History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 43

Author: W. Woodford Clayton, Ed.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia: Everts
Number of Pages: 1224


USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 43
USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey with Biographical Sketches of many of their Pioneers and Prominent Men > Part 43


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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Thomas Moore resigned, Feb. 4, 1863 ; must. out June 27, 1863. Connolly, Jamee, private, Aug. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. Cory, Amos P., private, Ang. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


Dayton, George E., private, Aug. 25, 1862; pro. to sergt .- maj. Sept. 18, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


De Hart, William 11., private, Aug. 25, 1862; corp. May 12, 1863; must. out June 27, 1863.


Dennett, Thomas, private, May 25, 1862; corp. April 1, 1863 ; sergt. May 16, 1863 ; must. out June 27, 1863.


Diebrow, George W., private, Ang. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. Doty, John II., privute, Ang. 30, 1862; must. out Jaue 27, 1863.


Drake, llorace F., Jr., private, Aug. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. Drake, Jonathan B., private, Aug. 25, 1862; pro. to hosp. steward Sept.


18, 1862; inust, out June 27, 1863.


Durie, William, private, Aug. 25, 1862; corp. April 12, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


Fishbough, Peter C., private, Aug. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


French, Richard N., corp., Aug. 25, 1862 ; private Oct. 7, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


Furney, James T., private, Aug. 25, 1662; muet. out June 27, 1863. Gerity, Thonms, private, Ang. 25, 1862 ; must. out June 27, 1863. Gourley, Samuel A., private, Aug. 25, 1862; muat. out June 27, 1863.


Grogan, Heury, corp., Aug. 25, 1862; deserted Feb. 26, 1863, while on furlough.


Harrison, David A., private, Aug. 30, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. Ilatfield, Samuel L., private, Aug. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. Hinfinan, William, private, Ang. 30, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. lletfield, David B., private, Aug. 25, 1862 ; must, ont June 27. 186:1. Hoffman, William E., private, Aug. 30, 1862; must. ont June 27, 1863. Jagnes, William A., private, Aug. 25, 1862; died of typhoid fever at division hosp. April 9, 1863.


Jeroloman, Abram, corp., Ang. 25, 1862 ; must. out June 27, 1863. Keller, Lonia, private, Aug. 30, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


173


TOWNSHIP OF ELIZABETHTOWN.


Kiggins, John T., private, Aug. 25, 1862 ; died of fever at Aquia Creek, Va., Dec. 27, 1862.


Lambert, Albert, private, Aug. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. Leadley, John M., private, Aug. 25, 1862; minst. out June 27, 1863. La Mutt, Walter, musician, Ang 25, 1862 ; must. out June 27, 1x63. Lewis, John N., capt , Sept 6, 1862; resigned Dec. 26, 1862.


Little, Thomas A., corp., Aug. 25, 1802; sergt. April 12, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


Looker, Huileey, private, Ang. 25, 1862; must, ont June 27, 1863. Lutz, Stephen M., private, Aug. 25, 1862 ; minst ont June 27, 1863.


Mahan, Jolin, private, Aug. 25, 1862; corp. April 12, 1863; must, out June 27, 1863.


Marsh, William, private, Ang. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. Marsh. William Griffin, private, Aug. 30, 1862; must. ont June 27, 1863. Maxwell, John, private, Ang, 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


Meeker, Theodore, private, Aug. 25, 1862; corp. Oct. 7, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


Mendell, John P., private, Aug. 25, 1862; must, out June 27, 1863. Mendell, William W., private, Aug. 25, 1862; must. ont June 27. 1863.


Merkel, Frank, private, Aug. 25, 1862; corp. May 16, 1863 ; must. out June 27, 1863.


Miller, Henry C., private, Aug. 30, 1862; must, out Juus 27, 186:3. Morgan, Aaron W., private, Ang. 25, 1862; minst out June 27, 1863. Moore, Thomas, 2d lient., Sept. 6, 1862; resigned Feb. 4, 1863.


Morse, William Ml., private, Aug. 25, 1862; most, ont June 27, 1863. Mulford, Joseph H., private, Ang. 25, 1862; pro. to sergt .- maj. April 9,


1863; pro. to Ist heut. Co. Il April 17, 1863 ; must. out June 27, 1863.


Mulford, John K., private, Aug. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


Nash, George E, private, Ang. 30, 1862; corp. Oct. 7, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


Noe, Noalı S, private, Ang. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


Osboru, Wilbam C., private, Aug. 25, 1862: died of typhoid fever at regt. hosp., near Belle Plain, Va., Feb. 28, 1863.


Parker, J. Abbott, private, Ang. 25, 1862 ; must. out June 27, 1863. Parsons, Robert W., private, Aug. 30, 1862; must. ont June 27, 1863. Peters, Charles, private, Aug. 25, 1864; must. out June 27, 1863. Peterson, Jaures, private, Aug. 30, 1862 ; must. out June 27, 1863. Pickel. Ulrich, musician, Ang 25, 1862; must, out June 27, 1863. Poole, John H , private, Aug. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. Price, George M , private, Ang. 25, 1862; umust. out June 27, 1863. Rull, John K., private, Ang 25, 1862; must, out June 27, 1863. Reeve, James II , private. Aug. 25, 1862; must, out June 27, 1863. Robinson, Julius A., private, Aug 25, 1862; must. out Juue 27, 1863. Romain, John R., private, Ang. 25, 1862; must, ont June 27, 1863. Rone, Royal H., corp., Aug. 25, 1862; sergt. April 12, 1863; must. out June 27, 1863.


Rosenthale, George G., private, Aug. 25, 1862 ; must. out June 27, 1863. Ross, John D., private, Ang. 25, 1×62, died of disease at hospital near Aquin Creek, Va., Jan. 24, 1863.


Ruckman, David M., private, Aug 25, 1462; must out June 27, 1863. Ruckman, Phineas G, private, Ang. 25, 1862 ; must. out June 27, 1863. Senlning, John &,, private, Ang 25, 1862; must oot June 27, 1863. Sloun, Jolin, private, Aug. 25, 1862; must, out June 27, 1863. Smith, George F., private, Aug. 30, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. Stage, laane M., private, Ang. 25, 1862; Ist eergt. April 1, 1863; died at · division hosp., Aquia Creek, Va., May 12, 1863.


Stansbury, Edward P., private, Ang. 25, 1862 ; died of disease at camp near Belle Plam, Va , April 17, 1863.


Taylor, George W., private, Aug. 25, 1862; must, out June 27, 1863. Ten Broeck, Henry S., private, Aug. 25, 1862 ; must. out June 27, 1863. Thompson, Jacob, private, Aug. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


Tooker, William F, private, Aug. 25, 1862; corp. April 1, 1863; sergt. May 12, 1863; must. out June 27, 1863.


Tomis, William C., private, Aug, 25, 1862 ; disch. at U. S. A. Gen. Hosp., Philadelphia, Pa, March 18, 1863, dis.


Valentine, Luther L., corp., Aug. 25, 1862; died at regt. hosp., Belle Pleins, Va., March 12, 1863.


Van Derveer, James D., Int lient. Co. A, Sept 5, 1862; capt. vice John N. Lewis, resigned, Dec. 26, 1862 ; must. out June 27, 1863.


Van Ilart, Isaac, private, Ang. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. Van Houten, John J , private, Ang. 30, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863, Wilson, Washington O., private, Ang. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863. Woud, Willett E., private, Aug. 25, 1862; must. out June 27, 1863.


CHAPTER XXV.


.


TOWNSHIP OF ELIZABETHTOWN.


Original Dimensions of the Patent .- The land covered by Governor Nicolls' patent was of large di- mensions. It extended from the month of the Rari- tan on the south to the mouth of the Passaic on the north, a distance, in a straight line, of not less than seventeen miles, and running back into the country twice this distance, or thirty-four miles, embracing the towns of Woodbridge and Piscataway, the whole of the present Union County, part of the towns of Newark and Clinton, a small part of Morris Connty, and a considerable portion of Somerset Connty, con- taining about five hundred thousand acres, upland and meadow in fair proportions, well watered by the Raritan, the Passaic, the Rahway, and Elizabeth Rivers, Thompson's (Morse's) Creek, and Bound Brook, diversified with level plains and ranges of hills of considerable elevation, ordinarily classified as mountains, the soil of the uplands mostly red shale and clay loam, and a large part of it suscepti- ble of a high state of cultivation.


Town of Newark set off .- The territory purchased by the Associates of the Indians and patented by Gov- ernor Nicolls was evidently ample enough for several towns, vastly too large to be soon occupied by the original purchasers. But arrangements were in pro- gress for the reduction of its limits. Robert Treat, of Milford, who, in November, 1661, had, with others, endeavored to come to an agreement with Governor Stuyvesant for the settlement of a plantation in these parts, and had failed to secure satisfactory conditions from the Dutch government, had, some time in the winter of 1666, or in the early spring, been again deputed, with others of his townsmen, to visit this section and secure land sufficient for a town. On their arrival they found themselves at once among old and valued friends and neighbors, men and women, with whom, at Wethersfield, Milford, New Haven, and Guilford, they had taken sweet counsel together. The Branford people, who were medita- ting a union with the others in the new plantation, were many of them emigrants from Southampton, from which place and its neighborhood a large por- tion of the people of Elizabethtown had come. This was evidently a principal attraction to the new set- tlers from Connecticut.1


It was not difficult, in such a case, to agree upon terms. The townspeople welcomed their old friends, and cheerfully consented to part with that portion of their purchase which lay on the other side of what has from that day, and on that account, been called " Bound Brook ;" and Carteret agreed to extinguish the Indian title to the land beyond the town line to the northern bend of the Passaic River. Treat and


1 E. T. Bill, p. 218. Whitehead's E. Jersey, pp, 42-46. Newark Town Records, pp. vi., vii., 1-3. Stearns' First Chh., Newark, pp. 11-14.


12


174


HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.


his associates returned, and made so favorable a re- port that about thirty families determined at once to remove to New Jersey ; and on the very day, May 21, 1666, that Pierce and his company had arranged for the settlement of Woodbridge and Piscataway, the Milford people arrived in boats, and held their first town-meeting on the western bank of the Passaic River, and thus laid the foundations of another town- ship, since the flourishing city of Newark. The lim- its of Elizabeth Town north and south were in this manner considerably reduced, the town thus extend- ing only to Rahway River on the south, and to Bound Brook on the north.


Progress of Settlement and Surveys .- The af- fairs of the town, so far as can be discovered, moved on quietly and harmoniously during the first two years after Governor Carteret's arrival. Large ac- cessions were made to the sister town of Newark from Branford and Guilford, Conn., in the course of the summer and autumn of 1667, and the venerable Abraham Pierson, the old pastor of some of the settlers of Elizabethtown before their removal here, had now, Oct. 1, 1667, taken up his residence, with many of their kinsmen also, within six miles of their new home in the wilderness. This doubt- less served to reconcile them still more to the hard- ships incident to a new plantation in the midst of savage tribes, on whose friendship but little reli- ance could be placed. It made their position vastly more secure, as well as pleasant. It is not unreason- able to suppose that, until they had secured a minis- ter for their own town, some of them occasionally were found wending their way through the wilder- ness to Newark on the morning of the Lord's Day, to enjoy the privilege of hearing the gospel preached once more by the pastor of their earlier days. They were sturdy men, and not unaccustomed to such jour- neys.1


The work of surveying the house-lots and planting lands had been performed very imperfectly, possibly by Wolphertsen, who had been the city surveyor of New Amsterdam. The description of these lots is so imperfect, as recorded in the books of the province, that their location and the bearing of their boundary lines cannot now be determined. This would indi- cate that the lots had been laid out before the arrival of the surveyor-general, Vauquellin, with the Gov- ernor. Circumstances had occurred that made it necessary that Vauquellin should be "sent on busi- ness to England by the Governor," and no one else was authorized to act in the matter of laying out lands. A few of the inhabitants in consequence were put to some inconvenience, and drew up the following paper :


sist in the Town, but shall be forced to look out somewhere else for a livelihood. Nathaniel Bonnell, Joseph Bood, Leonard Headley, Benje- min Homan, Joseph Meeker, Beojaonio Meeker, Jouathen Ogden, Joseph Ogden, Joseph Osborn, Stephen Oshorn, Benjamin Price, Benjamin Price, Jr., Joseph Seers, Thomas Tomson, Hurr Tomsou, Mosee Tomsou, end Isaac Whitehead." 2


The signers were seventeen in number, and most of them either of the second generation or new-comers. The others were probably in difficulty about their boundary lines. The petition is without date, but it must have been presented in the early part of Decem- ber, 1667. The services of Brackett were only tem- porary, and confined most likely to the few cases of difficulty which gave rise to the petition. It is not to be concluded from this occurrence that no surveys had thus far been made, nor that the difficulty was at all general or extensive. The earliest records of sur- veys were made in the lost Town Book, as was fre- quently attested in subsequent years, and as was pro- vided for by the people of Newark in their own case.3


The boundary line between this town and Newark needed adjustment, and John Ogden, Sr., Luke Wat- son, Robert Bond, and Jeffry Jones were deputed to arrange the matter with the commissioners from Newark. They met together for this purpose May 20, 1668. It appears from an affidavit of Joseph Woodruff, of this town, made July 26, 1743, before Judge Joseph Bonnel, also of this town, that being at Milford, Conn., about the year 1699, he heard Gov- ernor Treat say,-


" That the inhabitants of Newark did first settle under the Elizabeth Towu Purchase; and did ellow the Newark river to be the bounde uf the Baid Purchase; and said that the Elizabeth Town people was so kind to the Newark people that they could never rewerd them enough. And further this deponent esith, That he, at that time, heard the said Gov- ernor tell efter whet maquer the Line was eettled between the two towns; and that it was done in so loving and solemn a manner that he thought it ought never to be removed; for he (the said Governor) him-


self being among them at that time, prayed with them on Dividend Hill (so called), that there might be a good agreement between them; and that it was agreed upon, by the settlers of each town, that the Line between theu should stand and remain from Dividend Hill, to run e northwest course; and the Governor said, thet, efter the agreement, Mr. John Ogden (being one of the first purchasers) prayed among the people, and returned thanks for their loving agreement."


It was thus that the founders of these two towns sought the blessing of the Almighty, and His guidance in all their transactions. They were, the most of them, men of faith and prayer.4


Boundaries of the Township Defined by Law. -At the meeting of the Assembly in October, 1693, an act was passed defining the bounds of the respec- tive townships of the province, in which, for the first time, the territory of this town is described by legis- lative anthority :


" The Township of Elizabeth-Town shall include all the Land from the mouth of Raway River West to Woodbridge-Stake, and from thence Westerly along the Line of the County to the Partition Line of the Province, and from the mouth of the said Raway River up the Sound to


" We, whose names are under-written, do humbly petition unto the Governur and his Council that we may have our lands laid out onto us, according to the agreements mede by the Inhabitants and concent of the Governor with them, as may more fully appear in the Town Recorde; which if it cannot be granted, we do not see how we can possibly sub-


1 Stearns' Newark, p. 26. Newark Town Records, p. 10.


º E. T. Bill, pp. 33, 102-9.


* E. J. Records, iii. 12.


4 Ans. to E. T. Bill, p. 47. Newark Town Recurds, p. 10. Stearns' Newark, pp. 40, 41.


175


TOWNSHIP OF ELIZABETHTOWN.


the mouth of the Bound-Creek, and from thence to the Bound-Hill, from thenca Northwest to the Partition Lina of the Province." 1


Mr. Hatfield, speaking of these boundaries, re- marks,-


" The territory thna defined ambraced the whole of the present Union County, and considerable portionsof Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris, War- ren, and Sussex Counties, including Morristown, Stanhope, Schouley's Mountain, and Newton, according to Keith's partition line, then un- derstood to be the true dividing line between East and West Jersey. The township was thus extended beyond the western bounds of the In- diao Purchase, which at uo point was more than thirty-four miles from Newark Bay, or double the distance from the mouth of the Raritan to the mouth of the Passaic Rivars." 2


The error of Mr. Hatfield in extending the bounda- ries of the township so far to the north west evidently grew out of his not understanding the partition line between East and West Jersey. The act does say that the line shall extend on the "North-west to the Partition Line of the Province." But where was that partition line located ? It was not the final line sur- veyed by James Lawrence, for this was not run till the autumn of 1743; nor was it the Keith line, as Mr. Hatfield supposes. The Keith line proper was never rnu beyond the southwest corner of Somerset County. Starting on the east side of Little Egg Harbor, and running in the direction assumed, it was soon ob- jected to by the West Jersey proprietors as taking off too much of their share of the province, and was stopped at the end of the straight line which appears on the maps between Hunterdon and Somerset Coun- ties, and never carried beyond that point. Had it been continued to the Delaware River, it would have included the territory described by Mr. Hatfield, but it was not. A compromise line was subsequently agreed upon by Coxe and Barclay, Governors respec- tively of West and East Jersey, which ran from the point where the Keith line had terminated to the bend of the Passaic, thence to the month of the Pe- quannock, and up that stream to the forty-first degree of north latitude, and thence east on that parallel to Hudson River.3 This line ran a little south of Mor- ristown, so that the township of Elizabeth Town in 1693 included a portion of Morris County, as well as the whole of Union and a part of Somerset. It never included any of Hunterdon, Warren, or Sussex Coun- ties. In Somerset County it embraced the present townships of North Plainfield, Warren, Bernard, and part of Bridgewater.


Resurvey and Allotment of the Township .- About six years after the township was laid out, as above described, it was resurveyed and portions of it allotted which had not been previously assigned to actual settlers. The new generation and the new- comers were eager for more land. It was determined, therefore, in town-meeting in the autumn of 1699 to proceed to an orderly distribution of the back coun- try lands and the remaining meadows on the Town


Creck among the Associates, now one hundred and twenty in number. For this purpose Jolın Harriman, Jr., the eldest son of the minister, was chosen sur- veyor, and Messrs. Jonathan Ogden, Benjamin Lyon, John Clarke, Samuel Carter, and Cornelius Hatfield his assistants, "to Lay out, Divide, and Equally assise all the Lands and meadows within the whole Bounds and purchase of Elizabeth Town, to every one Inter- ested therein by Right of purchase under the honour- able General Richard Nicholls, their Several and Respective parts and shares of the whole." +


They entered upon their work Dec. 26, 1699, and completed it March 5, 1700. The ground surveyed was watered by the Rahway River in its southerly course, and extended from the Newark line on the north to the Woodbridge line on the south, reaching to the foot of "the mountain" on the west. It in- cluded a considerable part of the present towns of Union, Westfield, and Plainfield, and part of the town of Rahway. It comprised about seventeen thou- sand acres, and was divided into one hundred and seventy-one one-hundred-acre lots, mostly forty by twenty-six chains, the general direction of the length being from east to west, and of the breadth from north to south. The first lot, assigned to Isaac White- head, Sr., deceased, bordered on " the North-west line between Elizabeth Town and Newark;" the 107th, 111th, 112th, and 119th bordered south on the Wood- bridge line, the intervening lots, in the order of their enumeration, filling up the interval, and the remain- ing lots lying to the west of the others. The settle- ment of Connecticut Farms and Westfield dates from this allotment, the staple of the population of these townships being the descendants of the old planters among whom these lands were apportioned.


" At a meeting of the freeholders of Elizabeth Town, October 20, Anno 1699, the following conclusions were made (viz.) :


" By a unanimous vote of the freeholdars aforessid, it was aud is agreed and concluded, that if any have beau at Charges in the Clearing and Fencing of Land which no Particular Purchasea in the whole of this Township Can Justly Claim a Mila or more out of the Town Plott, shall have su much then where he has so Fenced and Cleared as is sufficient to make a plantation ; Provided always, that the Possessor or Satler of all such Lands have a Real Right in the whole of this Township by Pur- chase, and slav that such have not taken up more than there proportion of the whole, or if dearer shall have a sufficient field." 5


A portion of the common township lands lying in Somerset County were disposed of by vote of a town- meeting held July 1, 1734, described as follows :


" All that Tract of Land or any part or parcel thereof; Baginning at Cedar Brook where Essex Line crosses tha said Brook, and from thence Running weat six miles, and from thence the nearest Corse to the moun- tain, aud from thence as the said mountain runs to the hundred acres Lots formerly surveyed according to the Town order and agreement, and from theuce to the first mentioned place to the said Cedar Brook."


"(Also), To dispose of what money shall arise from the sale of the said Lands, or any part thereof, for the General Interest of the saul As- aociates and freeholders. In definding them or any of them in the pos- session of their property, or in dispossessing any that shall unjustly in- trude upon any part of the aforesaid purchase and Grant." 6


1 Leaming and Spicer, p. 329.


2 Gordon's N. J., 71-78.


8 Sea chapter ou the Partition Line iu Middlesex County, in this work.


+ E. Town Book, B., p. 37.


" luid., p. 24. Copied from old book, pp. 14, 15.


6 Ibid., p. 3.


176


HISTORY OF UNION AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.


This tract was wholly in Somerset County, includ- ing a considerable part of the township of Warren, with a small part of Bridgewater. Previous to this time seven trustees had been appointed by the town to superintend the disposal of public lands, and we find that at a town-meeting held Sept. 16, 1735, these trus- tees were empowered to dispose of town lands at Bask- ing Ridge and that vicinity, described as


" A certain Tract or Parcel of Land Lying west from a place known by the name of Baskine Ridge and between the West Jersey line not to exceed Eight Miles upou the East and west line and to Extend to our utmost bounds upon the North and south Lines Provided always That the sd Tract of Land he not convey'd and sold for Less than two Thou- sand Ponads Current Money of New Jersey and so in Proportion for a Lesser Quantity of said Land and it is further agreed and Concluded That we the said Associates and ffreeholders Do Reserve one Third part of said Tract of Land to ourselves if Required by said ffreeholders and then and In such case to Deduct one Third part of said Two Thousand Pounds all which money is to be Improv'd for the General Good of gd ffreeholders.1


This tract, remote as it was from the locality of the original settlement, was clearly included in the town- ship of Elizabeth Town as defined by the act of 1693, and as clearly in the land conveyed by the Indian purchase and the Nicolls patent. No wonder that the proprietors, astonished by the vigorous action of the Associates, should speak of " the Lines of their vast Pretensions," nor that James Alexander, the surveyor-general, should write, Oct. 1, 1733, to Col. John Hamilton, of Amboy, advising him " to call a meeting of the Proprietors of East Jersey to devise measures to stop the proceedings of the Elizabeth Town people in extending their bounds and granting lands."2


A large body of land in the township yet remained unappropriated, lying to the west of the surveys and allotments of 1700, including what are familiarly known as the First and Second Mountains as far as the Newark line on the north, with the intervening valley drained by Blue Brook, the eastern branch of Cedar Brook, on either side of which the village of Feltville has since grown up, and the whole region watered by the Passaic River above Chatham, em- bracing the whole of the present township of New Providence, Union County, and the southern parts of Chatham and Morris townships, Morris County. Por- tions of the track were exceedingly rugged, and others low and swampy ; but other portions, of large extent, were quite good, productive lands. Immigration had already found its way thither, in search of fruitful soil, healthful residences, and valuable mill-sites.




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