USA > New Jersey > Gloucester County > Notes on old Gloucester County, New Jersey, Volume I > Part 2
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In 1770 Public House Licenses were issued to :
Wm. Cooper, Samuel Morril, Newton twp. Christopher Sickler, Robert Mattocks, Jon'n Aborn, Gloucester
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
twp. Wm. Hugg, Wm. Gerrard, Gloucester town. Ann Risley, Samuel Snell, Great Egg Harbour twp. Mary Hutchenson, Thomas James, Woolwich twp. Martha Pinyard, Greenwich twp. Benj. Rambo, Deptford twp. Francis Willson, Waterford twp.
MISSING RECORDS
The Court records for the years 1748 to 1755 are missing from the bound volumes, but may be loose in one of the many boxes in the Court House.
ATTORNEYS' COMMISSIONS
1760: Sam'l Allenson having produced to this Court the Governor's license or commission appointing him an Attorney at Law in all Courts of Record within this province and containing a command to all Judges and Justices to admit him accordingly which being now read the Court admits the said Samuel Allenson to practice as an Attorney at Law in this Court in pursuance thereof.
In 1763 Robert Friend Price produced a similar com- mission appointing him high sheriff of Gloucester Co.
GRAND JURORS FOR 1766
Sept. term 1766 Grand Jury :
Joseph Morgan, James Hendrickson, Chas. French, John Wallace, Isaac Kay, Sam'l Burrows, John Collins, Thos. Clark, Hugh Creighton, Samuel Spicer, John Kay, Peter Covenover, Andrew Steelman, Amos Haines, Isaac Albertson, Wm. Hampton, Jonathon Morgan.
1770 INDICTMENTS
In 1770 several men including Zebulon Lock, An- drew Culling, Andrew Hendrickson, William Bright, John Munyon were indicted for a "shooting match." They pleaded guilty and were fined ten shillings each.
22
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
At the same term (June 1770) Luke Rulong was indicted for killing a deer.
At Sept. term, Savery Gosling was also indicted for killing deer.
THE WHIPPING POST
As an example of punishment for offences against the law, the following sentence must have been a sure guarantee against a repetition of the offence :
"June term 1774
John Sparks, Foreman of Jury
The King versus John Egan. Petty larceny
The Court pronounced judgment that he receive 39 lashes on the bare back on Saturday next the 25th of June between the hours of four and five in the after- noon, that he pay his fees and be suffered to depart the Province and that if ever he comes into the County of Gloucester he receive the same punishment and as often as he returns."
REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD, 1776-1782
The last entry in the June 1776 term of Court is a list of the persons granted tavern licenses, viz .: Wil- liam Higbee, Benjamin Weatherby, Desire Sparks, James Cooper, and Robt. Whitacre, together with their sureties.
Oct. Ist, 1776, Sam'l Harrison Judge, Thos. Denny, George Van Lear and Isaac Kay, Esq. Justices opened Court "in form"
by a coincidence the first entry is "The following persons licensed by the Court"
JOHN RAMBO SIMON SPARKS WM. ELDREDGE HUGH CREIGHTON THOS. JAMES
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
In those days, as now, the Judges granted licenses for the sale of liquors.
The last entry of the King versus a person was a case against Jonathan Albertson.
The first appearance of a case of the State versus any one is in the March term, 1777, when Thomas Red- man and Mark Miller were taken into court and re- fused to take the oath of fidelity. They were sentenced to "pay the sum of five shillings a piece" and stand com- mitted till the fine fees are paid.
DEPTFORD TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS
The Deptford township officers for the year 1779 were :
JEREMIAH PAUL,
Clerk
CHARLES FISHER -
Freeholders
SAVIL WILSON
JOSEPH LOW
Road
JAMES WILKINS
Surveyors
DAVID WOOD
Road
JAMES GIBSON
Overseers
ARTHUR HAMILTON
ISAAC STEPHENS,
Assessor
DAVID MORGAN,
Collector
JONATHON MORGAN
Overseers of the
JAMES WOOD
Poor
RANDLE MORGAN
1
Commissioners of
JAMES WILKINS
JOSEPH LOW
Appeal
BENJAMIN WARD,
Constable
Jonathan, Randle and David Morgan were brothers and sons of David Morgan, who died 1759. He was the progenitor of nearly all of the Morgans of South Jersey.
24
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
A careful search of the court records of this time does not show very much pertaining to the excitement of the war, although several inhabitants of Gloucester County had their property confiscated because of their loyalty to the Crown.
The Judges and Justices of the period were undis- puted patriots.
In 1779, the Judges and Justices of the Court of Common Pleas and Court of General Sessions were
ISAAC KAY JOHN WILKINS
JOHN SPARKS BODO OTTO
ISAAC TOMLINSON
RICHARD SOMERS
ROBERT BROWN
JOSEPH HUGG
JOHN SOMERS
ROBERT MORSS
THOMAS KENNARD
In December, 1779, twenty-five of the prominent citizens were fined 30 pounds each for failure to serve as jurors.
At the end of the Court Minutes of 1776-7-9 is the inscription "God Save the People."
In 1782, the constables of the various townships comprising Gloucester County were as follows :
ISAAC COX,
Newton
BARNEY OWENS,
Gloucester town
JOHN BATES,
Gloucester twp.
JOSEPH RICE,
Woolwich
WILLIAM BURNET,
Galloway
JEREMIAH RISLEY
Egg Harbour
JOSEPH KAMP JOHN BARNES
Greenwich
FRANCIS ROBINSON
WILLIAM BUZBY
Deptford
JACOB SPENCER
JOHN SHIVERS
Waterford
BENJ. COZENS
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
INDICTMENTS
In 1787 the following were indicted for a shooting match and were discharged because "reasons were not sufficient :" Andrew Hendrickson, Isaac Locke, Ed- mund West, John D. Ford, Martin Cox, Enos Eldridge, Thos. Dunaway, Wm. Denny.
1778 the following were indicted for Horse racing. Found not guilty : Wm. White, William Hugg, Samuel Cozens, John Pysant, Edmund West, Elijah Cozens.
FEES
In 1792: Sixteen licenses were granted and for the first time a license fee appears in the records rang- ing from 4 to 6f for each tavern.
In 1797 records change from English money to dollars and cents.
ATTORNEYS
The attorneys who practiced in the Gloucester County Courts from 1740 to 1764 were Messrs. Price, Jones, Bustill, Robinson, Evans, Ross, Hartshorne, Mestayer, Rose; between 1764 and 1776, in addition to some of those mentioned above, Messrs. Smith, Bard, Kinsey, Allinson, Trenchard, Lawrence, Reed and Davenport also appeared as attorneys.
During the Revolution, Attorneys, Messrs. Howell, Leake, Bloomfield and Read also pleaded before the Gloucester county courts.
It was a common practice for suits to be submitted to three men for arbitration, whose report or any two of them would decide the controversy.
During 1794 and subsequently there was a con- troversy over an alteration in the road from Haddon- field to Woodbury.
In 1796 the Managers of the Woodbury Academy lottery were interested in a law suit.
2
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
OLD FAMILIES
Among the well known families living in and about Gloucester County during the 18th century were the fol- lowing :
Borton
Bodine
Abbott
Townsend
Whitaker
Cramer
Edwards
Lummis
Willits
French
Carle
Robinson
Folwell
Rogers
Shourds
Morris
Newbold
Somers
Leeds
Ogden
Dubois
Van Sant
Garwood
Ďavis
Clement
Peirson
Harris
Garrison
Miller
Craven
Bilderback
Padget
Rumsey
Sheppard
VanMeter
Walker
Mattson
Wainwright
Webb
Carter
Bartlett
Darrell
Hancock
/
Hall
Bates
Clark
Jaquette
Steward
Richman
Simkins
Rose
Trenchard
Wade
Wright
Prickett
Cattell
Bowen
Jessup
Moffett
Lippincott
Kaighn
Haines
Biddle
Ballinger
Collins
Steelman
Woods
Albertson
Cooper.
Tomlinson
Hedger
Hinchman
Burnet
Budd
Hendrickson
·Corson
Reeves
Coles
Sparks
Zanes
Vanneman
Burroughs
Eastlack
Helme
Kirby
Carney
Cresse
Endicott
Stoneback
Seeley
Dunlap
Ridgway
Thomson
Seaman
Wescott
Mayhew
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
Parker
Mott
Peirce
Ireland
Mathis
Roberson
Headley
Jones
Tyler
Gauntt
Horner
Sutton
Gaskill
Gifford
Taylor
/ Doughty
Falkinburg Paul
Craig
Cramner
Lord
Cavilear
Conkling
Hopman
Allen
Stille
Gibson
Chew -
Blackman
Adams
Morgan
Davenport
Dunn
Dalbo
Newkirk
Holmes
Ware
Batten
Whiteall
Ward
Nixon
Spicer
Williams
Marshall
Thackara
Hand
Randall
Hugg
Ladd
Tatem
Hillman
Howell
Mulford
Clark
Ellis
Bateman
Sinnickson
Robbins
Risley
Yorke
Pharo
Sharp
LOAN OFFICE.
Among the old records is a book known as the Ledger of the Gloucester County Loan Office. It begins in 1786 and ends 1799. One hundred and eighty-nine different men, well known in the community, borrowed amounts ranging from 25 to 100 pounds Dec. 5, 1786. and as a rule paid interest and sometimes instalments on the principal for a period of ten years.
The Loan Commissioners met at the house of Wm. Hugg and spent two days examining the title deeds of the applicants. The loans desired were about double the amount to be loaned and the Commissioners decided to put the money out on a 50% proportion.
The total amount loaned was about 8,000 pounds.
28
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
Among the names are Sam'l Risley, Egg Harbor; John Badcock, Egg Harbor; Richard Collins, Joseph Sooy, Thomas Clark, Robert Morss, Daniel Leeds, Amariah Ballinger, Robert Zane, James Russell, John Lippincott, Henry Ridgway, Richard French, Jeremiah Adams, Hezekiah Arnold, Richard Steelman, James Rambo, Jonathan Williams, Nathan Weatherby, John Porch, Hudson Tomlin. James B. Cooper, Joseph Ellis and Franklin Davenport.
Old Trinity Church * At Swedesboro, N. J.
The history of the earliest settlements in Glouces- ter County is one of those things which has been forever lost. It naturally has to do with the coming of the Swedes, in 1634, and with the settlement on Tinicum Island which lies in the Delaware just off the western end of the county. With the fertile uplands of the county so close at hand it seems unreasonable to sup- pose that the Swedes would have failed to recognize the wonderful agricultural possibilities of the sandy loam which lay so near to the Governor's headquarters. The first actual knowledge of them, however, is concerned with the arrival of the good ship Kent with the commis- sioners, John Eldridge and Edmund Warner, to settle the dispute between Edward Byllinge and John Fenwick. In August, 1676, they arrived at New Castle, Delaware, later moving up the Delaware, and finally landing the passengers at the mouth of Raccoon Creek, where the Swedes had a settlement years before, only to be aban- doned as they moved inland to the permanent occupation of the land which is now Swedesboro and Repaupo. Among the passengers on board was William White, a cordwainer, who purchased the land where Swedesboro now stands. He bequeathed the same to his son, John White, who later sold it to John Hugg, Jr., of Glouces- ter River, sometime High Sheriff and later Chief Jus- tice of Gloucester County. By him the tract was sold to Trinity Church, which has been in possession of it since the first day of September, 1703.
The history of the neighborhood naturally centers around the old church. The deed recites the fact that
* By REV. EDGAR CAMPBELL.
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
the church was "late erected" and the original survey, which, with the original deed, is in the possession of the Church Corporation, shows the church in place "in the middle of the tract of twenty acres, facing the creek." There is no record of Indian occupancy, but when one studies the geology of the neighborhood and finds evi- dence that a large fresh water lake, lying directly north of the town, was in existence at the time the King's Highway was laid out in 1765, for this famous road just skirted the eastern bank, and that at the sandy head of this lake, with a wonderfully easy portage from the creek, are to be found many arrowheads and Indian utensils, it is easy to surmise that there must have been a large permanent settlement of the red men there. What more natural that they should select the slope at the head of tide water, where two creeks join, for a burying place, and that the Swedes when they laid their dead away should have come to the same place, and then later when they came to erect their church should have asked for this hallowed spot. At any rate the church was erected there and from that time, whether before 1700 or afterwards, the history of the community centers for the greater part in the history of the church.
The first church was of logs, but by the time of the Revolution, about 75 years later, this was fast going to ruin, yet around it must have clustered the same hal- lowed memories that we put around all rural churches. Here they came for services, to listen to the celebrated men sent from Sweden, among whom was Peter Kalm, who named our mountain laurel and in whose honor it still carries the Latin name, Kalmia. Here they brought children to be baptized; the lovers came to be married. and here they sadly laid away their dead. English and Swedes lived side by side, the Swedish gradually ming- ling with the English, until 1765, when the English be- came dominant and they wrote their records in that lan- guage.
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NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
Church yards everywhere tell us much of history. In the old yard of Trinity Church there are very few old stones. One is forcibly reminded of the words of Irving, to be found in Rip Van Winkle. On his re- turn from the mountain, Rip came to the village tavern and asked, "Where's Nicholas Vedder?" "There was silence for a little while, when an old man replied in a thin, piping voice, 'Nicholas Vedder? Why he is dead and gone these eighteen years. There was a wooden tombstone in the churchyard that used to tell about him, but that's rotten and gone too.'" It must have been so here. Occasionally one finds a stone that he feels is very old, but for the most part the markers are gone. There is a stone to the memory of Jonas Jones, who died 1721 ; one for Eli Vanneman, 1722, and then there are others until we come to Joseph Applin, 1740, a beau- tifully carved stone, similar to those found in English churchyards of that period, and which was most likely brought from England.
What heroes of the Colonial wars lie buried may not be known. Of the Revolution few names can be of a certainty recognized. Colonel Robert Brown, of course, for he was the storekeeper, money lender, and factotum of the community. Then there was Colonel Bodo Otto, who was also a physician, whose father was Washington's surgeon general at Valley Forge. Of him there is an interesting paper in the vaults of the church, namely a receipt for medical attendance on Wil- liam Matson, which was signed April 19, 1775, the very day the battle of Lexington was fought. Captain John Daniels and Colonel Heston are also buried here, and Hester, wife of Captain Samuel Williams. Of privates there is no record whatsoever. They must have num- bered twenty to one, compared to the officers, so that we very likely have fifty of them, most of whom are in un- marked graves.
32
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
Interesting is the story told of the time when Corn- wallis marched by, and who knows but the Quaker poet may have visited the community and there found the germ of the poem of Barbara Frietsche. The old folks told of how in marching by the general saw a clergy- man officiating at a funeral, who from his vestments re- sembled an English clergyman. He gave orders that the Church was not to be molested and it was left in peace. A seeming fairy tale! But we have the grave of Hester, wife of Captain Samuel Williams, who died Oct. 16, 1777, just three days before Cornwallis marched by, and there may be truth rather than fiction in the story.
The British did not always leave the community in peace. A record in the minute book of the Vestry under the date of 1778 is as follows :
"The usual vestry meeting on the 3d day of Eas- ter could not be observed, because of the general distraction produced by the war. Militia and Con- tinental troops on one side, and refugees with British on the other were frequently skirmishing, and both almost equally distressing the country. Plundering, marauding, imprisoning, and burning houses, with other horrid excesses, were frequent from the beginning of spring til July, when the British army evacuated Philadelphia. In the morn- ing of Easter-Sunday, a man who had traded with the British was tied to a pine near the burying ground, and cruelly whipped. He died after a short time. On the 4th day of April, some hundred of English Marines and refugees came to Swedes- borough early in the morning to surprise the mili- tia. Being disappointed they burnt the Schoolhouse, alleging for a reason that some loyal subjects had been imprisoned therein some weeks before"
33
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
The present church was built in 1784, and there is preserved in the vestry room the original subscription book with the names of all the contributors to the fund for its erection, and a reading of the names is like a cen- sus of the community. The list of expenditures is also given and shows that the total cost of the church was £1310 and 8 shillings. The church as it stands to-day is practically unchanged. There have been some altera- tions in the interior, but the exterior is exactly as it was when the Swedes and English left it as completed.
It is interesting to know that Mr. Isaac Vanneman, grandson of the master mason who built the church, Isaac Van Neaman (Vanneman), is still living in Swedesboro.
SKETCH BY FRANK H TAYLOR
DEFYING THE HESSIANS AT RED BANK.
-
-
The Battle of Red Bank *
The attack on, and defence of Fort Mercer, at Red Bank, on the Delaware River, overlooking League Island and Fort Mifflin on the Pennsylvania side, was one of the most glorious battles in the Revolutionary War. When the Battle of Red Bank is mentioned, many people confuse it with the Red Bank in Monmouth County ; but historic Red Bank was once the Capital of Gloucester County, the Courts being held alternately at Gloucester and Red Bank.
While long ago it ceased to be a judicial town, the brave deeds of Colonel Greene and his soldiers, and Commodore Hazlewood and his sailors, in the defence of Fort Mercer, will rouse enthusiasm and patriotism for all time.
After the Battle of the Brandywine, September II, 1777, and the occupation of Philadelphia by the British army under General Howe, in order to supply his army it became imperative for General Howe to open the Delaware River for navigation to Philadelphia. To ac- complish this it was necessary to capture or destroy the fortifications at Billingsport, Fort Mifflin on Mud Island, Fort Mercer, on the Jersey shore near Red Bank, and pass through, or remove the chevaux-de-frise at Billingsport, and off Red Bank.
The defence of Fort Mercer, at Red Bank, was given to two regiments of Varnum's Rhode Island Bri- gade, under the command of Col's Christopher Greene and Israel Angell, who were instructed to hold the fort to the last extremity as the key to the Delaware, and the pivot on which the success of the campaign depend- ed. The French engineer, Manduit du Plessis, accom- panied Greene. The Lieutenant Colonels were Shaw and
* By WALLACE McGEORGE, M. D.
36
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
Olney; the Majors were Thayer and Ward, and the Surgeon, Dr. Peter Turner.
Fort Mercer, which had been erected here to support the left of the upper chevaux-de-frise, sunk in 1776, to prevent the ascension of the British fleet, was originally designed for a garrison of twelve or fifteen hundred men. When Greene took possession of the works, having but three hundred men, he adopted the suggestion of M. de Manduit, an experienced French engineer, and threw out a large part of the fortification on the north, reduc- ing it to a pentagonal redoubt of convenient size. A rampart of earth raised to the height of the cordon, a fosse and an abattis in front of the fosse constituted the whole strength of the post. The battery numbered four- teen pieces of artillery of small calibre.
The capture of Fort Mercer was assigned by General Howe, to Count Carl Emil Kurt von Donop, one of the most distinguished of the Hessian officers, who had taken an active part with his regiment in the battle of German- town, and who was eager for an opportunity to display his ability as a leader. Howe regarded him as an in- telligent and bold soldier, and assigned him the three Grenadier Battalions of Von Minnigerode, Von Lin- singen and Von Lengererke, Mirbach's Regiment (which had been ordered up from Wilmington), consisting of four light companies of chasseurs, including Wangen- heim's, a dozen cavalrymen, some artillery and two English howitzers."
Donop recognized the heavy task entrusted to him, and asked in vain for more artillery, but Howe said that if Donop could not take the fort, the British would. Donop was angry at this reply and sent back word that the Germans had courage to do anything, and to his as- sociates he said, "Either that will be Fort Donop or I shall be dead."
On Tuesday, October 21, 1777, Count Donop with his troops started for Red Bank. To avoid molestation
37
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
by the Yankee vessels in the river, who occupied the Delaware from Kaighn's Point southward to Red Bank, it was necessary to cross the Delaware at Cooper's Point, and take the road leading from that place to Had- donfield. At that time there were two ferries from Philadelphia to Cooper's Ferries, as Camden was then called, one from Market Street to Cooper Street, and the other from Vine Street, Philadelphia, to Main Street, Camden. As the river shore between the two ferries was held by English, Scotch and Hessian regiments, it was safe for the British hirelings to be ferried over the river at this point.
When the troops, artillery, horses and baggage had been ferried over they marched through Main and Cooper Streets, Camden, to Pine Street, (now called North Sixth Street), and from thence over the road leading to Haddonfield. At that time this road was in some places not much better than a bridle path, and was not made a turnpike till 1792. They arrived at Haddon- field Tuesday evening and the soldiers bivouacked in the fields beyond the village near Hopkins' mill pond. Count Donop selected John Gill's house for his head- quarters, and as those families that entertained an of- ficer were secure against pillage by the Hessians, many of the inhabitants quickly opened their doors to receive the Hessian officers. Judge Clement says: "In John Gill's house Donop had his headquarters, and although the owner was an elder among Friends, yet the urbanity and politeness of the German soldier so won upon him, that he was kindly remembered ever after."
Early Wednesday morning, October 22, preparation was made to advance on Fort Mercer by way of Mount Ephraim to the Buck (now Westville) when their scouts brought them word that the bridge over Timber Creek at that point was torn up. This necessitated a change in the route, and securing guides they took the road from Haddonfield to Clement's Bridge, passing through
38
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
the villages now called Barrington and Runnymede. Be- fore reaching the latter place, they crossed Beaver Brook, and then had strenuous work dragging their cannon up the hill, which is one hundred feet high at this point. (To make myself thoroughly familiar with the route the Hessians took, Mrs. McGeorge and I drove over the entire route a few years ago, and we were par- ticularly interested in the roads they marched after leav- ing Haddonfield till they reached Red Bank.) .
Crossing Timber Creek at Clement's Bridge, they proceeded along the road through the hamlet called Cat- teltown (because so many Cattells lived there), later known as Basket Town, and now called Wescottville; then skirting the edge of the woods, passing by the Cat- tell Burying Ground, over "Lavender Hill," passing J. Wood Hannold's and the Johnson farms, across the Westville and Glassboro Road, past the Knight, Lad- ner and McGeorge farms, through Ladd's woods and out through Mann Town, now Park Avenue, across the King's Highway, now the Woodbury and Glouces- ter Turnpike, and from thence out what is now called Hessian avenue, across the Crown Point Road and the highway from Woodbury to Red Bank, halting on the edge of the woods, near the fort, arriving there shortly before noon.
Colonel Donop rode forward and reconnoitered. He found that he could approach the fort through a thick woods, on three sides, without hindrance. The fort was a five-sided earthwork, with a ditch and abattis. It had at first been constructed on too large a scale, but Mon- sieur du Plessis de Manduit had reduced the size of the works. On three sides of the fort the woods afforded shelter to the besieging party to within a distance of four hundred yards. On the north side was the Dela- ware River.
Mickle, in his Reminiscences of Old Gloucester, says: "On the morning of the twenty-second, the Hes-
39
NOTES ON OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY.
sians arrived at the edge of the forest north of the fort, almost within cannon shot thereof. Halting them to rest from the march, Donop sent an officer with a drum- mer to command Greene to surrender. 'King George,' said the officer, 'directs his rebellious subjects to lay down their arms and promised no quarter if a battle is risked.' At which Col. Greene, in command of the fort, deputized a man to mount the parapet and return the laconic reply: 'We'll see King George damned first-we want no quarter!' The interview here ter- minated and the officer returned to the Hessian camp."
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