History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men, Part 54

Author: Hain, Harry Harrison, 1873- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Harrisburg, Pa., Hain-Moore company
Number of Pages: 1102


USA > Pennsylvania > Perry County > History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men > Part 54


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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Very respectfully, ABM. FULWEILER.


The List:


Jacob'Barkstraser, Toboyne, residence Toboyne. Daniel Bloom, Toboyne, residence Toboyne. Robert Adams, Toboyne, residence Toboyne. .


504


HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


Jacob Fritz, Tyrone and Saville, residence Landisburg.


Win. Power, Tyrone and Saville, residence Landisburg.


Samuel Linn, Tyrone and Saville, residence Landisburg. Jacob Stroop, Tyrone and Saville, residence Tyrone.


*Henry Titsel, Tyrone and Saville, residence Tyrone. Wilson McClure, Tyrone and Saville, residence Tyrone.


John Taylor, Tyrone and Saville, residence Saville.


John Owen, Rye, residence Rye.


John White, Rye, residence Rye.


John Ogle, Rye, residence Rye.


Robert Clark, Rye, residence Rye.


Frank Orwan, Juniata, residence Juniata.


Benjamin Bonsall, Juniata, residence Juniata.


James Black, Juniata, residence Juniata.


George Monroe, Juniata, residence Juniata.


John Purcell, Greenwood and Buffalo, residence Millerstown. Caleb North, Greenwood and Buffalo, residence Millerstown. Abraham Adams, Greenwood and Buffalo, residence Millerstown. John Turner, Greenwood and Buffalo, residence Greenwood. Samuel Utter, Greenwood and Buffalo, residence Greenwood. William Linton, Greenwood and Buffalo, residence Buffalo.


Richard Bard, Greenwood and Buffalo, residence Buffalo.


John Huggins, Greenwood and Buffalo, residence Liverpool.


*Has not acted; pays no attention to the duties of justice of the peace.


Fees were small in those days, roads were bad and evidently some duties were also offensive, as the record of an old suit will verify. A suit was instituted by the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- vania vs. George Leiberich to recover the license ($5.00) for sell- ing wines and liquors, the summons being dated December II, 1826. At the December court Robert Welch, constable of Tyrone Township, returned it marked "not served for want of time." The summons was turned over to David Miller, constable of Wheatfield Township, on February 5, 1827. At the February court he returned it marked "not served for want of time." On April 12, 1827, it was reissued to Miller, and at the April session he returned it marked "not served." On May 7 it was reissued to him and (strangely enough) by the May court it had been properly served and George Leiberich, the defendant, and his clerk, appeared and proved that he had not sold any wines or "foreign" liquors. His business tax of $10.00 he had paid at the proper time. This suit was brought at the office of Samuel Linn, of Tyrone Township, from whose docket the transcript, on file at the Capi- tol, was made.


The county's early years, not unlike the beginning of time, were marred by a brotherly quarrel, resulting in its first murder. The court, in December, 1823, sentenced the convicted man to the Eastern Penitentiary, the verdict having been "in the second de- gree." With the affair this book has nothing to do and the matter is merely introduced here to show the method of travel, the time


COUNTY'S EARLY YEARS


505


consumed, and the cost at that period. The sheriff's bill for ex- penses of taking the prisoner to Philadelphia read like this :


To stage fare from Carlisle to Philadelphia, sheriff, guard and prisoner @ $8.75, $26.75


To ditto, sheriff and guard back, 17.50


To 7 days spent by sheriff in taking prisoner from Landisburg to city @ $2.00, 14.00


To 7 days for guard @ $1.00,


7.00


To sheriff's expense for 7 days @ $1.50,


10.50


To guard's expense for 7 days @ $1.50,


10.50


To expenses of prisoner @ $1.00, 3.00


To amount paid for keeping prisoner at night,


1.00


To ditto,


.50


Total, $90.25


During 1829, a prisoner, convicted for manslaughter, was taken to Philadelphia to the penitentiary. The county seat was then at New Bloomfield, and the route taken was another, via Clark's Ferry (now Duncannon). The stage fare had decreased consid- erably over what it had been six years before. It will be noticed that the word sundries had already reached the public records of the new county. The bill :


To taking prisoner from Bloomfield to Clark's Ferry with Dearborn (a type of carriage) and horse, in- cluding sending Dearborn back and expenses at ferry,


$2.47


To stage fare (prisoner and staff) from Clark's Ferry to Philadelphia, 10.00


To stage fare (sheriff) from Phila. to Harrisburg, 4.00


Tavern bill at Buehler's, going down, .94


Tavern bill at Womelsdorf, going down, .75


Tavern bill at Reading, going down,


1.00


Jailer, for keeping prisoner at Reading.


.371/2


Tavern bill at H. Styer's,


.683/4


Stage driver, from office to pen. with prisoner,


.50


Tavern bill for sheriff in Philadelphia,


2.00


Tavern bill at Styer's, returning,


.31


Dinner at Womelsdorf, returning, .371/2


Bill at Buehler's, returning, 1.00


Conveyance and expenses from Hbg. to Bloomfield, .


4.00


Sundries, for which no vouchers were taken, 2.00


For six days for sheriff @ $2.00, 12.00


$42.90


When the county was new, almost at its very beginning, at the December session of 1823, an indictment was brought against a justice of the peace, the charge being that he entered (June II, 1821) a judgment and when it was paid kept the money; that on July 9, 1821, he gave another judgment, and when it was paid him he withheld part of it three months and later paid the balance, , and that he refused to pay the prosecutor's attorney. The indict-


506


HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


ment is marked "A true bill as to the first two charges in the in- dictment and an ignoramus as to the third." The commission of the justice was revoked by Governor Shulze, May 27, 1824. The first special election was hell on February 26, 1828, to fill the of- fice of member of assembly, owing to the resignation of Jesse Miller. At the election William Power defeated Jacob Huggins.


The return of 1822 shows the tavern keepers (then the term used) by townships, but it must be remembered that these early townships were much more extensive than are those of the same names at this time, as will be noted in the history of the various townships in this book. The list for 1822 follows:


February Sessions, 1822.


Toboyne Township .- Henry Zimmerman.


Tyrone Township .- John Hubler.


Greenwood Township .- David Pfoutz, Anthony Brandt.


Rye .- John Woodburn.


April Sessions, 1822.


Tyrone Township .- John Long, John Hipple, Andrew Tressler, John Foose, Gilbert Moon, Jonathan Dunkelberger, Henry Lightner, Thomas Craighead, Samuel Shoemaker, James Kennedy.


Greenwood Township .- John Miller, Frederick Rinehart, Peter Mussel- man, Benjamin Leas, Peter Wolf, George Wilt, John Knight, Philip Brady.


Rye .- Peter Yoder, Frederick Smiley, David Gallatin, James Kirkpat- rick, George Billow.


Saville .- John Strawbridge, William Roberts.


Juniata .- Joseph Jones, George Eckert.


Toboyne .- John Snell, David Koutz, John Baird.


September Sessions, 1822.


Tyrone .- Abraham Shively, David Heckendorn.


Saville .- Gotleib Sheaffer.


Juniata .- Alexander Watson, Abraham Rider, Dr. John Eckert, John Koch, Joseph Power, Francis Beeten.


Greenwood .- William Waugh, Henry Landis, John Stailey.


Rye .- Henry Layman, John Fritz, Peter Harrup.


Buffalo .- Joseph Sheaffer, Magdalena Baughman, William Montgomery, James Freeland.


While the number of licenses granted at the Quarter Sessions for the year 1821 totaled but thirty-four, yet by 1829 the number had almost doubled, sixty-four being granted to the following per- sons. However, it is hardly possible to believe that they were all for hotels, as in the earlier years merchants ofttimes sold "wet goods" as well as dry goods, but of course had to be licensed. The list :


January Sessions, 1829.


Saville .- William Roberts.


Buffalo .- Rachel Freeland, Thomas Wells, Michael Albright, Joshua Byers.


507


COUNTY'S EARLY YEARS


Juniata .- David Lupfer, James McNamee, Dr. Jonas Ickes, Conrad Roth. Toboyne .- John Zimmerman.


Wheatfield .- Abraham Bruner.


Rye .- Leyman Jackson.


April Sessions, 1829.


Greenwood .- John Shuman, James McClelland, Philip Brady, David Riekabaugh, William Hunter, George Keely, William MeGowan, Eli Mil- ler, John M. Schoch.


Toboyne .- Daniel. Koutz, Thomas B. Jacobs, Daniel Sheaffer.


Tyrone .- David Heckendorn, John Adams, Abraham Sheibley, George S. Hackett, Robert Welsh, John Kibler, Gilbert Moon.


Saville .- Mathias Myers.


Rye .- Robert Boner, Charles Bovard, George Billow, Daniel Gallatin.


ยท Wheatfield .- John Cougler, Robert MeCoy, John Fritz, David Miller, James Baskins, John Strawbridge.


Liverpool Township .- John Stailey, Frederick Rinehart, Philip Etter, Samuel Sipe, Richard Knight, Philip Moyer, James Stewart.


Buffalo .- Alexander Watson, John Miller, Joseph Sheaffer, Charles L. Berghaus, William Montgomery, John Livingston.


Juniata .- John Comp, John Baskins, Margaret VanCamp, John Sipe, David Deardorf, Jonathan English, John Rice, Henry Ewalt, Robert Cochran.


The first census enumerator having in charge the taking of the census of Perry County was John Wilson.


In 1824 the clerk of the courts returned the following list of retailers to the state as doing business in the new county : Anthony Black, Samuel Abernathy, Henry Fetter, William McClure, Abra- ham Fulweiler, Robert II. McClelland, William Roberts, James Black, Ephraim Bosserman, George Tharp, John Rice, William Irvine, Nathan VanFossen, Richard Stewart (liquors only), Jacob Hollenbaugh. Edward Purcell, Isaiah Clark, Robert B. Cochran & Co., Mealy & Beaver, Henry Walters, John K. Boyer, and Thomas Gallagher.


In 1825 the following new ones appear : Robert Welch, Robert Bons & Kepner, George Lebrich, Jonas Ickes, Frederick Baker & Co., and John Everhart. In 1826 others entered business pur- suits, as follows: Valentine Smith, Henry Brinton, John Bosser- man, and George D. Lecky. The names of the last three are al- most defaced by time and the writer has tried to decipher them. During that year the county treasurer remitted $125 for twenty- five state maps.


In [827 there were twenty-four returns for selling merchandise only, and sixteen for merchandise and liquors. New names ap- peared as follows: Daniel Gallatin, Cadwallader Jones, Jonathan Lesh, Roger Claxton, Israel Downing, Ezra Squire, Dodd & Co., John Salmon, and Alexander Rogers.


.


508


HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


For the first time, in November, 1828, the dealers' returns were made to the state, showing the townships in which the mrechants were located. Those marked with a * also sold liquors. The list : Buffalo :


*William Parson.


*Roger Claxton.


*Patrick Downey. Bouz & Kepner.


Catharine Urban.


George D. Leckey.


Ewing & Morrison. James Davidson.


Juniata :


*Alexander Rogers.


*Robert H. McClelland.


Tyrone :


*Abraham Fulweiler.


Black & Beaver.


*Henry Fetter.


John Everhart.


*William McClure. Cadwallader Jones.


John Hipple.


Jonas Ickes (apothecary ). John Rice.


Wheatfield :


*William Clark.


*William Irwin.


*Richard Stewart.


Rye : Daniel Gallatin. John Mateer.


Greenwood :


Liverpool :


*Samuel Mealy.


*George Tharp.


*Robert B. Cochran.


*Henry Walters.


*Isaiah Clark.


*John Salmon.


*Edward Purcell.


It will be noted that Black & Beaver had two places, one of which sold dry goods and the other wet goods.


In 1829 the following new entries were reported: Toboyne, Benjamin Fosselman & Co., James Ewing ;* Tyrone, Carothers & Stroop,* Bernard Sheibley; Greenwood, Samuel and Jacob Beaver ; Juniata, Fulweiler & Bosserman,* John W. Bosserman.


The State Legislature of 1833-34 passed an act placing a tax upon retailers of foreign merchandise. In conformity with that law R. II. McClelland, then county treasurer, published a list of the dealers within the county, as required by the sixth section of the act. Under the classification, "Retailers of wines and spirits," appears no names. Under "Retailers of merchandise other than wines and liquors," appears the names of Samuel Abernathy, Nathan VanFossen, and William Roberts. Under "Retailers of merchandise, including wines and liquors," are Anthony Black, Henry Fetter, Abraham Fulweiler, Robert H. McClelland, James Black, Ephraim Bosserman, Edward Purcell, Isaiah Clark, Samuel Mealy & Beaver, Henry Walters, and George Tharp. Under this latter list are the following names, marked "refused to take out license": William McClure, John Rice, William Irwin, Jacob Hol- lenbaugh, Robert Cochran & Co., and Frederick Baker.


By 1837 the retail merchants of the county had increased con- siderably and we find the following names on the return made to the state:


Saville : William Roberts. Valentine Smith.


Toboyne : Anthony Black.


*Black & Beaver.


509


COUNTY'S EARLY YEARS


Tyrone : Henry Fetter. A. & S. Black. Pleis, Frering & Thudium.


Carroll : Egolf & Mickey. John Wallace.


Michael Kepner.


C. Jones. Wm. Dalton. Jos. Welch.


Wheatfield : Jacob Keiser. Richard Stewart. Lindley & Fisher. William I. Fisher.


Toboyne : Ewing & Morrison. David Moreland. Adams & Row. James Ewing.


Centre : Charles Portley.


Buffalo : Mitchell & Steever. George W. Urban. William Jackson. William A. Dickenson.


Madison : John Reed. Fetter & Dunbar. R. & J. Hackett.


Saville : John Rice. James Milligan. John English.


Greenwood : I. & T. Beaver. Jacob Emerick. Isaiah Clark. D. & I. Strawbridge. Henry Thatcher.


Juniata : Wm. Bosserman.


Murphy & Orwan.


Smith & Everhart.


Abraham B. Demaree.


Samuel Leiby.


Gantt & Etter.


John T. Robison.


R. B. Jordon. John English.


Liverpool Boro : Samuel Mealy. Walters & Jackman. William Walters.


John Reifsnyder & Co.


Toboyne then included Blain; Tyrone included Landisburg ; Juniata included Newport; Wheatfield included Duncannon ; Greenwood included Millerstown, and Buffalo included New Buf- falo. Various townships were still unformed and were a part of the older townships.


The early stores did some queer advertising. On July 19, 1820, the following appeared: "Dry, Goods, including Straw Bonnets. Hardware, Glass and Queensware, Brandy, Spirits and Wine." The prices for tailoring in 1825 were: Making fashionable coat, $3.50; next quality, $3.00; homemade cloth, $1.50; fashionable pants, $1.00.


The first appointee from Perry County to carry the returns of a presidential election to the office of the Secretary of the Com- monwealth was John M. McKeehan, in 1824.


At the quarter session of April, 1828, an indictment was brought against one Joseph Jones for keeping a "tipling house." In No- vember, 1829, and August, 1834, similar indictments were before the courts.


Bloomfield Boro : Alexander Magee. John Rice. Thomas Black. William Lackey.


510


HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


Early tavern keepers were at times inclined to "drift into verse" in their advertising. An advertisement in the fifth number of the Perry Forester, dated August 9, 1820, contains the following :


Come, gentlemen, try my good whiskey ; Come drink "a glass," 'twill make you "frisky"; Come, weary traveler, try my brandy ; 'Tis very good-'twill make you handy.


Come breakfast, dine and sup with me, At my own table :


Put up your nags-for a small fee, Just in the stable. Come lodge with me-I've beds aplenty, (And not a flea ; )


Come try my fare, 'tis all good ware, Just as you'll see. Need I say more, you to invite? No. I think not "Put up" with me, if but one night; And then you'll see What I have got.


Under date of April 14, 1832, signed by John Junkin and A. Branyan, county commissioners, a statement of the valuations of personal property is made to the state, as follows:


Taxable


Township.


Property.


Personal Property.


Juniata,


200,400


8,008


Liverpool,


125,120


7,780


Wheatfield,


165,900


9.730


Rye,


142,706


7,620


Saville,


167,700


4.700


Centre,


17,175


2,790


Greenwood,


144,813


8,890


Buffalo,


181,820


6,090


Tyrone,


375,360


12,760


Toboyne,


311,600


29,030


The first traveling show to visit Perry County exhibited in Lan- disburg. September 7, 1826. The original show of the noted Dan Rice exhibited in New Bloomfield on October 4, 1855.


Those early settlers realized that the fruits of the earth consti- tute the reward of labor, and the plow, the harrow, the scythe and the grain cradle were plied in season, so that the valleys and pas- ture lands were soon stocked with cattle and the cribs and bins filled with grain. The surplus produce of the county in those days consisted of wheat, rye, oats, flour, whiskey, peach and apple brandy, livestock and salted provisions. Fishing during the spring and fall seasons with nets and fish baskets where channels were walled up added to the supply of food. Wild pigeons were plenti- ful. Lands were still being cleared of brush and trees and the burning of clearings was made a gala affair, as were the early


511


COUNTY'S EARLY YEARS


husking bees and barn dances. Grain cradlers received 75 cents per day and reapers and mowers (scythe) half of that amount. In other instances the wage was $r.oo per day for cradlers and very rarely, $2.00. Farm hands received $5.00 to $7.00 per monthi, including their board. Until 1846 there were no sewing machines. and until 1847 postage stamps were not used.


When the panic of 1837 struck the country its effect was felt in Perry County as elsewhere, and the new county, then less than two decades in existence, was forced to issue paper currency for a time, rare specimens still being in existence. The text of the money was as follows: "This will entitle the Bearer-to receive from the County of Perry the sum of Twenty-five Cents, payable on de- mand in current Bank Notes at the Treasurer's Office in Bloom- field. Per Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners, passed July 1, 1837."


Singing schools were conducted in the various communities and many men and women of mature years recollect well this ancient institution where they got their first (and ofttimes only ) musical education. A notice of what was probably one of the first of these schools appeared in the Perry Forester-Perry County's first paper -on November 15, 1827. It follows:


Singing School.


The lovers of Sacred Harmony, of Landisburg and vicinity, are in- formed that a meeting will be held at Mr. J. B. Cooper's schoolroom, on Monday evening next, with a view of making up a singing school, where all persons desirous of encouraging the same, are invited to attend.


(Signed) MANY.


In 1821 the Landisburg Harmonic Singing Society already ex- isted, R. H. McClelland being the secretary. On November 23, 1826, the Handelian Society was organized at Union schoolhouse, four miles east of Landisburg. In 1852 the New Bloomfield Sing- ing School held a public concert in the courthouse.


The preparation and burial of the dead a century ago was also done in the most primitive way. Outside of the large cities the undertaker was still unknown. All cabinetmakers made coffins, which were unlined. A handfull of the most delicate shavings, covered with a piece of muslin tacked over them, sufficed for a pillow. Bodies were invariably dressed in shrouds, usually of cambric muslin. The bottom of the coffin was also covered with muslin, upon which the body was placed and covered with a part of the same piece of muslin, which was known as the "winding sheet." The casket was painted with a crude stain. Ice was as yet unknown as a preserver and enbalming undreamed of, so that funerals followed deaths inside of twenty-four hours. Without telegraph and telephone lines and with mails far apart it was nec- essary to convey the news of deaths to relatives by special mes-


512


HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


sengers. As an example an actual occurrence is quoted. When Henry Thatcher lived at New Buffalo and Charlotte Catharines Albert, Mrs. Thatcher's mother, died at her home near Landisburg, on February 4, 1846, her nephew, John Smith, carried the sad news overland on horseback.


The following incident is also illustrated of the customs of the early part of the last century: Upon the death of Abraham Smith, who was buried in the cemetery at Loysville, the body was con- veyed to the grave in a large four-horse wagon, the friends riding in the same conveyance, as hearses were not then in use in the country districts, and even spring wagons were unknown. The late D. H. Smith, of "Little Germany," and later of Duncannon, was a descendant of this family.


Before the county's establishment, in 1780, when Francis West died at his home near the Gibson mill, the interment was made at Carlisle, and the body was borne across the Kittatinny or Blue Mountain in a wagon, the friends following in wagons, on horse- back and afoot, over rough roads for a distance of fifteen miles. Having been a prominent man the cortege was attended by promi- nent men from the north side of the mountain. A delegation of prominent Carlisle men met the procession outside of that town and claimed the honor of replacing them, which was resented and a free-for-all fight followed, after whch they jointly accompanied the remains to the place of interment and spent the balance of the day in a custom then too much in vogue, but happily no longer tolerated.


In those days boys were bound out to learn trades, at a very small compensation, and often for only their clothes and boarding. The time to be served was usually three or four years and some- times, when the years stretched out ahead, the time seemed so far off that the apprentice ran away. In cases like that he usually se- cured his first publicity, as one of the advertisements from the old Perry Forester will show. In this case the advertiser seems dis- gusted, offering only six cents and "no thanks" for the return of the apprentice :


Six Cents Reward.


RUNAWAY from the subscriber, living in Toboyne Township, Perry County, on Saturday, the 21st of February, inst., Augustus Waggoner, an apprentice to the shoemaking trade-about fifteen years of age-had on when he went away, Linsey pantaloons and roundabout jacket, an old black coat, old shoes and stockings, an old hat and good linen shirt. Whoever takes up said apprentice so that I get him again, shall have the above re- ward, but no charges will be paid nor thanks given for their trouble.


ANDREW BEISHLEIN.


February 26, 1824.


According to an advertisement in the Perry Forester of April 12, 1830, placed there at the instance of Samuel Linn, executor of


513


COUNTY'S EARLY YEARS


Abram Fulwiler, milady of that period wore as dainty lingerie as her sister of the present day, as the materials offered for sale com- prised a very extensive assortment and one that would have done credit to many stores of a much later day. The word "consorts" was then much used instead of wives, carriages were called Dear- borns just as the most common motor cars are called Fords, and farms were plantations in many cases, until about 1823. The stores, in their advertisements, invariably used "a good assortment of liquors" as part of their stock in trade. An advertisement of Mary Scott, of Carlisle, in the Forester, stated that she "will pur- chase flaxseed, flour and whiskey," all of which were extensively produced north of the Kittatinny Mountain. Patent medicines were already on the market in 1825, one advertiser offering a won- derful "panacea." The newspaper files show many columns of ad- vertisements praising their merits. The picnic of our day was the "celebration" of those days, even being so termed as late as 1855.


The census of 1840 showed that Perry County, then in its twen- tieth year, had eight furnaces which produced 2,951 tons of cast iron, and two forges and rolling mills which produced 1,300 tons of bar iron. These furnaces and forges consumed 16,152 tons of fuel and, including mining operations, employed 339 men. The capital invested in them totaled $303.150. There were then twenty- three tanneries which tanned 9.720 sides of sole leather and 4,814 sides of upper leather. They employed fifty-eight men and the capital invested amounted to $56,550. There were thirty-one other leather manufacturers, such as saddlers, whose product was valued at $14,715. Thirteen distilleries distilled 31,475 gallons, the capi- tal invested being $8.590. Four potteries turned out $2, 100 worth of manufactured product. There were then fifty-seven stores, with a capital of $169,200, five lumber yards with a capital of $1,600 and employing fifty-seven men and sixty men engaged in transportation. Fisheries were operated which produced a product worth $14,335. and twenty-two barrels of tar was manufactured which sold for $1,893, employing five men. Bricks and lime were manufactured to the value of $7,260. There were seven fulling mills and five woollen manufactories which manufactured goods worth $4,370, their capital being $8.700. Two printing offices and two weekly papers supplied the populace with literature. Their capital was $2,000. There was one "rope walk," the value of whose product was $3,000, the capital invested being $2,200. The value of carriage plants was $685, and of their product was $2,000. Twenty-four flour mills manufactured 11,200 barrels of flour, and twenty-six gristmills ground grain. There were 120 sawmills of the "up-and-down" type. The furniture manufactured was valued at $3,679, and the capital invested $1,760. The value of other 33


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