USA > Missouri > Linn County > The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information > Part 37
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William B. Tuttle.
Nelson Carter.
Perry H. Taylor.
Nathan F. Chrystal.
Albert Felt.
William A. Edgar.
Benjamin Fastee.
Nathan Hall.
John Fiddler.
William H. Hughes.
William E. Farley.
Fielding Lewis.
Eli Gray. William G. Gray.
Chrisman Lewis.
Peter Taylor.
William H. Lafevers.
Abraham Van Meter.
L. H. Leitch.
Augustus Wagoner. Benjamin Walker.
Joseph McDonald. James Moore.
Isaac Wallker.
William Myers.
John Watson.
John M. Morris.
Corporal James H. Shirts and Private James E. Shankster were trans- ferred to Company O, First Nebraska Infantry, August 11, 1861. David Shenkey died at Brookfield September 6, 1861. The company numbered in all one hundred and one men, fifty-two of whom, whose names appear above, were from Linn county. As this was the first Union company organ- ized north of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, a record of its services is worthy of preservation.
This company was organized at Brookfield, Linn county, Missouri, June 22, 1861, and sworn into the United States service by Capt. F. M. C. Lor- ing, under authority of Brig .- Gen. N. Lyon, who then commanded the Department of Missouri. General Lyon furnished the company with arms
William H. Lewis.
James M. Margrave.
John M. Walker.
Third sergeant, Adam C. Glasgow. First corporal, James H. Shirts.
378
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
and munitions. On the evening of the organization Captain Crandall got a dispatch from Major Josiah H. Hunt, of the Marion Battalion, to march at once to the Chariton River bridge of Macon county, distant eighteen miles, and protect it from threatened burning by the rebels .. In obedience to this order, Lieut. N. S. Hamlin was detailed with twenty-five men, and proceeded to the bridge. An attempt was made to burn the bridge, but the rebels were repulsed with the loss of two men killed, no. loss being sustained by the latter, and but little damage being done to the bridge. Crandall's detachment was then relieved by the Second Iowa, com- manded by S. R. Curtis.
The squad marched back to Brookfield, and received orders June twenty- fourth from Major Hunt to remain and protect the railroad buildings and other property. Crandall was relieved on the twenty-eighth of June by Company I, of the Third Iowa Volunteers, commanded by Captain Trum- bull, and his (Crandall's) company, ordered to St. Catharine, in Linn county, to protect citizens and guard Yellow Creek bridge, remaining in camp at that place till the tenth of August following. They were then ordered back to Brookfield, in the camp of the Third Iowa Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Williams, where they remained until September 8, 1861. The company was then ordered to St. Louis by Brigadier-General Pope, as an escort to the unarmed regiment of Twenty-third Missouri volunteers, com- manded by Col. S. J. Tindall, and arrived at Benton Barracks September ninth, remaining until the ninteenth, when they were permitted by General Curtis to return to Brookfield and disband. Orders, however, had been received from General Fremont not to muster the company out of service, nor to pay them for their services, the refusal to pay being based on the technicalities of their being home-guards, and having guarded their homes had gotten value received in that way; and also, that they were not properly mustered into the United States service. The company reached Brookfield on the night of the twenty-first of September, 1861, and were disbanded, receiving no clothing, tents, camp utensils, equipments, nor any pay for the valuable service they had rendered in holding the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad for the government instead of allowing it to fall into the hands of the Confederates.
Sometime afterwards, however, they were paid by the government, when the valuable nature of their services had been ascertained, and the legality of their claim established.
379
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
COMPANY G, THIRTY-EIGHTH ENROLLED MISSOURI MILITIA-ENLISTED AUGUST 8, 1862.
Captain, E. J. Crandall.
First lieutenant, John R. Worth- ley.
Second lieutenant, Charles C. Davis.
First sergeant, R. Tooey, promoted to second lieutenant.
Second sergeant, William O'Neal. Third sergeant, John McCormack.
Fourth sergeant, Warren D. Cran- dall.
First corporal, Robert McCor- mack.
Second corporal, Alexander Adams. Third corporal, James King.
Fourth corporal, Richard McIn- tire.
Fifth corporal, John L. Houck. Sixth corporal, R. F. Hurd.
Seventh corporal, Alexander Mc- Donald.
Eighth corporal, Edward Clark.
PRIVATES.
L. Arbuckle.
Samuel N. Matthews.
Patrick Mealey.
J. C. Nichols. Frank N. Newman.
A. A. Barton. John Baird.
Dennis O'Brien. John O'Donald.
William Burke.
Peter O'Brien.
Joseph Burke.
William Proctor.
Frederick R. Chapman.
Edgar L. Carlton.
A. D. Patterson. John Ryan.
Ross Crandall.
Andrew Ryan.
Delivan Crowner.
Samuel W. Reynolds.
George W. Clark. John Conway.
Wilder Ricker.
William Doyle. A. P. Davis. John Doyle.
R. A. Rolan. James Spertsman.
Abraham Spertsman.
Owen Donnelly.
John Dougherty.
Thomas Dickerson.
William Donnelly.
William T. Snow. Edward Stephens. William Sellars.
John Foster. Thaddeus O. Fellows. Peter Flynn.
J. A. Smith. Harry Scovill. Isaac Sights. Jordan Sights.
James M. Ferryatt. Patrick Fenton. Michael Gannon.
Patrick Gleason.
Austin Riley.
Samuel Spertsman. Napoleon B. Strond.
Eli H. Salisbury. Aaron Schuyler.
John Burke. John Billings. Samuel Bailey.
380
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
Patrick Garrigan. Edward T. Harris. Warren Hayward. James Kelly. Edward Kelly. Thomas Larkin. William Lamkins. J. H. Lamkins. Michael McGowan.
John McGowan.
Robert Williams.
John McIntosh. .
John Watterson.
Michael McKinney.
Patrick Winn.
Thomas McCarty.
John Wyatt.
Teddy McAndrew.
George Wyatt.
COMPANY "D" SIXTY-SECOND ENROLLED MISSOURI MILITIA.
Captain, Moses G. Roush.
First lieutenant, Richard W. Second corporal, William Reid. Third corporal, Robin M. John- son.
Second lieutenant, Frederick De- Graw.
First sergeant, Eli Lytle.
Second sergeant, Henry C. Lo- max.
Third sergeant, Daniel M. Brink- ley.
Fourth sergeant, Thomas C. Max- well.
First corporal, Amos Whitley,
Fourth corporal, John Edwards. Fifth corporal, Jacob Decker. Sixth corporal, John Shohoney.
Seventh corporal, William D. Steele.
Eight corporal, Henry C. East- wood.
PRIVATES.
Benjamin F. Ashby. Isaac Abrams. 1 Isaac Bigger.
Jesse H. Brewer.
James B. Malloy.
Charles W. Brittle.
Frank B. Newton.
George W. Brazill.
James M. Nicolas.
Henry C. Bailey.
Timothy O'Connell.
Benjamin F. Bond. Jacob Barnett.
James Piggott. William H. Porter.
Henry Crady. Harrison Custer.
Thomas W. Payne.
William D. Pendleton.
Hugh Killgore.
Amnos F. Chitister.
Samuel Meyer. Andrew Moore.
Hugh G. Margrave.
Mitchell.
John McCormick, Jr.
Charles Scott. John Scott. Augustus Turner. Patrick Tooey. James Tooey. John Tierney. George Veal. B. Ward. Henry A. Wheeler.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
William D. Crandall. Marion O. Compton. James M. Cornett. O. P. Dearmon.
William H. Roush.
William I. Raines.
Frederick Roth.
George W. Smith. Isaac Shrader.
William J. Dakes.
Isaac G. Franklin. John P. Fraquis.
Jesse Snyder. Adam Stutsman.
Henry Farris.
Edward Stewart.
Ashford B. Faulk.
Adam J. Turner.
Samuel E. French.
Hazzle Waggoner.
Harvey Glasgow.
Joshua Tye.
Washington Grindstaff.
.
John W. Goldman.
Daniel Turney. Hiram B. Woods. Adamn Wilson.
John W. Haley.
John Hoskins.
· James Wise.
John B. Halburt.
Benjamin F. White.
Charles M. Johnson.
Adam W. Shifflett.
Levi James.
De Witt Reaves.
Harry Lander.
George W. Goldman.
Charles W. Brittle of this company was killed in a fight with Jim Jack- son's bushwhackers in Chariton county, November 21, 1864.
CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS' RECORD.
Linn county furnished from first to last probably one hundred and twen- ty-five mnen for the various branches of the Confederate States' service. Not all of the names of these men have been or can be obtained.
CAMPANY A, THIRD REGIMENT, THIRD DIVISION, MISSOURI STATE GUARDS.
Captain, George William San- ·dusky.
First lieutenant, E. H. Richardson.
Second lieutenant, Taylor Single- ton.
Third lieutenant, Henry L. Cher- ry.
First sergeant, L. B. Phillips.
Second sergeant, J. J. Phillips. Third sergeant, Edward Barton. Fourth sergeant, James Brown. Fifth sergeant, John Betten. First corporal, John Gooch. Second corporal, James Laidley. Third corporal, John Barnes. Fourth corporal, John Hosford.
382
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
PRIVATES.
William W. Neece.
William Jones. Fendal Southerland.
Alfred Conroy. G. W. Cooper. Hedgeman Duffield.
T. B. Barclay. John Barnes. Samuel Powell.
Lewis Phillips.
Legrand Phillips.
John Newton.
George D. Phillips.
Spencer Cherry.
Joseph Nevins. Charles Shelton.
James Lee. William Bailey. Simpson L. Bailey. Reyburn.
Fielding Cherry. Joseph Reed.
Fred Reed.
Martin Cherry. W. P. Menifee, promoted to regi- mental commissary.
This company was mustered into service at Lexington, Missouri, Septem- ber 12, 1861. Here it saw it first service, being engaged in assisting in the capture of the Federal General Mulligan and the forces under his command. Its term of service expired January 12, 1862, when it was mustered out in- southwest Missouri, while forming a portion of General Price's army. A majority of the men reënlisted in the Confederate service.
COMPANY K, SECOND MISSOURI INFANTRY, CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.
First captain, P. C. Flournoy, pro- moted to colonel; taken prisoner at Vicksburg, and at Fort Blakely. Acting brigadier-general in Hood's Tennessee campaign.
Second captain, George William
Sandusky; wounded in chest at Cor- inth, Mississippi, October 4, 1862; taken prisoner and paroled at same place.
First lieutenant, J. J. Phillips.
Stephen Phillips. DeKalb Morton. Jasper Morton. James Morris. Houston Bragg. William Parker.
Andrew J. Parker. Matthew Stewart. Charles Shelton. Brown Jessey. Baker Moore.
Daniel Clapp. R. O. Jackson.
T. B. Jackson. A. Harrington. James Harry. James R. Keithley. Asbury Markham.
A. J. Powell.
Alfred Sallee.
Alfred Hatfield.
Joshua Findley. J. K. Owens. Frank Niles.
383
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
PRIVATES AND NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.
William Parker, sergeant, wound- ed at Franklin, Tennessee.
Stephen Phillips, died at Peach Orchard Gap, Arkansas, April, 1862.
DeKalb Morton, died at Little Rock, Arkansas, in the spring of 1862.
L. B. Phillips, wounded in front of Kenesaw Mountain.
James Morris, wounded at Vicks- burg, Mississippi.
Spencer Cherry, wounded at Elk Horn, Arkansas.
Fred Reed, wounded in the side, at Kenesaw Mountain.
Joseph Reed, wounded at Elk Horn.
Houston Bragg.
A. J. Parker wounded at Vicks- burg, and died.
Alfred Conroy, killed at Elk Horn. Jehu Barnes, received two wounds. George D. Phillips.
Joseph Fields.
Matthew Stewart, wounded at Vicksburg.
William Jones.
Dr. J. Gooch, wounded in the arm,
at Elk Horn, Arkansas, and dis- charged at Little Rock.
Edward Barton, wounded at Cor- inth, Mississippi.
John Hosford.
This company was mustered into the Confederate service at Springfield, Missouri, January 16, 1862. April 9, 1865, it surrendered, with its regi- ment and division, to the Federals, in Alabama; was disbanded, and sent home. During its term of service it participated in some of the hardest fought battles of the war; viz., Elk Horn (or Pea Ridge), Arkansas; seige of Corinth, Mississippi, May, 1862; Iuka, second battle at Corinth, Grand Gulf, Baker's Creek (Champion's Hill), Big Black, siege of Vicksburg, where the entire regiment was captured; Resaca, Georgia; New Hope Church, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, battles in front of Atlanta, Altoona Pass, Franklin, Nashville, Fort Blakely, and defense of Mobile, (Alabama.) At Elk Horn the company went into action with forty-nine men, and lost four killed and fifteen wounded. At Franklin, Tennessee, the Second Missouri Regiment lost 150 men, out of 192 engaged. Only four were left in Com- pany K.
This regiment made a record second to none from this State, in the cause of the Sunny South. Its first colonel was J. Q. Burbridge; subsequently, F. M. Cockerill, and lastly, Col. P. C. Flournoy. When the long and bloody struggle was over, and the cause of the Confederacy became a "Lost Cause," the brave survivors of the Second Missouri returned to their homes; and since the war, having surrendered and taken the oath of allegiance in good faith, have made as good citizens as they had been soldiers.
24
384
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
MISCELLANEOUS CONFEDERATE RECORD.
A majority of Captain Thomas H. Flood's company of the Missouri State Guards were from Sullivan county, but Captain Flood himself was from Linn, and the following members of his company are believed to have been from this county: Josiah Fain, Robert Baker, John J. Slack, Moses Cleaton, John Christ, and William Browning.
William Wallace Neece enlisted July 17, 1861, in Captain Dorsey's com- pany of Chariton county. He was in the battles of Wilson's Creek, Dry Wood, Lexington, and Prairie Grove. He was wounded at Lexington. Died at Little Rock, Arkansas, in the spring of 1863.
Irvin Neece enlisted July 26, 1862, first joining Col. J. Poindexter. He was not captured with the rest of Poindexter's men, but made his way to the army south of the Missouri River, and was in General John B. Clark's division; was in the battle of Prairie Grove; and died at Little Rock, Ar- kansas, in the spring of 1863.
Jesse Neece enlisted August 10, 1862, He served in General John B. Clark's division; was in the battle of Prairie Grove; and died when his two brothers did at Little Rock, in the spring of 1863. The three Neeces were brothers.
CHAPTER XVII.
LOCUST CREEK TOWNSHIP.
Topography-Early Settlers-Births, Marriages, and Deaths-Ministers-Schools -- Phy- sicians-Spinning and Weaving-Early Incidents-Boundary Lines-Organization un- der the New Township Law-Township Officers-Some Incidents of the Civil War- Death of Judge Smith and William Pendleton-Raids of Bushwhackers and Excur- sions of the " Truly Loil"-Opposition to Railroad Tax-Meetings-Nichols Tragedy, and Other Casualties-Churches, Etc.
POSITION AND DESCRIPTION.
This is the central township of Linn county, the one first settled, and one of the three original townships. It boundaries have been frequently changed, and are liable to change in the future. The last alteration in the boundaries was made in 1881, and consisted in making range line number twenty-one the western boundary. The area of the township is thirty-eight sections or 30,720 acres of land. It is irregular in form, being in shape like a Roman capital letter "L." Thus,
385
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
NORTH
Y
The township is now composed of about equal portions of prairie and timber, some very excellent varieties of the latter abounding. The general surface is level. East and northeast of Linneus lies the finest portion of the township. In the northern part, among " the white oaks," or on Bear . Branch, and along Locust Creek are the most broken parts of the territory. The greatest extent of timber is along Locust Creek, but perhaps the most valuable is on Muddy and Turkey Creeks. On the latter streams there is excellent oak and walnut timber in abundance.
The principal streams in the township are Locust Creek in the extreme western part, and which until recently was the western boundary of the township; Muddy Creek in the central portion; Turkey Creek in the east central; Long Branch in the eastern part. All of these streams have a general southerly flow. There is an abundance of water supply, for what the streams fail to give the wells can be made to furnish. Living water can be obtained in most portions of the township at a depth of from twenty to thirty feet.
A singular fact is to be recorded in this connection. When the town- ship was first settled it was very difficult to find living water. Wells were dug to the depth of fifty feet or more without obtaining water. Especially in and around Linneus was this the case, and this state of affairs lasted for many years. Latterly this condition of things changed, and now where once water could not be found, it gushes forth as readily and abundantly as it did from the rock at Horeb upon the smiting of the great Jewish lawgiver. Water-seers and well-wizards aver that the water is rising under all the surface of the earth in these parts.
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.
Underlying the surface of the earth, at a depth easily accessible, in many parts of the township, are large and valuable coal beds, some of which have been opened and are worked. The most important of these are the mines of A. E. Relph, on section thirteen, township fifty-eight, range twenty-one, and Mr. Harrison's, near the Linneus cemetery. The coal beds of the town- ship run in a general direction, north and south, and are identical with those at Laclede, Brookfield, St. Catharine, and other portions of Linn county.
386
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
There is an abundance of excellent stone in the township, much of which is utilized for building and other purposes. The quarry of Mr. Beckett, in section eight, one and a half miles southeast of Linneus, is considered the best in the county. The stone here found is certainly very good, and much of it is in use. Limestone is plentiful, and considerable quantities of lime have been burned. The stone is easily reached, as much of it is exposed in locations easy of access.
Brick clay can be found anywhere, and in parts fair qualities of potter's clay can be found.
EARLY SETTLEMENT AND HISTORY.
The first settlers in this township, James Pendleton, William Howell, and Joseph Newton, were also the first bona fide settlers of the county .. They located on section fourteen, township fifty-eight, range twenty-one, in the fall of 1831. William and Jesse Bowyer, with the former's family, and young Louis Tyre, came to section two about the first of January, 1832. Very soon after came John Yount, in February, 1833, to section twelve; Wharton R. Barton to two miles north of Linneus; Judge James A. Clark, Thomas Russell, John J. Flood, and Dr. Nathaniel J. Dryden to the neigh- borhood of Barton; Silas, Peter, and Charles Fore to section twenty-nine, northeast of Linneus; John Cherry, David Mullins, John Kemper, Henry Bowyer, Colonel Augustus Flournoy, Colonel "Jack " Holland, Daily, Robert C. Combs, E. J. Dennison, and others to different portions of the township, though chiefly in the neighborhood of Linneus. The early history of this township is so interwoven with that of the county at large that much of it is given on other pages of this history devoted to the latter, and to those pages the reader is referred.
The first white child born in the township (and in Linn county) was Thomas Benton Bowyer, son of William and Martha (Tyre) Bowyer, who was born on Christmas Day, 1833, on section two.
The first white female child born in the township was a daughter of Jesse Bowyer.
Probably the first death in the township was a child of William Bowyer's named Henry, who was six years old, and died in 1837. He was buried in the Bowyer graveyard, the first burying-ground in the county. Colonel Flournoy's negro man Henry was killed in a well near where Linneus now stands about the same time.
The first school in the township, as remembered by Mr. J. M. Pendleton, was taught by Mr. German Rorer, of Howard county, three and a half miles southwest of Linneus, about 1838. Some of the pupils were James and Elizabeth Beckett, James and Robert Tisdale, George, Kenneth, and Martha Newton, J. M. and Rebecca Pendleton, and James M. Paralee. The next schools were taught in Linneus. T. T. Woodruff taught a school in
387.
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
Bowyers's neighborhood in the winter of 1842, which is the earliest country school that can be learned of. This school was held in a log dwelling-house which stood about three hundred yards west of Mrs. McCormick's residence, on the land owned by John Thomas. The house has long since disappeared. Woodruff liad about twenty pupils, the children of Reuben Couch, William Bowyer, David Prewitt, George Taylor, and others. He taught three months and recived $2.25 per scholar for the term.
The first religious services were conducted by Rev. Alton F. Martin, of the Baptist Church, who preached in the school-house, two miles southeast from Linneus, in 1838; some claim that Rev. Wilhite preached at the McCowan school-house before Martin.
Dr. Nathaniel Dryden was the first practicing physician in the township; after him came Dr. Iles, and Dr. Isaac Relph, both of whom lived at Lin- nens, as also did Dr. Cooper, another early physician.
The first mill in the township was a " band-mill " or " horse-mill," built by Mr. Bowyer, on section two, in the year 1834. The establishment of this mill was a great convenience to the settlers. Prior to this they were compelled to go miles and miles away to mill. Keytesville and Old Chari- ton were their principal milling places and markets. Sometime after the establishment of Bowyer's mill, Henry Brown bought it and moved it about five miles further north on Locust Creek, where it was run for some time and known as Brown's mill. Up in the forks of Locust Creek Lot Lantz built the second horse-mill in the county in 1835 or 1836.
There was very much game in the early days of the township, and nearly everybody was a hunter. Judge James A. Clark, William Bowyer, Mr. Dailey, Colonel Holland, and Colonel Flournoy were famous Nimrods. Judge Clark owned a pack of hounds, and caught a great many deer with them, and ran down many a fox and wolf. William Bowyer was consid- ered the most successful hunter. Deer were very plentiful. Elk and buffalo had disappeared. Turkeys were everywhere; on a clear, still morn- ing their gobbling could be heard every where.
Wolves were unpleasantly numerous, and made many a raid upon the settlers' sheep-folds and pig-pens. After the country got older, and schools were established they frightened the children on their way to and from school. The wife of Judge Carlos Boardman, of Linnens, when a little girl attending a country school, was chased by wolves on one occasion, and greatly terrified by the keen-fanged, bloody-minded animals. The wolves were hunted very vigorously, and at length hunted down and driven out of the country. They were of the gray and the black species-none of the contemptible little sneaking prairie wolves or coyotes, so well known to everybody. Hunting and chasing wolves was rare sport for men and dogs -not always for the dogs, however, for sometimes the wolves turned and chased them. On one occasion some men and boys caught a wolf alive and
388
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
brought it to Linnens where it was to be turned loose and run down again. A young man carried it in front of him on horseback. The wolf had its jaws tied tightly together with a handkerchief. As the young man was dis- mounting the animal freed itself from its muzzle in some way and, turning upon its captor, sprang at his face and seized him by the nose and upper part of the cheek. It held its grip with such force and tenacity that the bystanders were forced to cut its throat in order to release the young man. The wolf chase, so confidently looked for and so eagerly anticipated, was indefinitely postponed.
The land of " the Locust Creek country," while not "flowing with milk and honey," contained meat and honey in the greatest abundance. Of either there was certainly no lack. Bee-trees were very plenty. It was customary for the finder of a tree containing a swarm of bees to put his " mark" upon it, if he did not wish to cut it then. At one time William and Jesse Bowyer had two hundred trees bearing their "inark." Every settler's family table had honey upon it, clear and limpid, and nectar-like to the taste. Honey and venison hams were often the commonest commodi- ties of trade and barter, the former at twelve and a half cents per gallon, and the latter at twenty-five cents per pair.
The settlers at first made their own clothing. Every family had some sheep, which were preserved in spite of the wolves, and from these wool was obtained, which was "picked," carded, spun, and woven, and cut and made into clothing by the "women folks," without the aid of carding machines or factory looms. Often and and often, "wool pickings" were held, on which occasions the matrons and the maidens of the settlements for miles away would assemble at the house from which invitations had issued, and attack a huge pile of sheared wool, and free it from burrs, small bits of wood, dirt, and other impurities. And there would be a great time of swapping news while the work progressed, too; for in Locust Creek town- ship, at that day, newspapers were few, scarce, and unenterprising, and the greater portion of the news of the county was conveyed to the people by word of mouth. Flax was generally cultivated, too, and considerable quan- tities of linen were manufactured. The thread was often mixed with woolen yarn, and woven into linseys, jeans, etc. There was an old-fashioned hand- loom in nearly every household, and every woman, as a rule, was a weaver, and did her own weaving. There were ladies, however, who made a voca- tion of weaving, and chief among these was Mrs. Goodman, a sister of the Bowyers, who is still living.
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