstown, N. Y., and was at the time in his twenty- first year. He earned money enough to buy eighty acres of land, upon which he has ever since resided.
D. A. and Calvin Wisner, brothers from Livingston Co., N. Y., located two miles south of the present village of Mos- cow, in 1836. Their only neighbors in that part of town at the time were Norman D. and Erastus Howe and George Bansel, the latter having probably settled in 1835. Calvin Wisner is not now living, and his brother is engaged in the mercantile business in Jonesville.
Amos Gould brought his family into the township in 1838, and still resides southwest of the village.
EARLY SCHOOLS.
The early schools in Moscow were similar in character to those of every pioneer town in the land, although a some- what remarkable fact is that her first school-house, which stood near the site of the present Methodist Episcopal church in the eastern part of the village of Moscow,- unlike its neighbors in other townships,-was a frame building. This was erected by Benjamin Fowle in 1837, and stood a few feet southwest of the spot now occupied by the church. The name of the person who taught the first school beneath its roof is forgotten.
The first school-house in which the young idea residing in the western portion of the town were taught the rudi- ments of an education, stood a few steps over the line, in what is now Scipio. It was a log building, originally in- tended for a stable, but was finally transformed into a school- house. It stood near the site of the present " stone school- house," on the Chicago road, and the first school in it was taught about 1840, by an old gentleman named Bates, who subsequently became a justice of the peace.
The second school-house in the same neighborhood, and the first in that part of Moscow township, stood on the place now owned by Israel Buck.
Probably the second school-house in the township was a log building which was erected as early as 1837 on section 35, on the town line between Moscow and Adams. The first teacher was Miss Melissa Sharp, daughter of Salmon Sharp, the first settler in Adams. She is now the wife of Jonathan Benson, of Moscow.
Northward from this, and midway between here and Moscow village, a school was taught about 1840, also in a log building erected for the purpose.
246
HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, MOSCOW VILLAGE.
The Methodists of this neighborhood held meetings as early as 1838-40. They used the school-house at the village for a place of public worship, as did also the Pres- byterians and Universalists. A small Methodist class was formed, and in 1852-53 the present frame church was built by H. N. Rowley, Isaac S. Wright, and H. N. McCowen. The latter gentleman came to the State in 1843, and to Moscow in 1851. The building was finished in 1853, during the pastorate of Rev. Isaac Taylor, present pre- siding elder of this district. The slips were sold in the spring of 1854 for a little more than enough to pay the debt owing to the builders, and the society started free of incumbrance. Rev. Mr. Taylor preached in the school- house before the church was built, and had been preceded by Rev. Mr. Crane. Among those who have been in charge since the church was built are Revs. Wells, Mount, William Copeland, Bignall, Ware, Franklin Gage, Henry Worthington, Russell, Wilkerson, McAllister, Woodward, Merritt, Marble, Crittenden, and others. The present pastor is Rev. Mr. Tanner. The membership is not large. A good Sunday-school is sustained
The Methodist Episcopal Church in the west part of the town, on the " Moscow Plains," was organized at about the same time with the one at the village, and dedicated its house of worship a little sooner than the latter. The building is a frame structure. The society is at present under the same charge as the one at the village.
LIST OF TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
The township records for the first three years after its organization are missing, and it is impossible to give all the officers for that time. Zachariah Van Duzar, who settled in the township in 1834, was its first supervisor, elected in 1835. Lyman Blackmar was a justice of the peace the same year, and Parvis Round was one of the highway com- missioners. Major Daniel Aiken was also living in the township at that time.
The following were elected in 1838, viz .: Supervisor, Zachariah Van Duzar; Town Clerk, George Gale; Asses- sors, Benjamin Fowle, Osman B. Blackmar, and Alva Blod- get ; Commissioners of Highways, Abraham Vandebogart, Aaron Spencer, and John S. Weaver; Justice of the Peace, Zachariah Van Duzar ; Collector, Parvis Round.
The following persons were also living in the township at that time, and held various offices : Benjamin C. Pierce, James A. Stewart, Lot Falkerson, Lyman Smith, James H. King, Charles Fowle, William Benson, Garrett Mor- ford, Daniel A. Wisner, Sheldon W. Sharp, Geo. W. Jack- son, and Israel Buck.
SUPERVISORS.
1839. Othniel Allen.
1840. Daniel A. Wisner. 1841. Zachariah Van Duzar.
1853. Orlando C. Gale.
1842-44. Brooks Gale. 1854. Benjamin I. Kenyon.
1855. Horatio N. Rowley.
1856. Abram Ramsdell.
1857. Horatio N. Rowley. 1858. Henry C. Mallory.
1859. H. N. Rowley.
1860. Wallace H. Godfrey.
1861-62. Joel Moore.
1863-65. Horatio N. Rowley.
1866-67. Albert Kenyon.
1839-42. George Gale.
1860. V. V. B. Merwin.
1843. Moses A. Taylor.
1861-65. Amandur Thompson.
1844-45. George Gale. 1866. Amaziah Bibbins.
1846. Benjamin Fowle.
1867-71. Seneca W. Perry.
1847. John M. Ford .*
1848. Smith C. Merwin.
1849-52. Orlando C. Gale.
1874. Addison J. Rowley.
1875. Seneca W. Parker.
1876-77. Cyrenus M. Parker.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1839. Azariah Mallory.
1860. Robert T. Lewis.
1840. George Gale.
1841. Lyman Blackmar.
1842. Samuel A. Whittaker.
1862. George Nutten.
1863. No record.
1844. George Gale.
1845. Alexander Proudfit.
1846. Samuel A. Whittaker.
1847. Wallace H. Godfrey.
1848. Benjamin Fowle.
1849. George Gale.
1850. Samuel A. Whittaker.
1851. Dr. Stillman Ralph.
1852. Wallace H. Godfrey.
1853. Henry McCowen.
1854. Samuel A. Whittaker.
1855. Schuyler P. Simons.
1856. Wallace H. Godfrey. Horatio N. Rowley.
1874. Isaac Travis.
1857. Henry MeCowen.
1875. Daniel McNabb.
1858. Calvin Wisner.
1876. Orlando C. Gale.
1859. John Donovan.
1877. Seneca W. Perry.
TREASURERS.
1839-42. Lyman Blackmar.
1862. James A. Lynch.
1843-44. Benjamin Fowle.
1863. Seneca W. Perry.
1845-46. Calvin Griswold. 1864. Joseph McKercher.
1847. Nathaniel R. Hammond.
1865. Dolphin A. Knight.
1848. Peter Atwell.
1866. James Wheeler.
1849. Horatio N. A. Holmes. 1850. Joel Moore. 1851-52. John C. McKercher.
1867. Cyrenus M. Parker. 1868-70. Amos Gould.
1871. Amaziah Bibbins.
1853. Walter Huntington.
1872. Alonzo F. Eddy.
1854. William R. Perry.
1873. Edgar A. Blackmar.
1855-58. David Cheeny.
1874. Edward Creech.
1859-60. Daniel McNabb.
1875-77. Oliver Hitt.
1861. Seneca W. Perry.
ASSESSORS.
1839. Daniel A. Wisner,
1842. Alvah Blodgett.
Osman B. Blackmar. Otis Briggs.
Charles Fowle. 1843. John McKercher.
D. P. George.
1840. Orson B. Blackmar. Charles Fowle.} Uriah Mallory.
1844. Same as 1843.
1841. John McKercher.
1845. Daniel A. Wisner. John Bissell.
Isaac A. Center.
1846. Alonzo Kies.
John S. Weaver.
Horatio N. A. Holmes.
COLLECTORS.
1839. Parvis Round.
1841. Daniel H. Sinclair.
1840. Calvin Wisner.
# Removed from township, and Smith C. Merwin appointed instead. i Amandur Thompson appointed subsequently in same year to fill vacancy.
# Reuben R. Tingley appointed in Fowle's place.
1868-72. E. C. L. Mumford. 1873-75. Parker B. Shepard.
1876. William Armstrong. 1877. E. C. L. Mumford.
TOWN CLERKS.
1872. Adam Marks, 1873. Oliver Hitt.t
1853-54. Amandur Thompson.
1855-56. Volney V. B. Mervin.
1857-59. John D. Van Duyn.
1861. George C. Wyllis. Horatio N. Rowley.
1843. Wallace H. Godfrey.
1864. Benjamin I. Kenyon.
1865. George C. Wyllis.
1866. John W. Donovan.
1867. Daniel Timms.
1868. Benjamin I. Kenyon. John Pettit.
1869. George C. Wyllis. Ira M. Waring.
1870. Frederick S. Godfrey.
1871. Daniel McNabb.
1872. Amos Gould.
1873. George C. Wyllis. Augustus Borden.
1845. Zachariah Van Duzar. 1846. Osman D. Blackmar.
1847-48. Joel Moore. 1849. Zachariah Van Duzar.
1850-51. Wallace H. Godfrey. 1852. Benjamin Fowle.
247
HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
COMMISSIONERS OF HIGHWAYS.
1839. Daniel Rowley.
1852. Lorenzo Benson.
Israel Buck.
Horace Wisner.
Calvin Wisner.
1854. Schuyler P. Simons.
1840. Same as 1839.
1855. Charles Griswold.
1841. Moses A. Taylor.
Amos Gould.
Calvin Wisner. Joel Moore.
1856. Henry C. Mallory. 1857. Schuyler P. Simons.
1842. Joel Moore.
1858. Warren Nutten.
1859. James G. Blackmar.
1843. Sheldon W. Sharp. Amos Gould. Ira Mumford.
1861. Iris Hammond.
1862. Joseph Borden.
1863. Amos Gould.
1844. Joel Moore.
1864. James R. Fletcher.
Sheldon W. Sharp.
1865. Elisha C. L. Mumford.
Amos Gould.
Benjamin P. Huff.
1845. Joel Moore.
David Cheney.
Horace Wisner.
1866. David Cheney. Benjamin P. Huff.
Stephen Potter.
1867. Joseph Borden.
1846. Tompkins D. Miller. Calvin Griswold.
1868. E. C. L. Mumford.
John C. McKercher.
1869. David Cheney.
1847. Alonzo Kies.
1870. Albert Crane.
Alonzo W. Sharp.
1871. De Witt C. Mallory.
Benjamin Fowle.
1872. Joseph Borden.
1848. Amos Gould.
1873. Jonathan Nutten. Reuben Strait.
1849. Lorenzo Benson.
1850. Schuyler P. Simons.
1874-75. Reuben Strait.
1851. Amos Gould.
1876. E. C. L. Mumford.
1877. D. W. Arnold.
The officers for 1878 are as follows : Supervisor, Wm. A. Armstrong; Town Clerk, George A. Harris; Treasurer, Jonathan J. Ramsdell ; Justice of the Peace, Foster N. Wilcox ; Commissioner of Highways, Moses Marvin ; Township Superintendent of Schools, Oscar E. Nutten ; Inspector of Schools, Edward L. Bansell; Drain Commis- sioner, John B. Bissell ; Constables, Charles Stevens, James McClay, John Entz, William Caldwell.
At the annual meeting for 1838, it was " Voted, That the bounty of five dollars on wolves, as voted at the last annual meeting, be rescinded." . In 1839, it was " Voted, That the town pay a bounty of five dollars on each and every full-grown wolf, and twenty shillings for each and every young wolf under six months old, that is taken and killed within the limits of this town ; residents of this town are entitled to the above bounty, and no other persons."
The following is a list of jurors selected from this town- ship in 1840 : Daniel Rowley, Malcolm McKercher, Peter Atwell, Wallace H. Godfrey, Daniel McNabb, James War- ing, John McKercher, Benjamin C. Pierce, O. B. Black- mar, John S. Weaver, William Benson, Seth Strong, Azariah Mallory, Samuel A. Whittaker, William Morford, Isaac A. Center, Moses A. Taylor, William Munroe, Robert Engle, Uriah Mallory.
On the 6th of May, 1841, the following persons, who had been in the business for some time previously, were licensed by the town board to keep taverns, viz. : James G. Gridley, O. B. Blackmar, and Asa Little ; and subsequently Reuben Rice. John Murray was refused a license.
The business of tavern-keeping was, perhaps, more than any other entered into by the early settlers. Those who first located erected log cabins, and never refused shelter to those who came afterward, looking for homes in the wil- derness. The roof of the pioneer sheltered all alike, and in
very few instances did its host receive pay for hospitalities from his guests. They were free to avail themselves of all advantages he could offer them, and like a band of brothers did they stand shoulder to shoulder along the frontier, and move steadily onward to the goal of prosperity and plenty. It may be said that every man who reared for himself and family a log dwelling, kept public-house therein.
VILLAGE OF MOSCOW.
Silas N. W. Benson has been mentioned as the first settler at the village or in the township. The log tavern which he built and occupied sheltered many persons who were looking up land and sites for future homes, and families on their way to farms already located. It was one of the first necessities of the time, and served its purpose faith- fully. The frame hotel, built two years after,-or in 1832, -has clinging around it the memories of nearly half a cen- tury, and its bar-room has echoed with the voices of many who have passed away, and whose history is unknown or forgotten. In the days when travel by stage-coach was the only mode of public conveyance overland, the Benson stand was one of the most popular ones on the route. Benjamin Fowle was its second proprietor, keeping it a year or more.
George Gale, from the town of Barre, Washington Co., Vt., settled with his family at Moscow village in 1836, moving at first into a log house which stood opposite the present tavern. In that he stayed but a short time, soon occupying the tavern itself, and continuing its proprietor for many years. The log house he first lived in had been built by Nicholas Vanalstine, who afterwards removed to Jonesville, where he became proprietor of the old "St. Charles Hotel," now out of existence.
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