USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II > Part 89
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"The deceased was extensively known, had conferred upon him several military distinc- tions, and had filled the office of High Sheriff of this County. During the last six or eight vears he had retired from business and had confined himself very much to the society of his
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family. Major Price married Sarah Bickham, of Philadelphia, and died leaving a widow and a large family; of his daughters Sarah married Harry Lindsey, of Philadelphia, and Annie married, first, J. Gifford Johnson, of Delaware County, and second, Hiram Saunders. The Major's sons were: Samuel A., Jr .; Thomas Bickham; Henry Clay; Edward A., of Media, a member of the Bar, and local politician; William G .; John G .; and Joseph Wade, who served in the 5th Penna. Vol. Cavalry during the Civil War, and died in Media about 1872."
EDWARD RICHARDS, eldest son of Jacob, died unmarried. His tombstone, in St. Peter's Church graveyard, Chester, Pennsylvania, has the inscription: "Edward Richards, Esq., died April 13, 1794, aged 33 years, 5 months, 3 days."
ELIZABETH RICHARDS, second daughter, married, January 22, 1784, Charles Grantham, son of Charles Grantham, or Grantum, who was commissioned a Jus- tice of the Chester County Courts, as early as 1741, and married Catharine, daugh- ter of Andrew and Margaret Morton, of Ridley township, by whom he had three sons, George, Jacob and Charles; the latter the husband of Elizabeth Richards. Edward Stalker Sayres, Esq., furnished the following account of their family for J. Hill Martin's "History of Chester" (1877) : "Charles Grantham owned a farm of 128 acres adjoining the old Effinger property. The estate extended from the Delaware River to the Chester road. He married Elizabeth Richards, daughter of Jacob Richards the elder, and had three sons, Isaac, George Richards, and Charles E., and one daughter Susan. None of them ever married. Isaac attended to his father's estate, George Richards Grantham studied law with Samuel Ed- wards, Esq., and was admitted to practice. Charles was engaged in business in Philadelphia and died in that city. The Granthams got into pecuniary difficulties about forty-five years ago, and were compelled to dispose of their farm; they all removed to Doylestown, and from thence to Illinois, where they died, as I have said unmarried. Isaac was the survivor; he died in the year 1858, and left his estate to Mrs. Samuel Anderson, of Chester. Charles E. Grantham died August 20, 1815, aged 17 years and 6 months, and is buried in old Chester churchyard.
"In company with my father, Edward Smith Sayres, I visited the old Grantham prop- erty on Oct. 26, 1873. We had quite a chat with the person who lives in the old Grantham house, which is situated about 200 yards from the river. The walls are two feet six inches in thickness, and the whole building is in excellent condition. The late owner, a Mr. Dennis, plastered the whole of the edifice fronting the railroad, and the two ends. I cannot imagine what it is done for, as the house was built of cut stone, and the side fronting the river still remains in its original state, looking far prettier than the portions covered with showy white plaster. * * * The Granthams were known through the country as Grants, and the rocks in the river opposite their house were called 'Grant's Rocks.' Our informant told us that they are to this day called by the same name. * * * My father says he recollects the Grantham family living in their new house on Chester road in a direct line back from the old one that still stands by the river-side and before described. The site is now occupied by the house of the late owner, Mr. N. F. X. Dennis, who has ingeniously turned the old Grantham quarry. which is situated near the house, into a fish pond. This quarry produced a stone from which Mr. Grantham manufactured scythe stones. They were extensively sold in Philadelphia, and branded as 'Crum Creek Scythe Stones.' * * * I cannot find who bought the property from the Granthams. I was told that the Bank of Delaware County sold it about 16 years ago to Mr. Dennis, of Philadelphia, a Frenchman, and an extensive manufacturer of quinnine. This Mr. D. also bought the adjoining property, I think the Trimble property, which joined the Grantham's on the east. I do not know who the Grantham's bought the property from. My father thinks it had been in the family a long time. I believe the Granthams were orig- inally of English descent, from the name, which is purely English."
CHRISTIANA RICHARDS, fourth daughter of Jacob Richards, married Pierce Crosby, of Crosby's Mills, Delaware county, son of Judge John Crosby (3d), a Captain in the Revolution, and Judge of the Delaware County Court, by his second wife, Ann Pierce. Judge Crosby was a son of John Crosby (2d), member of Provincial Assembly from 1768 to 1771, and Coroner of Chester county in 1771- 59
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72, by his wife, Eleanor Graham. John Crosby (2d) was a son of John and Sus- annah Crosby, early settlers on Ridley creek.
Pierce Crosby, born November 25, 1771, died July 26, 1853, was many years president of the Bank of Delaware County. Christiana Richards was his first wife, and they had issue :
John P. Crosby, b. Dec. 17, 1795; d. Feb. 10, 1828;
Jacob Richards Crosby, b. Feb. 17, 1797; d. inf .;
Ann Crosby, b. July 30, 1798; d. Dec. 9, 1873; m. (first) James Leiper, of Ridley, ( sec- ond) Thomas Hemphill, of Thornbury;
Pierce Crosby, b. Jan. 3, 1800; d. inf. ;
Pierce Crosby, Jr., b. April 18, 1805; d. aged twenty-one years; was a man of herculean size and strength;
Christiana R. Crosby, b. Oct. 24, 1809; d. March 30, 1863; m. Charles L. Desanque, who d. Jan. 27, 1872, son of Louis Desangue, of Phila .;
Edward Richards Crosby, b. Nov. 21, 1811; m. Amelia Berry, of Washington, D. C., and d. near Chester, 1855, leaving five children;
Elizabeth Crosby, m. (first) Holland Bowen, of Chester, (second) Nathaniel Davis; on the occasion of the marriage of Holland Bowen to Elizabeth Crosby, a large dancing pavilion was erected on the lawn at Crosby's Mills, and the wedding festivities were in a style that was the wonder and talk of the county;
Sarah Crosby, b. Dec. 15, 1814; m. Thomas Harrison, of Phila., white lead manufacturer; issue :
Mellicent Harrison, m. William H. Tevis; George Leib Harrison; Virginia Harrison, m. James N. Whelen; Annie Harrison ;
Edward C. Harrison; Elizabeth Harrison.
COL. JACOB RICHARDS, youngest son of Jacob Richards, born 1776, died July 20, 1816; studied law and was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar, February 18, 1795, having previously been admitted to the Delaware County Bar, in 1794. He was a member of Congress from 1803 to 1809; Colonel in the Delaware County Militia, and a very prominent man in the county. He married, 1795 (marriage license dated July 9, 1795), Elizabeth, died July 15, 1807, daughter of Maj. John James, of state of Delaware. Her sister, Rachel James, who in her youth was a famous beauty and called "the belle of Delaware," was second wife of Pierce Crosby, whose first wife was Col. Jacob Richards' sister, Christiana, mentioned above.
Col. Jacob and Elizabeth (James) Richards had four sons, viz .:
Jacob Richards, Jr .;
Capt. John James Richards, admitted to Philadelphia Bar, May 25, 1821, having been admitted to Delaware County Bar, Jan. 19, 1819; was first Captain of the Pennsylvania Artillerists Corps, organized in Chester, about 1821, and disbanded about 1833-34; m., June 13, 1821, Eliza, dau. of Maj. William Anderson; Capt. Richards d. June 27, 1822; William Richards;
Edward Richards, admitted to Delaware County Bar, July 28, 1823.
SARAH RICHARDS, daughter of Jacob Richards, married Dr. Samuel Anderson, a well-known physician of Chester, who raised a company of militia in the War of 1812. He was Speaker of the House in the Pennsylvania Legislature, 1833, and a representative in Congress from 1827 to 1829.
SUSANNA RICHARDS, third daughter of Jacob Richards, born August 26, 1768; married (first), August 9, 1792, Caleb Smith Sayres, M. D., (second) John Gal-
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vin, of the United States Navy. The ancestry of her first husband, Dr. Sayres, was as follows:
The first of the family, then called Sayre, known to the present generation as positively an ancestor, was
WILLIAM SAYRE, of Hinwich, a hamlet, parish of Puddington (in his day called Podington), and Hundred of Willey, Bedfordshire, England, of a family living in Hinwich as early as 1200.
Hinwich is about one-half a mile from the parish town of Puddington, which is about five miles from Higham Ferrers, thirteen miles northwest of Bedford, and about sixty-three miles from London. The parish which lies on the border of Northamptonshire is in the deanery of Clopham and diocese of Lincoln, the parish church being St. Mary's.
In 1545, John Faldd, or Faldo, of Sutton, Bedfordshire, made a sale of lands, etc., to William Sayre, of Hinwich, with warrant of attorney, to Daniel Payne and Edmund Squyre, of Podington, to deliver seisin. July 6, 1553, Peter Grey, of Chillington, Bedford, sold to William Sayre, of Hinwich, two closes and two acres in Hinwich, then in the tenure of the said William, and formerly belonging to the priory of Harewold, lately dissolved, with warrant of attorney, to David Payne, Gent.
August 1, 1562, William Sayre, the elder, of Hinwich, conveyed to Edmund Squyre and William Abbot, of the same place, all his lands, etc., late of John Faldo, of Sutton, and of the dissolved priory of Harewold, to reconvey the same, to the use of the said William Sayre and Alice, his wife, for their lives ; remainder to William Sayre, their son and heir apparent ; remainder to Thomas, another son of the said William and Alice; remainder to the right heirs of the said William and Alice.
By his will, dated 1562, proved 1564, William Sayre, the elder, of Hinwich, parish of Puddington, county of Bedford, directed that his body should be buried in the churchyard of Puddington, and made bequest to the church of Puddington, to the mother church of Lincoln, and to the poor of Puddington. To his son, Thomas, he left thirteen pounds, six shillings and eight pence, and a cow and heifer. He made bequests of malt to his cousin, William Sayre; cousin, Jane Petyt ; daughters, Alice West and Agnes Mackerness; and to all his god-children. He bequeathed all his lands to his wife, Alice, for life, and after her death to his son, William, and his heirs, forever. He made his wife, Alice, and his son, Will- iam, executors, and appointed his brother-in-law, Edmund Squyre, supervisor.
William Sayre's wife was Alice Squyre, or Squire, of whose family we know nothing, except that her brother, Edmund, is mentioned in the will and deeds above quoted. Her will, dated April 20, 1567, proved June 11, 1567, directs her body to be buried in the churchyard of Podington, and makes bequest to the poor of the parish, and the restoration of the church ; and leaves household goods and live stock to her daughter, Alice West, the latter's husband, Robert West, and their children, John and George West; to William and Robert Sayre, sons of her son, William Sayre ; to William Mackerness, her god-children, and others; also to her son, Thomas ; the residue to her son, William Sayre, whom she made executor.
Issue of William and Alice (Squire) Sayre:
WILLIAM SAYRE, of whom presently ;
Thomas Sayre, m. Margery -; his will, dated May 30, 1581, mentions his late
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mother, Alice, and makes bequest to his late brother William's wife, Elizabeth; his nephews, William, Robert, Thomas and Francis Sayre; niece, Alice Sayre; some serv- ants and others; to his wife, Margery, he leaves lands and leases in Hinwich and vicinity, and makes her executrix; he mentions no children, leaving a great part of his property to his late brother William's children, William, Robert, Thomas, Francis and Alice, and says he had paid for their schooling; his will was proved Oct. 3, 1581; Alice Sayre, m. Robert West, and had at least two sons-John and George West; Agnes Sayre, m. William Mackerness, had a son, William Mackerness, the younger.
WILLIAM SAYRE, son of William and Alice Sayre, called "the younger," during his father's life, "the elder" (his son, William, "the younger") in his mother's will, after his father's death, died before 1581, probably a young man, and nothing is known of his life. His wife's name was Elizabeth.
W'illiam and Elizabeth Sayre had issue:
William Sayre, probably the William Sayre, of Hinwich, who with William Oliver, of Thenford, Northamptonshire, executed deeds of gift on June 18 and 20, 14, James I. (1616), Sayre making over a moiety of his goods to his son and heir, Anthony, who was to marry William Oliver's dau., Elizabeth, to whom Oliver made over one-third of his possessions;
Robert Sayre, mentioned in the above quoted wills, etc .;
Thomas Sayre, mentioned in the above quoted wills, etc .;
FRANCIS SAYRE, of whom presently; Alice Sayre.
FRANCIS SAYRE, son of William and Elizabeth Sayre, removed to Leighton Buzzard parish, Hundred of Manshead, Bedfordshire, and deanery of Dunstaple. The parish town of the same name is on the river Ouse, border of Buckingham- shire, about thirty miles south of Hinwich. The parish church, located in the town, is called All Saints'. The name of Francis Sayre appears on the tax rolls of Leighton Buzzard from 1609-10 to 1644-45. He died, intestate, in 1645, and his widow was appointed his administratrix in April, of that year. He married Elizabeth Atkins, November 15, 1591, as recorded in the register of the parish church of Leighton Buzzard, which also has the christenings of their children as follows (except Mary, who is not named on the registry) :
Francis Sayre, bapt. May 4, 1593; Elizabeth Sayre, bapt. April 28, 1594; m., Nov. 26, 1625, Francis Wells;
William Sayre, bapt. Sept. 15, 1595; d. April 9, 1598; THOMAS SAYRE, bapt. July 20, 1597; of whom presently;
Alice Sayre, bapt. Sept. 3, 1598;
John Sayre, bapt. Aug. 10, 1600; William Sayre, bapt. Sept. 19, 1602;
Abell Sayre, bapt. Sept. 26, 1604;
Daniel Sayre, bapt. Oct. 3, 1605; Rebecca Sayre, bapt. April 10, 1608;
Job Sayre, bapt. Jan. 3, 1610. (The present register at Leighton Buzzard Church, which is a copy of an older one, has this name Johannes, the copyist evidently mistaking Job for Johannes: but the transcript of the original in the archdeanery of Bedford has the name Job) ;
Sarah Sayre, bapt. Oct. 4, 1612; d. Feb. 2, 1613:
Tobias Sayre, bapt. Dec. 15, 1613: m. at Dunstable, Mass., Frances -;
Mary Sayre, m. in London, June 8, 1689, Edward Tynge, a man of note later in Boston and Dunstable, Mass.
THOMAS SAYRE, son of Francis and Elizabeth (Atkins) Sayre, was born in Leighton Buzzard, 1597, and probably continued to reside there until he was nearly
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forty years of age. Presumably he married there, and his children, some or all, were, doubtless, born there. Owing to the loss of the parish register, however, we have no information which might have been gathered therefrom. The first record we have of him, after his birth, is at Lynn, Massachusetts, 1638, but how long he had then been a resident there, or whether he came directly thither from England, we have no means of determining.
Lynn was settled in 1629. In 1638, the committee, appointed to divide the lands, completed their work, and a book was provided in which were recorded the names of the proprietors, with the number of acres allotted to each. This book is lost, but the first three pages have been preserved, and on the first page appears the names of Thomas Sayre and Job Sayre, to each of whom was allotted sixty acres.
From Lynn six colonies had been sent out prior to 1640, to make settlements elsewhere. In the preceding year another colony undertook to make a settlement on Long Island. They invited Mr. Abraham Pierson, of Boston, to become their minister, who, with seven of the emigrants, entered into a church covenant before they left Lynn. The eight "undertakers," as they were called, purchased a sloop for the transportation of their families and goods for £80. Thomas and Job Sayre each contributed £5, as his share. Before sailing the proprietors disposed of their interest in the vessel to David Howe, in consideration of his making three trips annually, for two years, for the transportation of their goods from Lynn to the place of their settlement. Articles of agreement, dated March 10, 1639-40, were drawn up and signed. They obtained a deed from James Farrell, of Long Island, gentleman, deputy to the Earl of Stirling, whose grant included Long Island and all lands between "Peaconeke" ( Paconic) and the easternmost end of the Island, with the whole breadth thereof, except such lands as had been already granted to other persons. This deed was made to Edward Howell, Daniel How, Job Sayre, and their associates ; the Earl of Stirling made a confirmation of it, dated August 20, 1639, but Edward Farrell's deed mentioned their having already been driven off by the Dutch, from the place where he had planted them, which did not occur until May, 1640, so it appears that they probably attempted their settlement, first, without any written authority, and after the trouble with the Dutch, obtained the deed from Farrell, and had it dated back to recover the time of their arrival.
The next we hear of the Lynn "Undertakers" is on May 10, 1640, at Manhasset, at the head of Schout's (now Cow) bay. Here they found the arms of the Prince of Orange upon a tree, and Lieut. Howe, the leader of the expedition, pulled them down. But the sachem Pewhawitz, who had just ceded his rights to the Dutch, promptly informed Gov. Kieft that "some foreign strollers" had arrived at Schout's bay, where they were felling trees and building houses, and had "even hewn down the arms of their High Mightinesses."
Commissary Van Corlaer was sent to ascertain the facts, and the Sachem's story was found to be true. The arms of the state "had been torn down, and in their place had been drawn an unhandsome face."
On May 14. 1640, Cornelius Van Tienhoven, with two officers and twenty men, under orders of the Council of New Amsterdam, started to arrest the "strollers and vagabonds" of Schout's bay, and arrived at the clearing the following day ; finding one small house built and another unfinished. Asked what they were doing there, and by whose authority they presumed to settle on Dutch soil, one woman
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and a child made answer that they intended to plant there, and were authorized to do so by a Scotsman, who had gone with their commission to Red Hill. To the question of "for what reason did they throw down their High Mightinesses arms and set up a fool's face in its stead?" it was answered that "such was done in their presence by a Scotsman, James Farrett, and he and Lieutenant Howe were then at Red Hill."
Van Tienhoven then, leaving two of the men and the woman and child, arrested six of the men, among them Job Sayre, and took them to Fort Amsterdam, ar- riving there the same day. As the name of Thomas Sayre does not appear as one of the six arrested, he was perhaps one of the two men left at Schout's bay to look after the woman and child and care for the property.
After examination as to their purposes, etc., by the Dutch authorities, those arrested were discharged on May 19, "on condition that they promise to depart forthwith from our territory, and never to return without the Director's express consent." They, therefore, picking up those left at Schout's bay, sailed through the sound, and around the eastern point of the island, to Peconic bay, landing at what is now called North Sea, a little hamlet about three miles from the present village of Southampton, whence they took up their march through the woods to find a place for their new homes.
Arriving at a favorable spot, they proceeded to build ; this was the foundation of the present Southampton, Long Island, in May, 1640. Their first settlement at this place was at what is now called Old Town, about three-quarters of a mile from the main street of the present village, where they remained eight years.
"In 1648 Thomas Sayre built the house on the town lot apportioned to him in that year; which is undoubtedly the oldest English house on Long Island, or in the State of New York. It is still habitable, and never passed out of the hands or occupancy of the family until 1892. Upon the death of Mrs. Susan (Sayre) Larry, it fell to her heirs, and was sold to settle her estate. It now belongs to her son, Captain Larry. It stands on the west side of the main street, north of the Academy, cornerwise to the road, a rod or so back from the fence, sur- rounded by rose bushes and fragrant shrubbery, and shaded by tall trees which are young in comparison to the age of the house. The great chimney, the narrow windows, the massive frame, are all as they were; and the endurance of the old mansion is not yet half tested. The original roof, no doubt, was thatched, as were those of the church, parsonage and jail, built about the same time. And a village ordinance required that a permanent ladder reach from the chimney to the ground, as a precaution against fire.
"At first all the houses were built facing exactly southward, and so tenaciously was this custom adhered to, that in one case, it is said, a dwelling was placed rear end to the street, in order that its front door should face the equator. Job's Lane, or the Academy Lane, was originally a portion of Thomas Sayre's homestead, and was given to the town as a thorough- fare by his son Job."
Since the above description of the Sayre house was written, several small houses have been put up on Main street in front of the "old Sayre House," and a public library has been erected on Job's lane, so that the house is not now visible from the streets.
On October 10, 1649, Thomas Sayre was chosen one of the three men "to agitate town business, and they are to have the same authority that the five men had last year." This is the first record extant of the choice of town rulers, and he may have held office earlier. October 6, 1651, he was one of five men chosen "for gov- erning town affates." On October 6, 1654, he was one of the three "Townsmen." March 6, 1657, he was chosen one of six men "to act and conclude concerning a difference concerning land which east Hampton make within our bonnds."
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On May 2, 1657, he was one of seven men chosen "to have the managing of the present affaires of the town concerning the safety thereof and get all men to lay down themselves in respect of their persons and estates to be disposed of by the said seven men in a way of righteousness ;" June 19, 1657, he was one of the five men chosen to lay out roads and view fences ; December 9, 1658, he was chosen "Overseer for making the bridges."
Thomas Sayre died in 1670. His will was dated September 16, 1669, and proved April 1, 1671. He left his sons, Francis and Daniel, four and five acres of land. respectively (he had already given each of his four sons five acres in 1667) ; money to his son, Joseph, and daughters, Damaris Atwater, Mary Price and Han- nah Sayre : and his household goods between sons, John and Joseph, and daughter. Hannah ; son, John, to be executor.
The name of Thomas Sayre's wife is unknown. It is possible that he married, but likely as his second wife, and not the mother of his children, Eleanor, widow of Edward Howell, one of the Southampton "undertakers" of 1640. Edmund Howell, son of this Edward, on March 14, 1663, sold land to his "father-in-law Thomas Sayre." If Thomas Sayre was not Edmund Howell's "father-in-law" (i. e. stepfather) through such a marriage, the former must have had another daughter, of whom we have no record, who married Edmund Howell. She would have been deceased in 1664, when Howell married Sarah Judson, and if without issue, would not have been mentioned in her father's will, 1669.
Thomas Sayre's children were :
Job Sayre, executor of his father's will and perhaps his eldest son; m. (first) Sarah , (second) Hannah (Raynor) Howell, widow of Arthur Howell;
Damaris Sayre, m. David Atwater, prior to 1647; he was of the original settlers of New Haven;
Francis Sayre, probably b. in Bedfordshire; lived at North End, Southampton, L. I .; was chosen Overseer, April 1, 1681; Trustee of Southampton, April 4, 1693; m. Sarah, supposed to be a dau. of Thomas and Alice Wheeler, of New Haven; they had seven sons and a dau .; one of the sons, John Sayre, was grandfather, through his son, John, of Stephen Sayre, undoubtedly the most prominent member of this family; Stephen Sayre was b. in Southampton, L. I., June 12, 1736, graduated from Princeton College, 1757, and received the degree of A. M. therefrom in 1760, and a like honor from Harvard in the same year; was commissioned Captain of the Suffolk co. company in 1759, during the French War; afterwards he removed to London, where he became a banker; he was conspicuous for personal elegance and accomplishments, was very handsome and moved in the best society of the kingdom; he was chosen High Sheriff of London, 1773; was in the confidence of Lord Chatham and other Liberal states- men of England, but his advocacy of the American canse on the outbreak of the Revolution, and opposition of the measures of the administration drew upon him the displeasure of the government, and eventually caused the failure of his banking house ; thereafter, he materially assisted the colonies' Commissioner, Arthur Lee, between 1777 and 1780, to enlist Prussia, Denmark, Sweden and Russia, in the project of armed neutrality; in 1784 he was living in New York City, where he owned property; he afterwards bought an estate on the Delaware river, near Bordentown, N. J., which he called Point Breeze; this beautiful place he sold some years later to Joseph Bonaparte, ex-King of Spain, who expended large sums in its further embellishment; it is now a public park of the city of Bordentown; Stephen Sayre d. at residence of his son, Capt. Samuel W. Sayre, at Brandon, Va., Sept. 27, 1818; his second wife dying the next day; his first wife, whom he married in London, Feb. 18, 1775, was Elizabeth, dau. of Will- iam Noel, a banker; she d. Nov. 29, 1789, and Stephen, m. in Paris, 1790, Elizabeth Dorone, who had a brother, Stephen Dorone, on the Island of Jamaica; his only child, the son mentioned above, was by the second wife; this son was the ancestor of many prominent families in Va. and in other southern states;
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