The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Part 155

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 1082


USA > Wisconsin > Fond du Lac County > The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin > Part 155


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THOMAS COLEMAN, farmer, Sec. 26; P. O. Eden ; born in County Louth, Ireland. March 10, 1832; his parents were farmers, he being educated in his native county; came to America, locating at Vienna, N. Y., where he worked at malting; in February, 1853, he came to Milwaukee and remained until May, then located at Oshkosh ; here he was in the lumber traffic ; settled on his farm in May, 1862, and has improved it in many ways-built an elegant farm residence, other farm buildings, and has all necessary stock, implements, ete. He married, Nov. 23, 1857, in Oshkosh, Miss Ann Murphy, who was born in his native county, coming to America in 1848, and to Wisconsin in 1854 ; they have


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two children-Thomas A. and Mary A. Mr. Coleman is a Democrat, and, with his family, a Roman Catholic. He has been President of the Ashford Town Insurance Company for five years, and is now serving his fifth term of Town Clerk.


GEORGE W. DENNISTON, carpenter and wheelwright, Sec. 10; P. O. Eden ; born in Reading, Penn., Sept. 15, 1824 ; spent his early life in Orange Co., N. Y., where he learned his trades of his father, Joseph Denniston, who came with his family to Eden in 1848; G. W. Denniston settled on his present location in 1865 ; was made Postmaster of Foster in 1874, resigning in 1879, when the office was removed to Eden. Married, in Eden in 1857, Miss Margaret McIntyre ; they have four living chil- dren-Alice I., Emma L., Anna M. and Florence K. ; have lost two children. Mr. D. is a Republican, and has been Justice of the Peace ; the family are Methodists. He bought a farm on Sce. 11 of the Government, cleared it and exchanged it for one on Sec. 15 ; his services as carpenter were in such request that, in 1865, he sold his farm and bought his location of twelve acres, where he has a pleasant home. Mr. D. is the inventor of a double, adjustable land-roller, which gives the best of satisfaction to those using them ; he has applied for a patent, and will manufacture about thirty the coming season.


J. H. DENNISTON, farmer, Sec. 35 ; P. O. Campbellsport ; born in Orange Co., N. Y., Oct. 14, 1826 ; he spent his carly life and was educated in his native county; in 1849, he accompanied his parents, Joseph and Mary D., to the town of Eden ; Joseph Denniston was a mechanic, though he at once bought Government land on Secs. 1 and 11 ; this he soon exchanged for a partly improved farm on Secs. 14 and 15; J. H. Denniston lived here until 1863, when he bought eighty acres on Sec. 10; in 1873, he sold this and bought property in New Cassel, where he lived over two years, at the time owning a farm north of the village ; in April, 1876, he settled on his present farm of sixty acres ; this is . well improved, and on it is a large and handsome farm residence, built by Edmund L. Peck. Mr. Denniston married, Feb. 25, 1857, Miss Anna J., daughter of Joshua and Ellen Morehouse ; she was born in Can- ada, her parents removing to Clayton, Jefferson Co., N. Y., when she was a babe ; the family settled on a farm in Byron in 1849; Mr. and Mrs. D. have five children-Ella M., Warren C., Carrie E., Harry J. and Mabel A. Mr. Denniston is a stanch Republican, and a successful farmer, having all needed build- ings, implements, stock, etc.


WILLIAM DUSENBERY, farmer, Sec. 4; P. O. Fond du Lac ; born in the town of Harrison (Harrison's Purchase), Westchester Co., N. Y., Oct. 6, 1817; was educated in his native town, living on the farm until he was 18, when he went to New York City, remaining one and one-half years ; after his marriage, he was made overseer of a large farm in Pelham for nine years; in 1852, he removed with his family to Eden and bought 160 acres (sold 80 in 1869); the land was almost as the hand of nature left it, though a log house had been built ; Mr. Dusenbery has improved the farm, built a large, handsome residence. good barn, etc., and has all the belongings to a first-class farm. He married Miss Harriet Bouton June 27, 1839, who died Dec. 31, 1866, leaving seven children-Phebe A. (deceased ), William A., George E., Electa. Matilda, Harrict and Rebecca ; Feb. 1, 1870, he married Mrs. Clarissa Shays, daughter of Gaius Alexander; she was born in Lewis Co., N. Y., where she married Elisha Shays ; they lost two children, and he died in the same county. Mr. Dusenbery was the founder and is a leading member of the Empire M. E. Church ; was its Sunday-school Superintendent fourteen years ; he was also one of the original Stewards and Trustees, still holding both positions ; he is a Demno- ocrat, and is serving his sixth term as Supervisor.


CHRISTOPHER FLOOD. farmer, Sec. 19; P. O. Eden; born in County Meath, Ire- land, on the historic " Hill of Tara; " he came with his parents to America in 1843, remaining in Hoosic, N. J., until March, 1848, when he came to Eden and bought his farm ; Messrs. Ward, McGinty and Odekirk were his neighbors ; no road in the town, but a track ran north of the side of his house ; he was joined by his parents, brothers and sisters the next summer, they living first in a shanty, then in a log house ; with a yoke of cattle they used to go twenty-one miles to Mayville to mill, and did good pioneer work chopping, logging and burning the timber. Feb. 22, 1857, he married Miss Catherine, a daughter of James Lynch, who came from County Cavan to America with a family, settling in Dutchess Co., N. Y., where Mrs. F. was born ; the family settled in Wisconsin in 1848; Mr. and Mrs. Flood have ten children-James T., Peter F., Thomas, Mary A., Catherine J., Christopher J., John N., Amelia R., Mathias P. and Michael II. The old couple died on the homestead, now containing 130 acres ; on this is an excellent living spring, several good barns, and the largest frame house in Eden, built in 1878; the mpright is 18x26, wing 18x24, woodhouse and kitchen 16x26 feet ; this is a well-built and handsome residence ; Mr. F. has all needed tools and stock, and is one of the successful pioneers of Eden. With his family, he is a Roman Catholic, and an Independent Democrat in politics. He is a good citizen, and was public spirited enough to give the land on which the district schoolhouse was built.


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PETER FLOOD, farmer, Sec. 29 ; P. O. Eden ; born in County Meath, Ireland, Nov. 19, 1838; son of James and Rose Flood, who emigrated to America in 1841, locating in Hoosic, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., where they lived until 1848, when they came to Wisconsin and bought Government land, now owned by C. Flood; Peter Flood attended the local schools, and, at the age of 17, began teaching; taught nine winter terms in Eden, two in Ashford and two in Sheboygan Co .; in 1861, he settled on his farm of ninety aeres, then heavily timbered land, destitute of buildings; as a result of sturdy work with his ax, it is now cleared and improved; he has also built a large and tasty residence and basement barn, having all needed implements and stock. Married Miss Ann, daughter of (George Lloyd ; she was a native of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and settled with her parents in Byron in 1850, marrying Mr. F. in 1864; they have five children-George H., James E, Annie, Rose and Peter A. The Floods bought a heavily timbered slice of Uncle Sam's domain, when they had but three neighbors; built a trough-covered "wigwam," and began pioneer life ; the milling was done at Mayville with ox teams; the old couple ended their lives in a pleasant home, won by pluck and enterprise. James Flood was a carpenter, and did the inside work on the first Roman Catholic church ever built in Eden ; it was built of logs, on the south line of Sec. 29, and served well up to the time of the building of St. James' Church in 1865. Peter F. is a Greenbacker, and was twice Supervisor of Eden ; is, with his wife, a Roman Catholic.


PETER HERATY, farmer, Sec. 17; P. O. Eden ; born in County Mayo, Ireland, Nov. 18, 1839 ; son of James and Bridget II., who emigrated to America in 1847, living two years in Oswego Co., N. Y., then settling on Sec. 5, town of Mitchell, Sheboygan Co., Wis .; they bought eighty acres of heavy timber, crossed by Indian trails and Indians also; built a log shanty, roofed with log "shakes ; " having paid their all for the land, they, for three long years, dug the land with a grub hoe; all meat was obtained of the Indians, the family faring hard and working harder; in 1851 or 1852, they raised a erop of pota- toes, and, as the market was good, sold enough to get a yoke of cattle. Peter, the eldest son, did his share of this work, the result of which is the well-improved homestead of 240 acres, a large basement barn, etc. On the 7th of January, 1874, he married in Osceola Miss Ellen, daughter of Daniel and Mary Sullivan ; for their wedding trip, they came to their present farm the next day ; this contains 200 aeres, and, with the large and pleasantly located residence upon it, was earned on the Sheboygan Co. farm by men who were not afraid to dig the new, rooty soil of Wisconsin with a grub hoe. Mr. Heraty received a common-school education and has taught eight terms, his wife having beaten him by one; they have one son-James, born Oct. 20, 1874. Religion, Roman Catholic. Mr H. has served as Town Treasurer and three times as Town Clerk of Mitchell, and was Town Clerk of Eden in 1875-76; his poli- tics are Democratic.


N. P. KELLOGG, farmer, Sec. 18; P. O. Eden; born in Madison Co., N. Y., in 1825 ; spent his early life in his native county, and, in 1845, came to Wisconsin ; during the first winter, he was in Kenosha Co., Wis .; the next spring, in company with his brother A. G., he made a cart, the wheels of which were sawed off the end of a large log; with two yoke of oxen on this, they reached Ceresco, Fond dn Lac Co .; they bought 160 acres two and a half miles east of' what is now Ripon, then open prairie ; built a shanty of green lumber, which dried and left wide cracks, through which the snow would often sift to a depth of several inches; here they lived a bachelor's life, getting out fencing and shingles the first winter, and baking bread every day, which froze in their barnlike shanty, in which was an old-fash- ioned " Jewsharp " stove ; the next spring, they alone built, raised and shingled a good log house; they had much trouble to get milling done, and once, Mr. K. going forty five miles to Columbus with a grist, by bribing the miller got his in good time; he had been long enough on a diet of beans, potatoes and milk ; the brothers bought 160 acres more in 1847, and did good work with their breaking team. N. P. Kellogg exchanged his share of the farm for a hotel near Watertown, where he spent the winter of 1851; removed the next June to Forest, where he built the well-known old Kellogg Tavern, on the plank road ; this he kept four years, then farmed it on Sec. 18, same town, until 1868, when he bought his present farm of 147 acres ; this was well improved ; he has a large and most pleasant farmhouse, and all needful stock and implements. Married, in January, 1854, Miss Anna Owen, of the city of Dublin ; her parents came to America when she was eight years old, locating in New York State, she coming to Wisconsin in 1847 ; Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg have three sons-Walter N., Charles H. and John F. Mr. K. is a Repub- lican of Greenbaek tendencies. lle is a hardy Wisconsin pioneer, who has earned a good home and enjoys it.


WILLIAM C. KEYS, farmer, Sec. 24; P. O. Waucousta; born in County Tyrone, Ire- land, May 25, 1841 ; came to America in 1849 with his parents, William and Margeret Keys, who came direct to the then village of Fond du Lac; Mr. K., though then a lad, well remembers the building of Dr. Darling's block ; the family located one and a half miles east of the town, William attending distriet


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school, as the schools were then organized; in 1853, they settled in Osceola, where his father bought heavily timbered Government land, crossed by Indian trails, and Indians as well, during the first two years ; this was a genuine pioneer family, and saw much of pioneer life. In 1865, W. C. Keys settled on his farm of eighty acres, marrying, the same year, Miss Ellen Adams, who was born, educated and mar- ried in the town of Forest; they have one son-Willie A., born August 14, 1869. Mr. K. is a Green- backer, and is both a farmer and dairyman.


DANIEL MCCARTHY. farmer, Sec. 7; P. O. Eden; born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1814 ; came to America in 1844, and lived in Ontario Co., N. Y., until 1849, when he and his brother Florence came to Wisconsin and bought 160 aeres in Eden ; this took all his money, and he returned to New York, worked to earn more, married, and, on his return, took his share of the quarter-section and built a log shanty, where the young couple lived frontier fashion two years; he then bought forty acres in Byron, on which was a small house, which he moved, and is now part of his residence; from this hard beginning, he has prospered ; has a good farm of 226 acres, a well-built modern house, and a basement barn 110 feet in length ; also has over two hundred Merino and Cotswold sheep, besides breeding cattle, horses, hogs, etc. Married Miss Mary Kingston, a native of County Cork, who came to America in 1847, in Ontario Co., N. Y .; they have three children-Honora, Charles and Daniel. Mr. McCarthy is a Dem- ocrat and, with his family, a Catholic ; he is a successful and self-made man.


FLORENCE MCCARTHY, farmer, Sec. 18; P. O. Eden ; born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1811; came to America in 1842, and was six years in the service of Thomas Beals, Esq., of Canan- daigua, N. Y .; in 1849, came with his brother Daniel to Wisconsin and to Eden, where they spent their all for 160 acres of land ; his wife died in July, 1849, it being the first interment in the Byron cemetery ; this was a hard blow to the lonely settler ; but he worked away, cleared the farm, and then bought a farm of his own. In 1856, he married Miss Honora Butler, who died in 1838. Mr. MeCarthy has seventy- four acres and a most pleasant home ; was, in old times, an extensive wheat-grower, and sold the first load ever drawn to the Eden market. He is a Democrat and a Catholic, and has held school office. His third wife was Mrs. Mary McGraw, who died in July, 1872, leaving one daughter-Hannah, now the wife of John Scannell, who was born and raised in Osceola Township.


JEREMIAH MCCARTHY, farmer, Sec. 7; P. O. Eden ; born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1819; came to America in 1845, residing in Ontario Co., N. Y., until 1850, when he joined his broth- ers in Eden and worked in partnership with them several years; like his brothers, he began poor and is a self-made man. After his marriage to Miss Nancy Kingston, he settled and built on his present location. Mr. MeCarthy has worked hard, managed well and been successful ; has a good farm of 166 acres, part of which is the old homestead of 1849; has a large and pleasant farmhouse, good barns, etc. His worthy wife died Feb. 26, 1871, leaving two children-Florence and Mary A .; the second wife was Miss Mary Mullen, by whom he has three children-Catherine T., Ellen M. and Jeremiah J. Mr. McCarthy lost two children by the first wife and one by the second. He is a Democrat and, with his family, a Roman Catholic ; has on the farm 100 good Cotswold sheep, cattle (one Durham), horses, etc.


GEORGE MCFARLAND (deceased ) ; born in Glasgow, Scotland ; came to America about 1832, and worked as a quarryman in Ulster Co., N. Y. Here, in 1839, he married Miss Esther L. Somes, a native of Greene Co., N. Y., to which they removed. In May, 1844, Mr. McFarland bought a farm in Southern Wisconsin, which he sold, and was joined by his wife in 1846, they living in the town of Mil- waukee three years; in May, 1849, they bought the MeFarland homestead of the Government, built a house of peeled poplar logs, roofed with basswood troughs, and which was the best in the vicinity; Mr. McFarland at once began clearing and breaking; sowed eight acres of wheat the first fall, some of which he hauled with his ox team to Mayville, twenty miles, to have it ground; the young couple saw enough of pioneering, but still prospered. Mr. McFarland died Feb. 9, 1865, leaving ten children- Emeline, Phebe A., George E., Charles, Lucy S., William, John, Lorenzo D., Wiler (deceased ) and Elmer E. Mrs. McFarland has proved a most capable mother, as the house has been rebuilt and made a most pleasant home, several good barns, etc., erected and the farm stocked and made valuable; it is now the home of Mrs. McF., William, Lucy and E. E., and is controlled by William. Mr. MeFarland was an Independent Democrat. Emeline is married and is in Mower Co., Minn .; Pbebe A. is also married and lives in Fond du Lac, as is also George E .; Charles is married and a resident of Arizona; John and Lorenzo are in Minnesota, the latter owning a farm in Pearlham. Mrs. McFarland is a Baptist in religious belief.


JAMES MAHONEY. farmer, Secs. 7 and 8; P. O. Eden; born in County Cork, Ireland, June 20, 1830 ; came to America in 1844, locating in Ontario Co., N. Y., where he remained until May, 1847, when he came to Eden and bought Government land for his brother, which he began clearing ; after


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two years, he received eighty acres of this in payment ; he reached this by an Indian trail, and was pen- niless, of course seeing many hardships; used to earry a tomahawk and blaze the trees in getting about the country, going to Watertown and Sheboygan Falls to mill ; he stayed the first few nights on the soft side of Mr. Bishop's cabin floor ; the best of feeling existed among the pioneers who used to go eight and ten miles to a raising ; he says it took half the men in the county to raise Col. Conklin's mill, since burned. Paul Cayee, Cass, Vandervoort and Bailey were his neighbors; Mr. M. is now the oldest actual settler, except Q. Hayes and Dr. Vandervoort. He married, in 1856, Miss Mary J., daughter of P. Kelly, one of the first settlers in Byron ; she died May 7, 1871, leaving eight children-Patrick, Ann M., Margeret, James, Michael, Mary, Daniel and Eliza. On the 7th of November, 1871, he married Miss Catherine, daughter of B. Twolig; Mrs. M. was also of County Cork, coming to America in 1848, and to Osceola in 1853 or 1854; she was educated and began teaching in this town, and has taught thirteen terms; they have three children-Nora A., Bartholomew S. and Katie. Mr. Mahoney was a most successful pioneer, now owning 204 aeres, with good buildings.


THOMAS F. MEADE, farmer, Sees. 21 and 29; P. O. Eden; born in Washington Co., Wis., June 28, 1851, son of Patriek and Catherine M., who came to Washington Co., Wis., in 1850, and to Eden, 1856; they bought the present Meade homestead of W. Odekirk, the Meades adding to both the farm and the buildings; in 1874, Patrick M. removed to a farm in the northwest part of Byron, he and his wife coming from Ireland to America in 1848; they have five children-Thos. F., Mary A., Charles L., Andrew and Wm. H. Thomas F. Meade now owns 100 acres of the farm, and has control of the remaining 100. He married Miss Mary P., daughter of A. Dolan, of Byron, Nov. 27, 1877, she dying June 6, 1879. Mr. M. is a Democrat of Greenback tendencies, and a Roman Catholic. He is a good type of the stirring, progressive young Wisconsin farmer, devoting his farm to the usual grains and all kinds of stock.


CHARLES MITCHELL, farmer, Sees. 6 and 7 ; P. O. Eden ; born in Middletown, Conn., March 1, 1819; when about 16, he went to New York City where he learned the carpenter's trade ; then locating in Onondaga Co., N. Y. where he married Miss Caroline Austin. Mr M. spent the winter of 1843 in Kenosha, Wis .; then lived in McHenry Co., Ill., until May, 1846, when he bought United States land on See. 7, town of Eden, on which he settled; on the arrival of his wife, they lived for a time in their wagon, he building a rude shanty, roofed with hollow basswood logs split in half, the door hewed from a log, and in one end, a rude fire-place ; he plowed a furrow for his first potato crop, turning back the tough sod on the seed, and says he did raise the " murphys." but that they were flat as pancakes ; Indians, bears, deers and wild-eats were his neighbors, the latter sometimes " borrowing " his poultry. Mr. Mitchell helped to lay out the road past his farm, and many others; drew his first grist to Fisher's mill, waited two weeks, returned, and could find neither bags or grist ; after a period of semi-starvation on rice, etc., he went with his ox team to Watertown to mill ; then, owing to the rush of grists, was obliged to bribe the miller in order to get his ground ; he used to earry an ax in his wagon to repair the primitive bridges of the times, and was often out of both money and food ; his wife, a most worthy helpmeet, died June 20, 1879, leaving nine children-James, now an Iowa farmer; Helen, now Mrs. Chas. Hanson ; Austin. a New London ( Wis. ) M. D .; Esther, wife of F. Anderson, of Clinton, Iowa ; and Oscar, Charles, Carrie, Lula and Lenora, all on the farm. Mr. M. is a Republican, and a member of the U. B. Church in Christ ; has 120 acres, on which is a valuable ledge of limestone, and a lime kiln, now managed by his sons.


JAMES J. ODEKIRK, farmer, Sec. 22, P. O. Eden; born in Rensselaer Co., N. Y., Feb. 17, 1822: spent his early life and was educated in his native town of Hoosick : came to Wisconsin and to Eden in 1847, buying heavily timbered land of the Government ; he built a shanty, 12x20, with a flat roof of basswood troughs ; among the first trees he cut was an immense " bee tree," from which he and his wife took four pails of honey, which was a most welcome feast ; during the first years, Mr. O., in order to live, used to seek and find work by the day, sometimes many miles from home, his plucky wife remain- ing for days alone in the forest cabin, with Indians and wild animals for neighbors; the present Fond du Lac road was then an Indian trail; one dark night, in coming from the house of a neighbor with a lantern, they lost their way in the dense woods, and actually " camped out" that February night, building a fire by the aid of the lantern; most of their household furniture was home-made-a pork barrel and soap barrel dug from logs, and a butter-bowl and ladle made of maple, the latter still in active use, and kept as a token of old times ; they made large quantities of maple sugar, and exchanged it for coarse flour ; as a result of this toilsome and needy beginning, Mr. Odekirk has 135 aeres well improved, several large barns, (one new one), and a pleasant residence, besides property in Fond du Lac-a good showing for a man who used to make his summer shoes of old boot-legs. He married, Feb. 12, 1846, Miss Almira Kelyer, a native of Graftou, N. Y., who was then 16, and began frontier life at 17; they have two children -- Emma


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( now Mrs. S. M. Kuter), and Alice A. (the wife of Charles Youmans). Mr. Odekirk is a Republican, and has been Supervisor and Justice of the Peace. Three of the children are not living-Harriet A., James F. and Julia.


WILLIAM E. ODEKIRK, farmer, Sec. 26; P. O. Eden ; born in Peninsula, Ohio, May 16, 1853 ; his parents, Josiah P. and Harriet L. Odekirk, removed from Ohio to Eden, Wis., in 1857; his father bought the homestead, which was then an oak and maple forest, and built a rude trough- covered shanty, where the family lived a number of years ; he did good work on the farm, built the farm- house, and made improvements which are a monument to his memory. Enlisting September, 1864, in Co. F, 43d W. V. I., he died in the service at Clarksville, Tenn., in February, 1865; his only son attended school in the district, and after the marriage of his mother to Mr. B. Williams, bis home was sometimes with him, and at other times with his grandfather, Isaac O., in Ashford. April 9, 1874, he married Miss Mary A., daughter of J. Kenney, who removed with his family from New Haven, Conn., to Fond du Lac in 1855 ; Mrs. O. was educated in Fond du Lac, and came to Eden in 1865; they have three children- Mary J., Jirah F. and Edward J .; Mr. Odekirk has owned the homestead of 109 acres since 1874, has built a large basement barn, has a good flock of fine-wool sheep, etc., with all needful implements. He is a pro- gressive young farmer, and, like his honored father, is a Democrat, and, with his wife, a Roman Catholic.


MARTIN RYAN, farmer, Sec. 27; P. O. Eden ; born in County Tipperary, Ireland, 1820; came to America in 1847, settling on forty acres of Government land in Eden, April, 1850; built a small shanty by splitting logs and carrying them on his shoulders, as he had no team, or money to buy one, and then dug up an acre with a spade to raise corn and potatoes; the furniture was made with an ax out of logs. Mr. R. use to thrash oats from dawn till dark for every ninth bushel ; then shoulder a bag of flour and carry it ten miles to his home; his young wife, alone in the shanty day after day, used to take her child on her back and tramp off at night to find their cow in the woods ; they fared for weeks on potatoes and salt, Mr. R. being glad to hoe corn at 50 cents per day. The wife was Miss Ellen MeMahon, who was married at 18; they have nine children-James, Thomas, John, Michael, Margaret, Anna, Laura, Ellen and Mary. In recompense for the hardships of pioneer times, Mr. R. now owns 330 acres of good land, with a large house and several barns. The first fifteen years were spent in the shanty, which was only four logs high, with a trough roof. Mr. Ryan is an independent Democrat, and, with his family, a Roman Catholic.




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