USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 73
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The town is triangular in shape, and is bounded on the northwest by Cavendish, east by Weathersfield, and south by Chester. It is in lati tude forty-three degrees, twenty-one minutes, and longitude four de grees, twenty-five minutes. The town is well watered with springs and brooks, but has no mill privileges or streams of consequence. The soil, which is warm, though quite stony, produces fair crops of grass and grain. It has no settlement worthy of the title of village ; no post-office, no church, the inhabitants being obliged to step over the lines of their narrow territory into towns south and east for such conveniences.
The first town meeting was held March 12, 1794, at the dwelling house of Waldo Cheney, and since that time they have been held regu- larly, and although at the present time there are only eighteen voters in town a full set of town officials are elected annually.
Emigration to the town seems to have been popular in an early day, but in the census table which we append each decade shows a decrease of the population : 1791, 275; 1800, 174; 1810, 207; 1820, 204; 1830, 179; 1840, 155 ; 1850, 124; 1860, 116; 1870, 83; 1880, 71. Baltimore can without doubt claim the honor of being in population the smallest town in the United States.
On the organization of the town it was divided into two school dis- tricts, but in 1838 they were consolidated, and though at the commence- ment of the present century there were 115 scholars in attendance at the winter term, there are at present only thirteen attending.
Small as Baltimore is she has poor to take care of, and Mrs. Phebe Gates had the honor of being the first pauper to become a charge upon
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
the town as early as 1816. The first justice of the peace was Isaac Chamberlain.
The town incurred a debt of $1,200 during the late civil war in order to fill her quota, a bounty of $300 being given to volunteers. Among the early settlers, who were mostly from Massachusetts, we mention Joseph Atherton, Joshua Martin, Jonathan Woodbury, Noah Piper, Jonathan Boynton, Caleb Leland, Benjamin Litch, Waldo Cheney, Seth Houghton, Benjamin Page, Isaac Chamberlain, Stephen Richardson, Amasa Gregory, Ephraim Martin, and Luther Graves. Many of these settlers have no descendants living at present in Windsor county.
Following is a list of representatives from this town, with the years of their service : Benjamin Page, 1824-26, 1828; Jonathan Woodbury, jr .. 1836-37 ; Lyman Litch, 1839; Levi Harris, 1840; William Davis, 1841-42, 1848 ; Jonathan M. Boynton, 1844-49; Luther M. Graves, 1850; Phineas C. Robinson, 1861; Rodney L. Piper, 1862; George David, 1864; Joseph W. Leland, 1865 ; Charles A. Leland, 1866 ; Ed- mund L. Bemis, 1867; Lewis Bemis, 1868 ; A. L. Thompson, 1869 ; R. C. Sherwin, 1870; P. J. Johnson, 1872; Sylvester Ellison, 1874 ; Orson D. Freeman, 1876-86; Ervin C. Sherwin, 1878-88 ; Thomas Preston, 1880 ; Orville N. Fullam, 1882 ; George Davis, 1884.
Members of Constitutional Conventions .- Joseph Atherton, 1828; John Piper, 1843 ; Levi Piper, 1850.
Selectmen .-- Waldo Cheney, 1794-98, 1802 ; Jonathan Woodbury, 1794-95, 1797, 1799, 1800-12, 1814; Joseph Atherton, 1794-95, 1824; Isaac Chamberlain, 1795-99 ; Jonathan Burnham, 1796; Joshua Martin, jr., 1796, 1799, 1802 ; Seth Houghton, 1797, 1800, 1806-10 ; Ezra Redfield, 1798; Reuben Bemis, 1800, 1803, 1805, 1808, 1813, 1817, 1819; Noah Piper, 1801 ; Jonathan Boynton, 1801, 1803, 1810- 19; Benjamin Page, 1804-10, 1812-19, 1824-27, 1829-30; Stephen Robinson, 1804, 1820-23, 1830, 1834-36; Benjamin Litch, 1815, 1824- 28 ; Ephraim S. Martin, 1816-18, 1823, 1831 ; Amasa Gregory, 1820- 23, 1825, 1831; Luther Graves, 1820-22; Jonathan Woodbury, jr., 1825-29, and 1832 ; Joshua Leland, 1827-30, 1832-33, 1835, 1845-46 ; Luke Harris, jr., 1831-32, 1848 ; Levi Piper, 1833-34, 1837-39 ; Ed- mund Batchelder, 1833; William Davis, 1833-44, 1854-57 ; Jonathan M. Boynton, 1836-39, 1845-46, 1848-50, 1855-58 ; Phineas C. Rob- inson, 1840-43, 1847 ; John Piper, 1840-42, 1845-47, 1851-58 ; Zenas
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OLD FAMILIES.
H. Graves, 1843-44, 1847, 1849, 1850-52, 1859-62, 1865-66, 1871-72, 1875-76, 1882, 1885-88 ; Luther M. Graves, 1844, 1853; Thomas Preston, 1848-50, 1863-65, 1871-72, 1875-77, 1882-88; J. W. Le- land, 1851-54; Lyman Litch, 1858-63, 1867-68 ; Carter K. Piper, 1859; Charles A. Leland, 1860-62, 1865 ; Joshua Leland, 1863-64 ; Joshua W. Leland, 2d, 1863, 1870, 1873-74 ; Rodney L. Piper, 1866- 67 ; R. C. Sherwin, 1866, 1870, 1873-74; Chauncey Davis, 1867-69 ; Putnam J. Thompson, 1868-70, 1873-74; Lewis Bemis, 1869, 1877, 1884; Sylvester Ellison, 1871-72; Ervin C. Sherwin, 1875-76, 1878- 81, 1886-89 ; George Davis, 1877-78, 1885 ; O. D. Freeman, 1878- 79, 1880-81 ; R. A. Glynn, 1879; O. N. Fullam, 1880-81 ; F. Z. Pres- ton, 1882-83 ; S. Q Bemis, 1883; D. B. Humphrey, 1884, 1889 ; C W. Bridges, 1889.
Town Treasurers .- Jonathan Woodbury, 1794-97; Waldo Cheney, 1798-99 ; Seth Houghton, 1800; Reuben Bemis, 1801-02; Benjamin Page, 1803-16, 1822-26; Joshua Martin, jr., 1817 ; Jonathan Wood- bury, jr., 1818-21, 1827-29, 1833-39; Phineas C. Robinson, 1830; Levi Piper, 1831-32; Jonathan M. Boynton, 1840-58 ; Rodney L. Piper, 1859-67; Joseph W. Leland, 2d, 1868-69; P. J. Thompson, 1870; Sylvester Ellison, 1871, 1875-76; R. C. Sherwin, 1872-73 ; Thomas Preston, 1874 ; Robert A. Glynn, 1877-79, 1881-82; F. Z. Preston, 1880; E. C. Sherwin, 1883-84 ; G. H. Coffin, 1885-89.
Town Clerks .- Joseph Atherton, 1794-97, 1799; Joshua Martin, jr., 1798 ; Jonathan Woodbury, 1800-14; Jonathan Boynton, 1815-21 ; Joshua Leland, 1822; Benjamin Litch, 1823-24 ; Jonathan Woodbury, jr., 1825-30, 1839 ; Jonathan M. Boynton, 1831-37 ; Levi Harris, 1838 ; John Piper, 1840-60; Rodney L. Piper, 1861-67; George Davis, 1868-69; R. C. Sherwin, 1870-76; F. Z. Preston, 1877-86, 1888; G. H. Coffin, 1887 ; C. W. Bridges, 1889.
OLD FAMILIES.
It would be impossible within the compass of this work to give a genealogical sketch of each family that has been connected with the town. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to those who feel and have manifested an interest in preserving the records of their ancestors. For sketches received too late for insertion in this chapter please refer to a later chapter of this work.
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
Boynton, Jonathan, was born in Fitchburg, Mass., in 1773, and came to Baltimore in 1797, where he died in 1856. He married Sally Martin. Of their seven children, one died in infancy. The others were Sally (deceased), married Luke Robinson ; Betsey (deceased), married Joshua Leland; Joseph, died in New York State; Mary (deceased), married David Barker; Jonathan M., now living in Springfield; and Lewis, married Merry Parker, died in Springfield.
Boynton, Jonathan M., son of Jonathan, was born in Baltimore, November 4, 1807, and married Harriet Batchelder. They had five children, viz .: Edmund, died young ; Electra, wife of J. W. Leland, of Weathersfield; Emerson, a sergeant in Company A, Third Vermont Volunteers, was killed at Spotsylvania Court House, Va .; Francis and Frederick, both die young. Jonathan M. has been a resident of North Springfield since 1860.
Graves, Luther, was born in Leominster, Mass., in November, 1780, and came to Bal- timore in April, 1815. He married Dorcas Martin, and had five children, viz .: Arthusa, died young; Nelson L., a Presbyterian minister, died in North Carolina; Luther M., «lied in Massachusetts; Luke C., died in North Carolina; and Zenas H. Luther died February 28, 1861.
Graves, Zenas II., son of Luther, was born in Weathersfield, March 17, 1815, and married Emily, daughter of Amasa Gregory. Their three children were Nelson, who died at the age of fifteen years; Ella and Otis C., both residents of Baltimore.
Piper, Noah, came from Massachusetts to Baltimore, and was one of the first three settlers. He died September 7, 1829, aged seventy-nine years. He married Sarah New- ton, and had a family of eleven children, viz .: Sarah, died young ; Amos, died in Balti- more; Lucretia (deceased) ; Ruth (dleceased). married Walter Mansfield; Eunice (deceased), married Nehemiah Green ; Rufus, died in Cavendish ; Prndy (deceased), mar- ried a Mr. Green ; Patty (deceased), married a Mr. Cheney ; David, died in New York State; John, died in Baltimore; Levi; and Wealthy (deceased), married James Phille brown.
Piper, Levi, son of Noah, was born in Baltimore, June 28, 1793, and married, Janu- ary 11, 1816, Mirian Bartlett, and had three children, viz .: Edwin ; Adaline, wife of Thomas Preston, of Baltimore; Martha, died single. Levi died in Springfield, Jannary 3, 1877.
Piper, Edwin, son of Levi, was born in Baltimore, December 11, 1817, and married Esther Brierly, a native of England. The following were their children : Martha Jane. died at the age of two years and eleven months; Herbert, died at eleven years of age ; Foster L .; and Mary Jane, wife of Willis C. Prescott, of West Epping, N. H. Edwin has been a resident of Springfield since 1842. His wife, Esther, died October 14, 1890.
Piper, Foster L., son of Edwin, was born in Springfield, March 3, 1850, and married Sarah Jane, daughter of Abel Adams. They have one son (legally adopted), Edward C .. and one danghter, Nellie May.
CHAPTER XXXV.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF POMFRET.
G EOGRAPHICALLY the town of Pomfret occupies a position in the northern part of Windsor county, being one of the second tier of towns south of the northern boundary of the county, and also in the second tier of towns west from the Connecticut River. Its boundary
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TOWN OF POMFRET.
towns are as follows : North, is Sharon; east, is Hartford ; south, is Woodstock and a very small portion of Bridgewater ; and west is Barn- ard. The town is in latitude forty-three degrees, forty-two minutes north, and east longitude four degrees, thirty- one minutes.
The general character of the land surface in Pomfret is quite hilly, the same as nearly all the other towns of the county, but there is perhaps less of what might be called mountain formations in this locality than is observable in a number of other towns. There is a gradual or general rise in the surface both from the north and south, each tending toward the central part of the town ; and the ridge thus formed. extending in a rather northwest and southeast direction, divides the waters of the town, the streams in the north and northeast sections discharging into the White River, while those in the south and southwest localities find their way into the Otta Quechee River.
The town, however, receives no practical benefit from either of these large water-courses of the northern part of the county, but both touch it, the White River crossing the extreme northeast corner, while the Quechee in the same manner touches the corner farthest to the south- east. Three considerable tributaries of these streams just referred to have their main sources and course of flow in Pomfret. Of these Mountain Brook drains the southern central and southeast portions of the town, Mill Brook the northeastern part, and Broad Brook the north- western part. The last two named are tributaries of White River, and Mountain Brook of the Quechee.
Of the several towns that comprise the county of Windsor, Pomfret was the seventh in the order of seniority, and the twenty-fourth town chartered on the New Hampshire Grants, as the region of this State was then known. Pomfret was chartered by Governor Benning Wentworth on the 8th of July, 1761, to "Isaac Dana and his associates," of whom there were sixty-seven, and embraced a tract of land seven miles long, north and south, and five and one- half miles wide, east and west, con- taining thirty-eight and one-half square miles, or its equivalent in acres, 24,640.
The proprietors of this town had no sooner received their charter than they at once proceeded to effect their preliminary organization with a view to an immediate allotment of its lands and such improvements as were necessary to invite early settlement and development. The first
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
meeting of the grantees was held at Pomfret, in the State of Connecti- cut, (this town being named from the Connecticut town of Pomfret,) on the 7th of September, 1761, in pursuance of a warning dated July 23, 1761, and duly published in the Boston Gazette and County Morning Journal. The meeting was organized by the election of Ebenezer Will- iams as moderator, Isaac Dana, jr., as proprietor's clerk, Simeon Sessions as collector, Ebenezer Williams as treasurer, Ebenezer Will- iams, John Williams, and Isaac Dana as committee for the said propri- etors. It was then resolved " to lay out 100 acres to each proprietor according to quantity and quality, as near the town plot as should be found convenient, exclusive of meadow land and mountain."
It was then voted that Amasa Sessions, William Winchester, Simeon Sessions, Isaac Dana, and Seth Paine, jr., and William Dana, in case Mr. Paine refused to act, be a committee to lay out the lots and make the division and partition above referred to ; also it was voted to lay a tax of eleven shillings on each right to defray the charges of the committee. The meeting then adjourned to re-assemble at the same house, the dwell- ing of Zachariah Waldo, at Pomfret, Conn., on the 25th of November, 1761.
These preliminaries being thus settled, the committee chosen to make the survey and division of the town proceeded upon the performance of their duties; first running the boundary lines of the town, laying out a road through the town from north to south, and as near the center thereof as practicable, after which the town lots were surveyed, one acre in each, and then the hundred acre lots, so called, to be improved for farm- ing lands, with the customary reservation of lots, one for the first set- tled minister of the gospel, one for the society for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts, one for the benefit of a school, and one for a glebe for the Church of England. This being done the committee and their surveyor, Theopholis Chandler, returned to Connecticut, made a map of the town and a report of their proceedings to the proprietors, all of which was approved.
This was followed by appointing the lots to the proprietors by lot, that is, placing the numbers in a hat, each number corresponding with one on the plan, and the proprietors drawing in turn until the slips be- came exhausted. This was the customary practice in the greater part of the towns, and a novel scheme it was, but nevertheless entirely fair.
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TOWN OF POMFRET.
This was called the first division of the town lands. This disposition of lots laid the foundation upon which rests the present titles to the lands of the town. Subsequent divisions were made until all the lots were ap- propriated.
The next move on the part of the proprietors was directed toward ef- fecting permanent settlements within their granted tract, but this was a task easier to contemplate than to execute. In order to encourage an occupation the proprietors offered a bounty of one pound, ten shillings, " to a number of the proprietors (not exceeding ten) that shall them- selves, or others in their stead, first enter upon the rights, . . . and then labor three months between this time (March, 1762) and the first of November next ; and those of them that shall continue to labor on their rights six months shall be paid one pound, ten shillings more, when they shall have completed their labors."
But the temptations offered by these bounties do not seem to have been sufficient to effect colonization in the town. At that time this re- gion was almost an unbroken forest, a vast wilderness of woods and mountain streams. The Indians, too, were still in the vicinity, although none are positively known to have been in the town. There were no white settlements nearer than Newbury, and settlement here at that pe- riod meant hardships, trials and sufferings that even the most courage- ous pioneer frontiersman would hardly undertake. At that particular period the controversy between the provinces of New York and New Hampshire was just verging upon open rupture, and there was not a single consideration that would tempt the settler to the region ; and it was not until the year 1769 that a permanent settlement in the town was effected.
During these years, the period between 1761 and 1769, the proprie- tors of Pomfret continued their meetings, especially between 1761 and 1764, there being no records of any meetings between 1764 and 1769; and at every such gathering there was presented some proposition rela- tive to the town that occasioned the laying of a tax against each right. This was indulged in to such an extent that many of the lot owners be- came discouraged, and allowed their lots to be sold rather than stand the burden of assessments made against them. But it was not wholly due to this cause that the lands were so often relinquished by their
92
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
owners, for at that time it appeared to many of the proprietors that they would eventually lose their lands, as they supposed the New Hampshire charters would not stand, and that they could have no rights under them that New York would recognize or confirm. Under these circumstances they preferred that whatever investment they had already made should be lost rather than trust to the precarious title they deemed theirs to be.
In the latter part of 1769, however, the affairs of the proprietors with reference to their chartered towns began to assume more substantial form, and promised a settlement of the land in the near future. Already in that year a number of pioneers visited the locality and made some clearings and built cabins or log houses for occupancy during the next year. In December, also, in 1769, Stephen Keyes, Simeon Sessions, Matthew Bowen, William Dana, Nathan Frink, Daniel Waldo, Stephen Sabin, John Frink, Ebenezer Demming, Joanna Sessions, John Throop, Jonathan Waldo, Nehemiah Howe, Darius Sessions, John Bosworth, Amos Lyon, and Samuel Dana joined in a petition for a meeting of the proprietors, to be held in Woodstock, Conn., on the 3Ist of January, 1770, to consult and agree upon some method and measures for the set tlement of the town of "New Pomfret."
In accordance with the petition the meeting was " warned," and there- after convened at the dwelling of widow Mary Childs, at Woodstock ; and the proprietors then agreed, among other things, "to go on and settle said township the summer next coming; to be at the expense of clearing a convenient road to the town, and so far into and through the same as a committee shall judge to be for the best interests of the pro- prietors ; to make a second division of hundred-acre lots, Simeon Ses sions, William Dana, and Deacon David Williams being the committee to attend to its performance ; also voted to tax each right two dollars and one-half for expenses and charges ; also chose Nathan Frink, Mat thew Bowen, and Isaac Fellows, assessors; Matthew Bowen, collector ; and John Winchester Dana, treasurer.
The first permanent settlement in the town of Pomfret has been cred- ited to the family of Bartholomew Durkee, who reached the cabins that had been built during 1769 on the 6th of March, 1770. They were followed a few days later by John Chedel and his family. But"it was quite doubtful whether Bartholomew Durkee really was the first perma- nent white settler to locate within the borders of this town, for if
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TOWN OF POMFRET.
the records of the proprietors are to be relied upon that distinction be- longed to Andrew Powers. It appears that at a proprietors' meeting held on the 25th of December, 1770, a communication was read to the effect that Andrew Powers had made a purchase of lands from Oliver Willard, supposing at the time that they were located in the town of Woodstock, but that by the survey of the Pomfret lines Powers found himself within the town survey of Pomfret. Says this letter : " Since you have run your line between said Woodstock and your township, has taken in all my improvements and five more settlers which I have sold lots to. The measure of lands you have taken into your township of my purchase is to the amount of about 354 acres. I being a man somewhat advanced in years, but through Divine goodness in sound health and body; likewise the rest of said settlers are healthy, well young men with their families ; but all of us poor and (place) our whole dependence on said land for our living. . . Now go- ing on the third year I have worked on said lands and have got into a comfortable way to live," etc. The prayer of the letter, which was in the nature of a petition, was that the lands occupied by Powers and his grantees might be confirmed and granted them under the Pomfret pro- prietary. And this the general owners consented to do.
In 1773 it was found that the town had a sufficient number of inhabit- ants to justify a permanent local organization, independent of the meet- ings of the proprietors, the latter, however, being kept up until the year 1794, but for what purpose cannot be now satisfactorily explained. The first meeting of the pioneers of Pomfret was held in March, 1773, at which time officers were chosen as follows : Moderator, John Winchester Dana; clerk, John Winchester Dana ; supervisor, John Winchester Dana ; assessors, John Chedel and Benjamin Bugbee; collectors, Seth Hodges and Jacob Burch ; overseers of the poor, John Winchester Dana and Ben- jamin Bugbee ; commissioners of highways, John Winchester Dana, Jacob Mascroft, and Benjamin Bugbee; surveyors of highways, Darius Ses- sions and Abida Smith ; fence viewers, Bartholomew Durkee and Jacob Mascroft; constables, Abida Smith, Benjamin Bugbee, Darius Sessions, and John Bacon. At the same time Benjamin Bugbee, Seth Hodges, and John Winchester Dana were made a "committee to look out a burying-ground " In March, 1776, in addition to the customary officers,
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
the freemen chose a Committee of Safety, of which John Winchester Dana, Seth Hodges, and Thomas Vail were the members.
It will be seen by reference to the several officers chosen at the first election by the freemen, in 1773, that a supervisor was elected, and no selectmen ; and assessors, and not listers. This was in accordance with the laws and customs of the province of New York. And it is a fact that the proprietors of Pomfret at that time recognized and inclined to the authority of that province as against the authority of New Hamp- shire ; and it was quite often the case that the records of the early meet. ings of the proprietors, in alluding to this town, referred to it as " Pom- fret in the province of New York." But this seems to have made no difference at that time, for the settlers were so few in number, and the town was so far from any established or popular center, that whether they acknowledged allegiance to New York or New Hampshire or some other province, such action had not the effect of attracting any consider able attention from the outside world.
In April, 1778, after Vermont had been declared an independent State, and after the plan of its government was adopted and put in oper- ation, the male population, in order to entitle themselves to the privileges of qualified electors, were compelled to take and subscribe the freeman's oath; and those who became so qualified in Pomfret were as follows : Darius Sessions, Calvin Morse, Elijah Mason, Abida Smith, John Perrin, Captain Seth Hodges, Timothy Harding, Elijah Hoar, Zebulon Lyon, Beriah Green, Abel Perrin, Henry Ainsworth, Zenas Paddock, Nathan Chaffee, John Chedel, John Winchester Dana, John Throop, Benjamin Bugbee, Abijah Child, Benajah Child, Barnes Green, William Child, Na thaniel Throop, Ezra Drew, Resolved Sessions, Robert Perry, Peter Per rin, William Perry, Isaiah Tinkham, Benjamin Sessions, Benjamin Skinner, Jabesh Vaughn, Samuel Snow, David Caplin, John Bacon, John Doton, Frederick Ware, Marshall Mason, Captain Bartholomew Durkee, Samuel Winslow, Jeremiah Conant, Ephraim Peake, Barnabas Washburn, Elna- than Allen, Nathaniel Fraser, Abijah Child, Lemuel Peake, John Fraser, Isaac Wilson, Asa Paine, Ether Matthews, Charles Wolcott, Asa Morris, Abiel Bugbee, Enoch Leonard, William Perkins, Captain Timothy Mitchell, Oliver Hutchinson, John Pratt, Thomas Vail, William Holmes, Jonathan Dana, Increase Hewitt, Dexter Hawkins, Seth Hathaway, Isaac Dana, Captain Solomon Leonard.
COLEMAN SANDERS.
733
TOWN OF POMFRET.
During the early years of the Revolutionary war Pomfret had not acquired a sufficient number of inhabitants to take any active part in the military operations that were then being carried on west of the mountains, and in other States than Vermont; nor had the settlers then living in the town the power to furnish any quota of men for active service, as every male person able to work had all that he could do in maintaining an existence in this unimproved locality. It was only by incessant and persistent labor that the settlers were able to provide necessary family subsistence, and men could not well be spared from the weak and strug- gling community for army life in other parts.
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