Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 9

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 2390


USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 9
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 9
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 9
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 9


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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Mr. and Mrs. Rutledge were the parents of ten children, namely: Fanny, who married Isaac Lord, of Manchester, Wayne county ; Jacob L .; Mary J., who married John Can- field, of Manchester, and now resides in Damascus ; Rebecca, deceased in childhood; Edward, living in Damascus, who married Miss Margaret Styker; Alexander, who died in early manhood; Delilah, who became the wife of Albert Howell, of Damas- cus, and died, leaving a large family ; Catherine, wife of Gates Douglass, who owns and conducts a


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large farm in Lebanon township, Wayne county ( she has two children living, Warren, who married Lida Gager, of Lebanon, and Cora, who married Fletcher Evans) ; Peter, who married a Miss Louns- bury, of Damascus, and lived in Oregon township until his death, in 1897 (he left a wife and five chil- dren) ; and Alonzo D., married to Miss Opildia Hadsel, of Wayne county, by whom he has three children, Nellie, Fred and Ada. Alexander Rut- ledge, Jr., was a Democrat, served as delegate to county conventions, and was supervisor for six years.


Jacob L. Rutledge was given the advantage of the neighborhood public schools during his youth, and received a good practical education. He com- menced life on his own account on reaching his ma- jority, buying a tract of land from his father, for which he paid $1,000, and erecting a sawmill thereon in which he began the business which he has ever since followed with continued success-the manu- facture of lumber. He has run a sawmill for forty- eight years without missing a year, cutting as high as 330,000 feet in one year. In 1870 he embarked in the mercantile business in connection with his other interests, and this he has also carried on up to the present time, commanding an extensive and profitable patronage. The same year he purchased a large tract of timber land near the Delaware river, later acquiring a tract in Lebanon and Damascus townships, and in 1897 bought 142 acres lying in Damascus, on the pike, from all of which purchases he has cleared 160 acres, and on his home farm he has eighty acres cleared and under a fine state of cultivation, for he has devoted considerable time to farming and dairying as well as lumbering. In 1897 he cut from his farm over one hundred loads of hay and grain, and he is regarded as one of the most extensive farmers in this section, probably the largest in his line in Damascus. After his marriage he settled on his mill property, and there made a permanent home, and he has been improving it continually all these years, the place being equipped with a fine residence and nineteen outbuildings, large barns, a storehouse, etc., which add vastly to its convenience and value. Mr. Rutledge deserves great credit for the success which he has made, for he started out very modestly, increasing and widen- ing his interests as prosperity crowned his efforts until he now occupies a leading place among the wealthy business men and land owners of his town- ship. He is recognized everywhere as a man of genuine worth, one who merits the respect and esteem universally accorded him, energetic and practical in commercial affairs, generous to a fault, and possessing an unsullied reputation for honesty in all his dealings. Self-made in the best sense of the word, he is under all circumstances unassuming personally, though he is a hearty advocate of pro- gress and improvement for the community and lends his influence to any project which he believes to be for the public good.


On May 15, 1856, Mr. Rutledge was married


to Miss Susan Donaldson, a native of Sullivan county, N. Y., born October 7, 1836, and one of the ten children of James and Clarissa Donaldson, who were prominent among the early settlers in that re- gion. They were of Scotch descent. Of the chil- dren, Mary became Mrs. Curry; Sarah J. never married; Margaret M. married (first) Martin Co- ville (who was killed in battle at Fort Donelson) and (second) Gideon Hall; John C. wedded Miss Nettie Rosencrans ; Calvin L. married Rosie Fair ; Harriet ; three died when small. As above stated, Mr. and Mrs. Rutledge settled on his mill property after their marriage, and here they still make their home, having one of the most comfortable and pleasant places to be found in the locality. Mrs. Rutledge has proved a skillful and competent helpmeet to her busy husband, and he gives her credit for having no small share in his business success. Six children blessed their union, of whom we have the following record: Adeline, born December 14, 1858, mar- ried John M. Pollock, of Damascus, and has two daughters, Nettie and Annie L. Laurie; they live in Damascus, where he owns a fine farm property. Nettie E., born October 2, 1860, died when sixteen years of age. Annie, born March 13, 1864, became the wife of Oscar Terrell, and they have a fine home in Honesdale, where he is engaged in the grocery business; they have no family. Carrie, born Sep- tember 14, 1868, received a fine education in the Honesdale schools, and is a highly-accomplished young lady ; she is at present teaching in the Wayne county schools. Amos M., born March 13, 1872, was married in October, 1897, to Miss Ada Lane, of Bethany, Wayne county, who was formerly a teacher in the public schools here; they reside in Damascus township, near Galilee. Jacob I., born March 29, 1876, lives with his parents. Mrs. Rut- ledge is, in religious connection, a member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Rutledge is a stanch Demo- crat in politics, giving his sympathies to the Free- silver faction, but though often urged by his friends has always declined to accept office. In his day he was a noted hunter, killing many a deer with his favorite rifle, which he has owned for forty years.


ROBERT A. SMITH, justice of the peace in and for the borough of Honesdale, Wayne county, has been identified for many years with the best interests of that locality, and it is safe to say that no man stands higher in the esteem of his fellow- citizens than he.


Mr. Smith was born January 30, 1822, in Orange county, N. Y., where his ancestors settled at an early date, and John E. Smith, his father, was also a native of that county. During the war of 1812 he was engaged in supplying the army with provisions. Later he went West, and it is supposed that he was killed in Tennessee or Mississippi by the Indians. He was a man of keen business enterprise and foresight. and at his death left a comfortable home for his family upon a farm in Orange county. His wife, Harriet (Armstrong), who died about


1151676


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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


1840, was the daughter of Hon. Robert Armstrong, a wealthy citizen of Warwick township, Orange Co., N. Y., who bequeathed a farm to each of his children. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary army, and was a member of the first New York State Legislature. To John E. and Harriet Smith two children were born : Robert A. ; and Emily, who died in 1847.


Robert A. Smith received a good practical edu- cation. At the age of sixteen he became clerk in a general store at Newburg, and later he was em- ployed in the same capacity in a wholesale dry- good store in New York City. Having thus gained a knowledge of mercantile business he engaged in it on his own account, opening a dry-goods store in the metropolis which he continued until 1845, when he came to Wayne county, Penn., and estab- lished a store in Waymart. In 1850 he went to Central America, accompanied by his first wife, Hannah M. (Clark), to whom he was married in 1844. From September, 1850, to December, 1851, he remained there, being engaged in trade with the natives, but his wife died, and he soon afterward returned home bringing her remains. After spend- ing a couple of years in Waymart he removed to Philadelphia, and two years later he made his per- manent home in Honesdale. Until 1864 he was county commissioner's clerk, but in February of that year he was appointed by President Lincoln to the office of postmaster at Honesdale, a position which he filled satisfactorily for twenty years, serving under every president from Lincoln to Hayes, ex- cept during a portion of Andrew Johnson's adminis- tration. He has always taken much interest in lo- cal affairs, and since 1885 he has held the office of justice of the peace, to which he added in the same year that of notary public.


In 1853 Mr. Smith formed a second matri- monial union, this time with Miss Sarah S. Dorr. By his first marriage he had one son, Thomas F. A., who now resides upon a ranch in Peru, and is engaged in mining operations. By the second mar- riage there were five children, four of whom are living: (1) Margaret married H. S. Solomon, cashier in the Wayne County Savings Bank. (2) Allen G. is a resident of Boston, Mass. (3) Mattie G.married W. H. Millspaugh, now a resident of Port Jervis, N. Y. (4) Mary died at the age of twenty- one at Honesdale. (5) Robert A., Jr., the youngest, has been employed for some time in Harrisburg.


JOSEPH SHAFFER, who is now living re- tired on the farm in South Canaan township, Wayne county, upon which he was born upward of three score and ten years ago, and where his many years of usefulness have been passed, is one among the substantial and well-to-do agriculturists of the county.


Mr. Shaffer's ancestors were among the daunt- less set of pioneers who braved the dangers of a new country, and underwent the deprivations neces- sitated in the making of a home in the then wilder-


ness of Pennsylvania. To such pioneer men and women the generations that came after them owe a debt of gratitude that can never be paid, yet their posterity can rescue from oblivion their names and deeds, and make them of record so that generations yet unborn may learn of their lives and achieve- ments.


John Shaffer, the grandfather of Joseph Shaf- fer, was a German who came to America in Colo- nial days, and became a resident of Orange county, N. Y. He was a patriot, and served his adopted country in the war of the Revolution. In 1783 he came into Pennsylvania, locating in Middle Creek, below the old north and south road, in what later became South Canaan township, Wayne county. He had married in New York State, and he and his wife, with their son John (known as Captain John), comprised the family at the time of their leaving Orange county. The father had se- cured a large tract of land on Middle creek, where he came when the country was almost an unbroken wilderness. Here he cleared a farm, and here passed his lifetime. About the close of the eighteenth cen- tury, or the beginning of the nineteenth, this pioneer built a gristmill, having one run of stone and a hand bolter. This mill stood near the site of the present mill in Shaffer's Hollow, and its foundations are yet visible. The old mill, with slight improve- ments, did service until about 1835, when it was re-built by Moses Shaffer, and not far from 1840 passed out of the Shaffer name. In the old mill the corn and rye were sifted by the women folk through an improvised sieve made of buskskin per- forated and stretched on a hoop. The second son of the pioneer, whose name was Moses, was the first child born in the township. The other chil- dren were: Samuel; Catherine (Mrs. James Mc- Lean), whose husband was a soldier in the war of the Revolution; Susan (Mrs. Joshua Burleigh) ; Effie (Mrs. Jacob Swingle) ; Betsy (Mrs. Edward Doyle), of Buckingham, N. Y .; and Polly ( Mrs. Samuel Chumard). The posterity of this pioneer German couple through the several generations have been among the best and most substantial citi- zens of the locality, having filled and are now filling useful and honorable callings in life; among them are merchants, farmers, and men in various walks of life that are a credit to society and do honor to. the name they bear.


Samuel and Rachel (Wagner) Shaffer, the par- ents of the subject of this sketch, were plain country folk, who were ever ready to grant a favor or to extend a helping hand in time of need or distress- kind neighbors and good citizens. Samuel Shaffer was born March 14, 1791, and died July 28, 1864. He was a tanner by occupation, and in an early period used to grind bark by the use of large stones brought from the neighboring mountains. He was identified with the Methodist Protestant Church. His wife was born April 14, 1744, and died April 12, 1851 ; both are buried in the old graveyard in South Canaan township, which land the husband had set:


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aside for public burying purposes. Their children were: (I) Elizabeth, born June 8, 1812, married John Spangenberg, and both are deceased. (2) Moses, born September 20, 1813, married Pris- cilla Curtis, and both are deceased. (3) Abraham, January 20, 1815, married Lydia Enslin, and both are deceased, the wife dying in January, 1898, and the husband in 1868. He was a very active busi- ness man. The marriage was blessed with two chil- dren, Malan S., and William R., who are now.part- ners in business, conducting a store at Wilkes Barre, Penn. They are enterprising and public- spirited citizens. (4) Eli, born June 21, 1816, mar- ried Margaret A. Quick, and both are now de- ceased. (5) Amy, born February 14, 1818, married Daniel Everts, and both are now deceased. (6) Lydia, 'born October 27, 1820, married Simon Enslin, and both are deceased. (7) Barsilla, born October 26, 1821, is a retired farmer of Lake town- ship. (8) Oliver, born May 10, 1823, died in youth. (9) Mary, born April 29, 1825, married Henry Reed, and are both deceased. (10) Joseph, born August 16, 1827, is our subject. ( II) Alexander, born July 27, 1830, married ( first) Martha Quick, and ( second) Amanda Reed. (12) Rachel S., born November 2, 1831, married Jacob Enslin, a farmer of South Canaan township. ( 13) Martha, born April 2. 1833, married Francis Enslin.


Joseph Shaffer was born on the homestead in South Canaan township, August 16, 1827. He was reared much after the custom of boyhood, doing chores mornings and evenings, going to school and working through vacations. When his school days were over he began life's battles for himself. His chief occupation through a long and honorable career has been in agricultural lines, and wholly amid the scenes of his boyhood, and by the side of his former playmates and the friends of his parents. His life has been a busy and active one, and by the aid of his good wife, and by good management, in- dustry and economy, he has been enabled to possess a fine farm and a beautiful home, where he and his wife are passing the evening of life in ease and com- fort, resting from their former labors. For some fifteen or more years Mr. Shaffer was a school di- rector of his township, his official acts always being characterized by the exercise of good judgment and discretion. In politics he is a Democrat. On Oc- tober 21, 1848, Mr. Shaffer was married to Laura F. Enslin, who was born March 9, 1826, in South Canaan township, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. George M. Peck, an Episcopal minis- ter. To this union have come children as follows : Geore (deceased), born August II, 1849; Sarah, born December 26, 1852 ; Orrin W., a carpenter of South Canaan township, born May 27, 1856, mar- ried Hannah Amos, and has one child, Bertie; Ar- menia, born May 21, 1859, married Edgar Shaffer, but is now deceased; and Amon L., born October 31, 1867, is a carpenter by trade.


Mrs. Laura (Enslin) Shaffer descended from ancestors who played a conspicuous part in reclaim-


ing from its wild state the lands of Wayne county, and in their subsequent development into the fine farms of to-day. George Enslin, her grandfather, a blacksmith by trade, and a native of Germany, came to this locality from Newport, Penn., in an early day. He married Kate Swingle, who was also a German by birth, and their children were: (I) Jacob married Betsey Transor. (2) Betsey married John Burleigh. (3) George was born in South Canaan township, March 16, 1797. On February 12, 1824, he married Sarah Swingle, who was born June 10, 1806, and died April 24, 1897. George became one of the substantial citizens of the county. He was a farmer, held several township offices, and had the esteem of the people of the locality in which he lived and was known. His death occurred March 7, 1872. The children born to this marriage were: George C., born November 25, 1824, died in youth ; Laura became the wife of our subject ; Asher, born April 1, 1828, a retired farmer of Lake township, married Rhoda A. Rob- inson ; Robert, born September 5, 1831, married Sarah Buckland, of Lake township; Richard, born August 27, 1833, married (first) Miss Ann Jack- son, and ( second) Mary Brooks, of Lake township; Enos, born February 12, 1836, married Mary Carey, of Lake township; Abel, born March 22, 1838, mar- ried Mary Springer, of Lake township; Eveline, born February 29, 1840, of Lake township; Eme- line (twin of Eveline), married John Snook; Sam- uel, born April 14, 1842, married Nora Clark, of Canaan township; Ellen M., born March 15, 1845, married Solomon Curtis, a farmer of South Canaan township ; and Mary E., born March 15, 1845, mar- ried Abel Baker, a farmer of South Canaan town- ship: (4) Susan married Jacob Shaffer. (5) Polly married Moses Swingle. (6) Simon mar- ried Lida Shaffer. (7) Fred married Nancy Quick. (8) Sally married John McLean. (9) Tena married. David Freeman; both are now de- ceased.


The Swingle family, into which George Enslin (father of Mrs. Laura Shaffer) married, were among the pioneers and fore-runners of civiliza- tion in Wayne county. Hans Ulrich Swingle, her great-grandfather, native of Switzerland, settled in the western part of what was afterward South Canaan township, in 1783, coming to that locality from Orange county, N. Y. His wife was Mary Shaffer. The history of this family is referred to at considerable length elsewhere in this work. The ancestor next in line of descent of Mrs. Laura Shaffer was Conrad Swingle, who married Lucy Bunton : and following Conrad, next in line, came Sarah Swingle, who married George Enslin.


Mrs. Rachel ( Wagner) Shaffer, the mother of our subject, was the granddaughter of Adam Wag- ner, who came from Maryland to what subsequently became Wayne county, in 1783. His first home in the wilderness was in the sugar house, built of logs and covered with bark. It stood on the place known in recent years as the Edgar Wells farm.


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Adam Wagner married Polly Wheatcraft, and had children as follows: Rebecca married Joseph Jag- ger; Sally married John Swingle; Otha; Rachel married Samuel Shaffer ; and John. Of these, Otha is in line of descent. He married Margaret Enslin, whose parents were natives of Maryland and Penn- sylvania, respectively. They became acquainted and were married in South Canaan township. They had children: Sarah married Ezekiel Reed (both de- ceased ) ; Adam ; John ( deceased ) ; Susan married Charles Carr (both deceased) ; George (deceased) ; Jacob (deceased ) ; Fred ( deceased ) ; Ezrais a retired farmer of South Canaan township; Dorcus mar- ried Rufus H. Frisby, a millwright of Canaan town- ship. The remains of the parents of these now rest in the cemetery at South Canaan.


SEXTON NOBLE, who passed away Febru- ary 14, 1898, was for many years a prosperous lum- berman and farmer of Damascus township, Wayne county, and a representative of one of the early pioneer families of this region, a family whose mem- bers have lived up to the name they bear, and have always taken their place among the best and most valuable citizens of the community. Mr. Noble was born in Damascus in March, 1825, a son of Alva and Maria ( Buell) Noble, the former of whom was born in 1791 in Massachusetts, the latter in 1796 in Connecticut.


Alva Noble migrated from New England in 1821, locating near the Delaware river, in Damas- cus, one mile west of Cochecton, and there re- mained for thirteen years, following his trade, that of a tanner. In 1834 he sold his tannery and re- moved to the southwestern part of Damascus town- ship, where he purchased wild land on which he erected a log house and barn and commenced the work of clearing a farm, continuing to live on that place for the remainder of his life. He found ample opportunity here for the display of that in- dustry, thrift and frugality so characteristic of the New England race, and he succeeded far beyond his own expectations in a worldly way, establish- ing himself in a comfortable home acquired by his own labors. The family was one of the most prom- inent here in the early days, respected by all as hard- working, deservedly prosperous. people and as Christian citizens and good neighbors. Mr. Noble was the first tanner in Wayne county. His first wife passed away in 1842, leaving eight children, viz .: ( I) Marvetta, born in Massachusetts, is the wife of Augustus Allen, formerly of Connecticut, now of Damascus. (2) Emeline, born in Massa- chusetts, became the wife of James Loveless, of Damascus, and died in 1887. (3) Charles B., born in Massachusetts, married Miss Eliza Bedient, of New York State, and resided in Damascus until his death, which occurred in November, 1897. His wife and four children survive him. (4) Susan mar- ried David Egan, of Oregon, Wayne county, and they made their home here, both dying some years ago. They left one son, Henry, who lives in Wayne


county. (5) William C., born in 1824, in Wayne county, married Miss Eunice Garrett, of Berlin, this county, and resided in Damascus, where he died in 1878. He is survived by his wife and five chil- dren, Emerson, Henry, Silas, Augusta and Joseph. (6) Sexton was born in Damascus in March, 1825. (7) Orin T., born in 1827 in Damascus, married Miss Julia Chalicomb, of Oregon, who was born on the ocean while enroute to America. In 1856 they removed to Wellington, Ohio, and they now make their home in Cleveland, that State. They have two daughters, both born in Oregon, Wayne coun- ty, namely: Josephine, Mrs. Byron Colver, of Cleveland, and Cecelia, Mrs. John Thomas, of Wel- lington, Ohio. (8) Roxie, born in 1836 in Damas- cus, became the wife of Melvin James, of Connect- icut, and they now live in Hyde Park, Boston. They have two daughters, Luella and Cassie. In 1843 Alva Noble married for his second wife Mrs. Jane Sterling, of Honesdale, Wayne county, and to this union were born two children, Alva and Sophia. The son married Alice Steinback, and is a resident of Moscow, Lackawanna Co., Penn. Sophia married Chauncey Stage, of Delaware county, N. Y., and has one child living, May.


Sexton Noble grew to manhod in his native town and received his schooling in the public in- stitutions of learning, which in his boyhood were not as completely equipped as the schools of the present day. He followed farming all his life, commencing on his own account after his marriage, when he purchased a partly improved place in Da- mascus township-the property on which he ever after resided. The tract comprises eighty acres, now under profitable cultivation, and a comfortable dwelling and all necessary outbuildings have been erected and numerous other improvements added which have materially enhanced the value of the place. In addition to general agriculture he en- gaged in lumbering to some extent, giving his principal attention to these branches of industry, but he also proved his ability in other lines of busi- ness and was regarded as a good manager, capable of making a success in anything he undertook. Like his father, he spent years of patient toil in his efforts to provide a comfortable home for himself and family, and he kept up the reputation borne by members of the family generally for honest indus- try and perseverance in his work, holding an envia- ble place among the intelligent, well-to-do agricult- urists of his neighborhood and making a record for integrity second to none. Mr. Noble possessed an unusually retentive memory, and he kept himself posten on local and National affairs of general in- terest, though he did not take a particularly active part in public affairs. He was liberal-minded and fair in his intercourse with his fellow men everywhere, and gained and retained the respect of all who came in contact with him, his genuine worth and uprightness manifesting itself in his dealings with all. Mrs. Noble shared with him the hardships and toil of their early years, and she


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has also shared with him the esteem of their friends and neighbors throughout Damascus, by whom she is much beloved.


Mr. Noble was married, in 1854, to Miss La- vina Fish, of Liberty, Sullivan Co., N. Y., and they reared a family of nine children, all of whom lived to become useful members of the community, and a credit to their parents. A brief record of the family is as follows: (I) Howard, born in 1855, married Miss Rose Marks, of Wayne county, and they resided at his home in Oregon, where he was killed by lightning June 16, 1891. His wife and one son, Judson, survive. (2) Evelyn L., born in December, 1856, married Howard Decker, of Da- mascus, where they made their home. They had five children, Carrie, Arthur, James, Inez and Coe. Mrs. Decker died October 24, 1899. (3) Mary, born in 1858 in Damascus, is the wife of Marvin Tread- well, of near Binghamton, N. Y., and has two children, Ada and Ray. (4) Arthur H., born in 1860, was educated in the public schools, and lived on the home place until his marriage, on March 7, 1889, to Miss Irene Boyd, of Damascus, who is the daughter of Thomas and Jane Boyd, prominent pioneer people of Wayne county; the Boyds came from Philadelphia, and they have been extensively engaged in lumber dealing in this coun- ty. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Arthur H. Noble settled in Damascus township, where he owns a well cultivated farm of 125 acres, and there two children have been born to them, Mary, in 1890, and Clarence, in 1896. (5) Edmund, born in 1866, married Miss Lottie Davy, of Oregon, this county, where they reside. They have two chil- dren, Bertha, born in 1894, and Ralph, born in 1896. (6) Orin T., born in July, 1868, makes his home with his mother and manages the farm. (7) Nancy A., born in February, 1872, is the wife of Charles E. Boyd, and they live in Boyd's Mills, Damascus township, where they have a fine home. They have had three children, Robert C., born in 1894: David, born in May, 1897 ; and Edna L., born in July, 1898. (8) Irene, born in December, 1873, married William B. Yerkes, of Damascus, and re- sicles near Milanville, this county. She has one daughter, Helene. (9) Edith, born in September, 1878, lives at home. She received her education in the public schools of the neighborhood, and has also been given a thorough musical training, giv- ing evidence of more than ordinary ability in that direction.




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