Jul 04

July 4th, 2013

Happy July 4th! The birthday of our nation, when we fly the flag and watch parades and fireworks in remembrance and celebration of our country’s independence. And it is a day to remember the principles of freedom and liberty upon which our country was founded.

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Below is The American’s Creed, which we recite at our DAR meetings.

The American’s Creed

I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support it Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.        —-William Tyler Page

The American’s Creed was the winning submission in a 1917 national writing contest for a creed of the United States. William Tyler Page used phrases from the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in his entry. The American’s Creed was adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1918.

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Patriot’s Day in Boston. (2009 photo by Karen)

Below is Boston’s Old State House, the oldest surviving public building in the city. The Declaration of Independence was read from its balcony on 18 July 1776.

Boston's Old State House.

Boston’s Old State House. (2009 photo by Karen)

We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls.  –Robert J. McCracken

Jul 02

Tombstone Tuesday–Anna S. Hoehamer

Anna S. Hoehamer, Mount Hope Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana. (2013 photo by Karen)

Anna S. Hoehamer, Mount Hope Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana. (2013 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Anna S. Hoehamer, located in Mount Hope Cemetery, Jefferson Township, Adams County, Indiana. Her marker is inscribed:

Anna S.
Wife of
N. Hoehamer
Died
Nov 4, 1880
Aged
28 y, 5 m, 1 d

Anna S. (Manzelman) Hoehamer was born 3 June 1852, as calculated from her tombstone. She was born in Mecklenburg, [1] possibly the daughter of John Manzelman.

Anna married Nicholas Hoehamer on 4 January 1870 in Auglaize County, Ohio. Their marriage record shows that her father gave his consent for the marriage, but the record did not give his name. [2]

Anna died 4 November 1880 at the age of 28 years, 5 months and 1 day. She is buried next to her husband Nicholas at Mount Hope Cemetery. Her tombstone is difficult to read and I believe these to be the dates inscribed on the marker.

Anna 's tombstone next to tombstone of husband Nicholas. (2013 photo by Karen)

Anna ‘s tombstone next to tombstone of husband Nicholas. (2013 photo by Karen)

I had trouble finding Nicholas and Anna Hoehamer in the 1870 census and I am sure the problem was in the way Hoehamer was spelled in the indexes. I finally located the Hoehamers by using the “FAN” technique, a research method I explain in my Beginning Genealogy Workshop. FAN is an acronym for friends, associates and neighbors. By researching and studying a person’s friends, associates and neighbors you can often find out additional information about that person. In this case I searched for a family that I thought might be neighbors of the Hoehamers in Auglaize County.

I knew from other documents that Anna’s maiden name was Manzelman and that she and Nicholas were married in Auglaize County in January 1870. I thought they possibly lived in Auglaize County before their marriage and in the months after, but I could not find the Hoehamers in the 1870 census index. So I searched for Manzelman instead and found John and Anna “Meuselman” in the Ancestry.com index, living in Moulton Township, Auglaize County, Ohio. [3] I then looked for Hoehamer neighbors and on the previous page there was not one, but three households of Hoehamers, including Nicholas and Anna. [4]

John and Anna “Meuselman” were living about six households away from Nicholas and Anna and they may be Anna’s parents. Both John and Anna were born in Prussia and were in their mid-50s, old enough to have been Anna (Manzelman) Hoehamer’s parents.

Auglaize County marriage record of Nicholas Hoehamer and Anna "Manzalman," 1870.

Auglaize County marriage record of Nicholas Hoehamer and Anna “Manzalman,” 1870.

The Nicholas Hoehamer family in 1870:
Nicholas, 25, farm hand, born in Ohio, (did not own land but his personal estate was worth $250)
Anna, 18, keeping house, born in Mecklenburg Ger.

By 1880 Nicholas and Anna were living in Jefferson Township, Adams County, Indiana. Their family looked like this in 1880:
Nicholas, 34, born in Ohio, farmer
Anna, 27, wife, “Mechlingberg”, keeping house
George, 9 (b. 1871) son, Ohio, at school
Jacob, 6 (b. 1874) son, Ohio
William, 5 (b. 1875) son, Ohio
Barbara, 2 (b. 1878) daughter, Indiana

Son William was born in Ohio and daughter Barbara was born in Indiana, so the family probably moved from Auglaize County to Indiana sometime between 1875 and 1878.

From church and cemetery records I determined that Nicholas and Anna had the following children, and they may have had more:

Johann Georg (1870-?) [confirmed at Zion Chatt in 1886/gave DOB; married Attie Bergman 1907]
Henry A. (1872-1878) [tombstone at Mount Hope]
Jacob Wilhelm (1873-1899) [death record at Zion Chatt]
William A. (1875-1956) [confirmed at Zion Chatt 1890/gave DOB; married Elisabeth M. Kallenberger]
Sophie Barbara (1877-1929) [confirmation 1891 & marriage at Zion Chatt; married Wm Allmandinger]
John C. (1880-1881) [tombstone at Mount Hope]

Their son John C. was born 10 September 1880, as calculated from his tombstone. His mother Anna died 4 November 1880 and he died 18 January 1881. One wonders if one or both died from complications of childbirth. Anna’s death was not recorded in Zion Chatt’s records.

 

[1] 1880 U.S. Census, Adams County, Indiana, ED 133, p. 14B, line 4, dwelling 123, family 123, Nicholas Hoehamer; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 June 2013); from National Archives microfilm T9, roll 263.

[2] “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZKS-5PX : accessed 23 June 2013), Nicolas Hoechamer and Anna Manzelman, 1870.

[3] 1870 U.S. Census, Moulton Township, Auglaize County, Ohio, p. 435 stamped, p. 9 penned, line 34, dwelling 69, family 69, John “Meuselman”; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 June 2013); from FHL film 552671, from National Archives microfilm M593, roll 1172.

[4] 1870 U.S. Census, Moulton Township, Auglaize County, Ohio, p. 434B stamped, p. 8 penned, line 26, dwelling 61, family 61, Nicholas “Hoechammer”; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 June 2013); from FHL film 552671, from National Archives microfilm M593, roll 1172.

Jun 28

Index of Liberty Township Estray Book, Earmarks I-Z

I have been writing about the Liberty Township Estray Book and indexing the registered Earmarks. The first part of the book deals with stray animals while the second half of the book contains the descriptions of livestock earmarks registered by the farmers of Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio.

Earmarks were various cuts in an animal’s ear and each farmer registered his specific earmark so he could identify his livestock. The earmarks in this book date back to 1841.

Last week I posted my earmark index of surnames A-H. Below is the second half of my earmark index with the date the earmark was registered and transferred. I underlined a name if I was unsure of its spelling.

Liberty Township "Book of Marks.," Philip Deutch entry, 1842.

Liberty Township “Book of Marks.,” Philip Deutch entry, 1842.

Kable, Christian, 28 September 1866
Kable, Ferdinand, 25 November 1850  (Transferred to ?)
Kable, Frederick, 21 May 1858
Kable, John, 5 November 1877
Kable, Philip, 6 November 1877
Kelly, David, 30 April 1851  (Trans to Wm Gahm 14 May 1874)
Kessler, Christian, 16 May 1851  (Trans to Jacob Kable 28 September 1866)
Kimmel, Henry, 4 May 1868   (Trans to J. Wineman 6 June 1874)
Kimmel, John, 15 March 1842  (Trans to William Kimmel 4 April 1853)
Knaar, Aaron, 18 August 1874
Koch, John, 6 May 1865
Kugle, Michael, 3 April 1874
Kuhn, Henry, 19 June 1848  (Trans to Henry Kuhn 3 April 1871)
Kutsch, Jacob, 20 March 1858
Kutsch, Mathas, 2 February 1871
Lee, Amos, 4 April 1853  (Trans to John Meyer 1 May 1869)
Leibrick, Andrew, 23 May 1865
Leininger, Samuel, 1 April 1867   (Trans to N. Lenhard 2 January 1872)
Lenhart, Nicholas, 2 January 1872
Lewis, Reuben Martin, 2 February 1863
Lininger, Jacob, 28 April 1859
Lininger, John, 8 April 1859  (Trans to Adam Dickes 11 October 1869)
Linn, Jacob, 18 July 1876
Linn, Philip, 17 July 1876
Long, Jonathan, 1 February 1851  (Trans to George Bollenbacher [no date])
Marts, Anthony, 15 November 1860
Maurer, Nicholas, 1 July 1866
May, Alexander W., 4 April 1853  (Trans to Philip Wendel 17 March 1871)
May, Elias, 9 December 1864
Mertz, J.D., 26 April 1866  (Trans to Frank Fissel 26 February 1881)
Miller, Andres, 15 December 1846
Miller, Andrew, 12 May 1843  (Trans to John Fisher 18 November 1850; Trans to Chris Fisher 3 April 1871)
Mizner, Georg W., 6 November 1852
Mizner, William L., 19 May 1868
Muchony, Daniel, 17 June 1867
Myer, John 7 April 1873  (Trans from Henry Dixon)
Oliver, J.F., 7 April 1873  (Trans from W.A. VanHorn)
Plants, Tobias, 13 April 1852  (Trans to S. Wilson 13 September 1870)
Price, Isaac M., 11 October 1842  (Trans to Henry ? 8 October 1867; Trans to Frederik Randers [no date])
Proutz, Simon, 10 Mary 1866  (Transferred to Peter Strable 1 May 1865)
Rice, Edward, 8 November 1855
Rider, Sylvester, 16 January 1842  (Vacated by his removal from township Jan 1843)
Schaadt, Adam, 31 May 1884
Schaat, Jacob, 6 December 1872
Shultz, Adam, 1 April 1867
Siez, Jacob, 14 April 1868  (Trans to Jacob Hinton 3 December 1869)
Skeels, Ansel, 5 April 1852  (Trans to Peter Bockoven [no date])
Skeels, Hiram, 5 April 1852  (Trans to Jacob Wendel  [no date])
Skeels, Sylvester, 7 April 1842  (Trans to John Myers grocer 29 May 1871)
Smith, Andy, 18 September 1857
Smith, John, 18 September 1857
Smith, Philip, 4 April 1870  (Trans to Nicholas Peter 14 February 1866)
Smythe, George, 1 February 1856
Sorton, Elisha, [no date]  (Trans to Henry Coon [no date])
Stein, Joseph, 27 October 1865
Thomas, Joseph, 19 May 1870
Thorp, Job, 8 May 1871  (Trans from Samuel Dixon)
Tresel, Henry, 25 February 1871
VanHorn, William, 20 March  1858  (Trans to C.R. ? Oliver 7 April 1873)
Waters, Arnold, 13 April 1867  (Trans to Christian Kessler Jr. 4 April 1870)
Watkins, Wm F., 24 December 1841  (Trans to John Harold 25 November 1850)
Weaver, Jesse, 12 December 1856  (Trans to W.H. Leudserf 20 May 1865; Trans  to Joseph Thomas19 May 1870)
Wendel, Jacob, 28 January 1876
Wendel, Philip, 17 March 1876
Willrath, Yokim, 29 March 1869   (Trans to Ferdinand Kesler 4 April 1870)
Wilson, S., 13 September 1870.
Wilson, Theophilus, 6 January 1843  (Trans to Jesse Young 10 February 1846)
Wineman, J.G., 6 June 1874
Wisenborn, John F., 26 June 1883
Wishon, Philip N, 19 March 1857
Wright, David B., 13 November 1860  (Trans to John B. Duer 27 October 1865)
Wright, Owen, 26 March 1849   (Trans to Jacob Tawne 30 November 1850; Trans to Philip Hooper 28 April 18?8)

The index ends with the name Wright since there were no X, Y, Z names in Liberty Township back then.

You can write me if you would like more information about your Liberty Township ancestor’s earmark.

Jun 25

Tombstone Tuesday–Nicholas Hoehamer

Nicholas Hoehamer, Mount Hope Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana. (2013 photo by Karen)

Nicholas Hoehamer, Mount Hope Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana. (2013 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Nicholas Hoehamer, located in Mount Hope Cemetery, Jefferson Township, Adams County, Indiana. The marker is inscribed:

Nicholas
Hoehamer
1845-1914

Last week I wrote about William and Barbara (Hoehamer) Allmandinger. They attended Zion Lutheran Chatt and later Zion Lutheran Schumm and information about the couple was in the records of both churches. The Allmandingers and Hoehamers were originally from the Chattanooga area and the Zion Chatt records include information about their parents as well. Nicholas Hoehamer was Barbara (Hoehamer) Allmandinger’s father.

The Hoehamers lived close to Chattanooga, just across the state line in Adams County, Indiana. They were once members of Zion Chatt and several of their children were baptized and confirmed at Zion. There were several Hoehamer burial services recorded at Zion Chatt with the burials at Mount Hope Cemetery. The Hoehammers were first listed in Zion Chatt’s membership/communion records in 1882. Senior, Mrs., Nicholas, George and Katharina Hoehamer took communion in 1882.

Willard "Mount Hope" Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana.

Willard “Mount Hope” Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana.

Joe and I took a little road trip last week to visit Mount Hope Cemetery. It is just a few miles northwest of Chatt, probably near the area in which the Hoehamers lived. Mount Hope Church of the Nazarene is just east of the cemetery and I noticed many familiar names in the cemetery, including some of my Brewster relatives. It appears that at least eleven Hoehamers are buried there, including Nicholas, his parents, two of his wives, some of his children and a couple infant Hoehamers. Some of their tombstones were very difficult to read and Nicholas’ tombstone was obstructed by a yucca plant.

Nicholas V. Hoehamer was born 12 October 1845 to George F. and Barbara (Straus) Hoehamer in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. His parents were from Germany. [1]

Nicholas married three times. He first married Anna S. “Manzelman” on 4 January 1870 in Auglaize County, Ohio. [2] From church and cemetery records I determined they had the following children, and possibly more:

Johann Georg (1870-?) confirmed at Zion in 1886; married Attie Bergman
Henry A. (1872-1878) buried at Mount Hope
Jacob Wilhelm (1873-1899)
William A. (1875-1956) married Elisabeth Margaret Kallenberger [daughter of Andreas]
Sophie Barbara (1877-1929) married William Allmandinger
John C. (1880-1881) buried at Mount Hope

Anna S. (Manzelman) Hoehamer died 4 November 1880 at the age of 28 years, 5 months and 1 day. She is buried next to Nicholas at Mount Hope Cemetery.

Nicholas’ second marriage was to Fredericka (Kniesel)  Pfeifer. Nicholas and Fredericka were married 26 September 1882 in Auglaize County, Ohio. [3] According to Zion Chatt’s records Fredericka was born 6 September 1845 in Eberndorf, Waiblingen,Württemberg. Fredericka had been married before and had at least one son, Friedrich L. Pfeifer. He was was born 19 December 1875 and was confirmed at Zion Chatt in 1890 with Wilhelm A. Hoehamer. It appears that Nicholas and Friederike had at least two children of their own:

Carl Philipp (1886-?)
Johann Edward (1889-1889)

Fredericka (Kniesel) Hoehamer died 5 March 1896, aged 50 years and 5 months. Her death is recorded in Zion’s records. She is buried in the row west of Nicholas Hoehamer’s grave site, close to his grave, but her tombstone has fallen over.

Nicholas Hoehamer marriage to Delia Warner, Auglaize County, Ohio, 1899.

Nicholas Hoehamer marriage to Delia Warner, Auglaize County, Ohio, Vol. 8:87, 1899.

Nicholas married a third time, to Delia (Wells) Warner on 26 October 1899 at St. Paul Church, Wapakoneta, Auglaize County, Ohio. Nicholas was age 54 and was a farmer residing in Adams County, Indiana. Delia was 38 years old, born 29 September 1861 to Joseph and Arvilla (“Waisner”) Wells, in Mercer County, Ohio. She was residing in Santa Fe, Auglaize County, at the time of their marriage. Delia had been married once before and was divorced. [1]

According to the 1910 census Nicholas and Deliah were living in Blackford County, Indiana. It appears Nicholas and Deliah had a son, Orvile, born about 1901. [4]

 

[1] “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XD2T-P19  : accessed 23 June 2013), Nicholas Hoehamer and Delia Wells Warner, 1899, citing Vol. 8, p.87.

[2] “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZKS-5PX : accessed 23 June 2013), Nicolas Hoechamer and Anna Manzelman, 1870.

[3] “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZNB-GHQ : accessed 23 June 2013), Nicholas V. Hohamer and Fredericka Pfeifer, 1882, citing Vol. 5, p.250.

[4] 1910 US Census, Hartford Ward 1, Blackford, Indiana, ED 9, p. 14B, line 94, dwelling 335, family 338, Nichola V. Hoehamier; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 June 2013); FHL microfilm 1374353, from National Archives microfilm T624, roll 340.

 

 

Jun 21

Index of Liberty Township Estray Book

Livestock

Was your ancestor a livestock owner in Liberty Township in the mid-1800s? If so, he probably registered his livestock’s earmark brand with the clerk in this Mercer County, Ohio, township.

I wrote about the Liberty Township Estray Book in last week’s blog post. The first part of this old book deals with stray animals while the back half of the book contains the descriptions of livestock earmarks registered by the farmers.

Earmarks were specific cuts in an animal’s ear, each earmark particular to a certain farmer so he could identify his own livestock.

There is not really any genealogical information in this Estray book but registering one’s earmark placed that person in a certain place at a specific time. That can be important information if you are trying to establish where your ancestor lived, trace his migration or prove his residency for a lineage society.

The earmarks in the Liberty Township Estray Book date back to 1841.The first marks were registered by Philip Bolton and Daniel Freeman on 15 June 1841. The last earmark in the book was registered by Anton Feissel on 21 November 1884.

I noticed that some of the earmarks were transferred to another individual after a period of time, probably after the original registrant moved from the area or passed away. It was probably difficult to come up with new and different earmarks and transferring older unused marks would make them available to another farmer.

Livestock

This week I created an index of sorts of the names of those that had registered earmarks in the Liberty Township Estray Book. The pages in the book are not numbered so it is a little difficult to find the names from the index. But the index is nice to have and is sort like a township census that spans several decades.

I put the registrant names in alphabetical order below, letters A-H, with the date they registered their earmarks.Some of the writing was difficult to read, was faded, and  some name spellings were challenging. I underlined a name if I was unsure of the spelling.

Liberty Township earmark registrants, A-H:

Albright, John G., 14 February 1843  (Transferred to John Lininger 11 October 1859)
Alt, Adam, 5 November 1877
Alt, Frederick, 10 January 1877
Alt, John, 1 December 1877
Alt, John, 13 November 1865   (Changed to mark of John Alt 1 December 1877)
Anders, Frederick, 7 March 1865  (Transferred to Henry V. Hinton 14 April 1865)
Annselment, John, 3 April 1874
Anselment, Lewis, 24 July 1863
Bacher, John, 16 October 1851  (Transferred to John J. Schaadt 3 November 1868)
Bacher, Philip, 16 May 1851
Baker, Jacob, 27 July 1865
Baker, John, 6 August 1855
Bance, John, 18 August 1866
Baurer, Michael, 6 April 1863  (Transferred to Nicholas Hider 9 September 1865)
Beach, Hiram, 26 November 1854  (Transferred to Mary Wernet 13 September 1870)
Betzel, Frederick, 4 April 1853
Beverstine, Abraham, 15 November 1876
Bock, Leonard, 24 July 1867
Bolenbacher, Adam, 14 February 1843
Bollenbacher, Jacob, 5 May 1881
Bollenbacher, John Jacob, 17 November 1876
Bollenbaucher, George Jr., 6 March 1860
Bollenbaucher, Jacob, 10 May 1866
Bollenbaugh, Adam, 6 May 1865
Bollenbaugh, George Sr., 4 April 1853
Bolton, Philip, 15 June 1841 (Transferred to Theopohilus Wilson 6 January 1843)
Bolton, Philip, 1843  (Transferred to Fredrick Kable 24 November 18?0)
Brahm, John, 20 June 1873
Brechheiser, Martin, 10 May 1865
Brehm, John C., 9 May 1878
Brehm, Peter, 15 March 1884
Brumer, George, 20 October 1864
Burger, Michael, 20 April 1865  (Transferred to Joseph Felver 1 April 1867; Transferred to Jacob Linn 18 July 1876)
Carmony, Henry, 11 October 1842  (Transferred to Peter Fisher 10 February 1846)
Chapman, John H., 20 April 1852
Coon, Henry, 29 May 1852
Cox, Benjamin, 3 April 1843  (Transferred to Philip Linn 17 July 1876)
Curbaugh, Horace B., 17 March 1851  (Transferred to John C. Brehm 1 February 1866)
Daily, Thomas G., 15 January 1866
Deaner, Frederic, 3 March 1865
Deitsch, Jacob, 1 May 1846  (Transferred to John Deitsch 28 January 1876)
Deitsch, Jacob, 21 December [no year]   (Transferred to John G. Brumen 20 October 1864)
Deitsch, John 28 January 1876  (Transferred to Anton Feissel 21 November 1884)
Deutch, Jacob, 25 August 1841
Deutch, Philip, 15 June 1842
Dickes, Mary M., 23 July 1860  (Transferred to M. Kutsch [no date])
Dickes, Rinehart, 23 July 1860
Ditsch, Wm, 1 May 1846
Dixon, Amos, 31 March 1857  (Transferred to Henry Grote 9 April 1869)
Dixon, Henry, 7 April 1866
Dixon, Henry, 8 April 1861  (Transferred to John Myer 7 April 1873)
Dixon, Samuel, 8 June 1855  (Transferred to Job Thorp 8 May 1871)
Emerick, Philip, 6 April 1874
Feissel, Anton, 21 November 1884
Fidlir, John, 6 April 1854  (Transferred to John Cox 16 November 1854)
Fieldheizer, George, 22 October 1847  (Transferred to Jacob Hoffman 19 November 1850)
Fiesser, Nick, 16 February 1879
Fisher, John, 5 April 1842  (Transferred to Henry Doner 8 April 1859)
Fisher, Peter, 7 January 1843  (Transferred to Mathas Kutch 2 February 1871)
Fissel, Frank, 26 February 1881
Freeman Danl, 15 June 1841 (Transferred to Henry Trisel 25 Feb 1871; Transferred to James Steward 9 December 1883)
Freeman, William, 21 January 1843
Gillespie, Charles, 18 January 1851
Glass, Martin, 22 February 1851 ( Transferred to Christian Kessler 18 April 1862)
Grote, Henry, 9 April 1869
Harb, Joseph, 31 January 1874
Hardsock, John, 11 February 1862
Harold, John, 1 May 1846  (Transferred to John Grabner 9 November 1865)
Harold, John, 25 November 1850
Heins, Georg, 29 May 1871
Hengel, Andrew, 31 October 1868
Hinton, Henry V., 14 April 1868
Hinton, Thomas, 7 April 1865
Hoofman, Ferdinand, [no date]
Hough, William, 4 February 1844  (Transferred to William Koch 11 October 1859)

 

If you recognize a name and would like additional information about their earmark, please let me know. I will put the rest of the earmark index in a future blog post.